(born January 24, 1951) is a Japanese vocalist, composer, lyricist, and keyboardist who made her debut in 1972. Her first studio album entitled ''Shoujo'' was recorded in Los Angeles, produced by Grammy Award winner John Fischbach, with distinguished musicians such as David Campbell,

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

and Charles Larkey who was King's husband at that time. Owing to her introspective compositions, Itsuwa was often nicknamed "Japanese Carole King", along with other Japanese singer-songwriters like

Yumi Matsutoya , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. Generally the writer of both the lyrics and the music in her songs, she is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice and live performances, and is one of the most prominent figures ...

(who had worked under her

birth name A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth r ...

"Yumi Arai" during the mid-1970s) and

Minako Yoshida is a Japanese feminine given name. Minako can be written using different kanji characters: *美奈子, "beauty, apple tree, child" *美那子, "beauty, unknown, child" or "beauty, child" *美菜子, "beauty, (green) vegetable, child" *美名子, ...

. Itsuwa gained moderate success on the Japanese albums chart in her early career, and received massive popularity and acclaim through the single "Koibito yo" released in 1980. The song topped Japan's Oricon chart for three consecutive weeks, and won the 22nd

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 ...

for "Gold Prize" in the same year. It was covered by the country's legendary singers including

Hibari Misora was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural icon. She received a Medal of Honor for her contributions to music and for improving the welfare of the public, and was the first woman to receive the People's Honour Award, which was conferred posthu ...

and

Noriko Awaya was a Japanese female soprano chanteuse and popular music (''ryūkōka'') singer. She was dubbed the "Queen of Blues" in Japan. Life and career Awaya was born as in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. She was the oldest daughter of a wealthy ...

in later years, and became a

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

for Itsuwa. In 1981 her song "Revival" also became a very well recognized hit. After "Koibito yo" became a hit, Itsuwa gained popularity also in non-Japanese Asian countries during the 1980s. In Indonesia, "Kokoro No Tomo", "Amayadori" and "Rebaibaru" become the most popular songs ever released by her. In 2006, Mayumi Itsuwa and

Delon Thamrin ''Indonesian Idol'' is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by RCTI Production Team and FremantleMedia Asia, which began airing on RCTI in March 2004 and became one of the most popular shows in the hist ...

recorded an Indonesian and Japanese version of the song. This was later included on the 2006 compilation album "Duet Love Songs". Many of her songs would fall into the musical genre of

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affecte ...

s because they often describe the lingering memory of past loves.

Discography

Albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Itsuwa Mayumi 1951 births Living people Japanese women singer-songwriters Singers from Tokyo 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers