is a Japanese singer-songwriter, radio personality, philanthropist and

goodwill ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a public ...

for Bandai Plateau in Kita-Shiobara Village, Yama District,

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

. She is originally from Nakagusuku village, in Nakagami county,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Japan.

Biography

Kaori Futenma was born into a bloodline of the royal family of the

Ryūkyū Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English language, English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' wa ...

. She started her singing career at the age of 3 and used to be acclaimed in local music competitions in

. In 1991, Futenma signed with King Records and rose to prominence singing mostly

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

songs under her stage name "Kaori Honma," but 6 years later changed her stage name to the real one to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter. In 1999 she signed with Teichiku records and since then CDs have been released by the label. In most of songs she penned she expresses her emotions about her home,

, on the lyrics. In addition to her career as a singer, she performs as the host of radio shows e.g. she podcasts a show "Kaori Futenma's Summer Wind Letters (Japanese:普天間かおりの真南風便り, Futenma Kaori no Mafē Dayori)" on

Radio Fukushima Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

. Futenma appears on radio shows and TV commercials mainly on local broadcast stations in Fukushima. On 11 March 2011, she encountered the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

while performing on a live radio show on

. In the wake of the disasters, she founded a project called "Smile Again 0311" to benefit victims and started performing charity concerts for people who live in evacuation shelters and conducting benefit concerts to raise funds, also, penned a charity song called "Smile Again" and released it on the Internet and donated proceeds to those who suffered the disasters. Additionally, Futenma's since participated in another project called "Smile Books(Japanese:スマイル文庫, sumairu bunko)" hand in hand with local people and champions for the project in Jinbōchō, Tokyo, the most famous bookstore street in Japan—the aim of the project is book donation to children in

—she also tours round evacuation shelters and reads books and performs concerts for themFutenma reading a book to children
Retrieved on 20 January 2016. as a member of the project. On this activity, she gains support for the project and builds bridges between philanthropists from various different fields.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Filmography

TV

Kaori Futenma * "Tokimeki Wide" / 4 February 2000 /

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

* "Beauty Tsūshin" / 1 July 2001 /

BS Japan BS, B.S., Bs or bs may refer to: Arts and entertainment *BS-, a prefix for all games broadcast for the Satellaview modem via the Japanese Broadcasting Satellite system * "B.S." (song), a song by Jhené Aiko from the album ''Chilombo'' *Team BS, ...

* " Studio Park" / 24 August 2001 / NHK * "NHK Kayō Concert" / 23 November 2001, 22 January and 10 December 2002 / NHK * "Music Tide" / 22 September 2003 /

BS-i is a Japanese satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Akasaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo. Its channel name is BS-TBS (formerly, BS-i). It is a member television station of Japan News Network. Channels *Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS16 ...

* "Jojōka Dai-zenshu 2010" / 30 October 2010 /

NHK-BS2 , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

* "Ongaku no Hi" / 29 June 2013 / TBS

Radio

Kaori Honma * " Kaori no Hello! Ani Pop" (in Japanese) / October 1990 – September 1997 /

Tokai Radio Broadcasting Tokai Radio Broadcasting. Company Limited (東海ラジオ放送株式会社) is a Japanese radio broadcasting company serving the areas of Aichi Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, and Mie Prefecture, owned by the Chunichi Shimbun Group. Network * NR ...

Kaori Futenma * "Kattobi Wide" /

* "Futenma Kaori no Ahaha de Ufufu" / Tōkai Radio Broadcasting, Ryūkyū Hōsō * "Chura-Sunday" / Radio Fukushima * "Kaori no Let's Night" / Radio Fukushima * "Kenji to Kaori no Friend Radio" / Radio Fukushima

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Futenma, Kaori Japanese women singer-songwriters Japanese singer-songwriters Japanese radio personalities 1973 births People from Okinawa Prefecture Living people 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers