is an

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, p ...

singer and child actress. In 2008, she made her debut with the single at the age of 10. In 2009, she received a "New Artist" award at the 51st Annual

Japan Record Award is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...

s, becoming the youngest person to do so. She also appeared as a special guest on the 60th

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

in the "children's Kōhaku" section of the program.

Biography

Maya Sakura is the child of two successful restaurant owners. Her hobbies include reading.Hokkaidō Shinbun, 10 March 2009 She began to learn to play the violin aged two and a half, and the piano aged three. She is also trained in ballet and

solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, Western music. Solfège is ...

. In 2004, she was awarded the gold medal in the , after which she began to pursue a career in enka. On 3 December 2008, she made her Nippon Crown debut with the song "Tairyō Matsuri", as the youngest enka singer in history. Three days later on 6 December, she sang at the Asakusa public gardens. Due to her increasing popularity and busy work schedule, she transferred to a Tokyo school in 2009.

External links

References

Enka singers Japanese child actresses 1998 births Living people People from Obihiro, Hokkaido Musicians from Hokkaido 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers {{Japan-singer-stub