is a Japanese singer and television personality. After winning the Grand Prize at the 1984 Miss Seventeen Contest, she debuted as an idol singer with her song "" and had four more singles chart in the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

Top 30 and a

Japan Record Awards 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 ...

New Artist Award, and she was a regular cast member at the variety show . She went on a career break after her 1992 marriage to baseball player Kenji Tomashino, before making a comeback in the early-2010s.

Biography

Noriko Matsumoto was born on 30 January 1968 in

Mitaka, Tokyo 260px, Inokashira Park in Mitaka is a city in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 190,403, and a population density of 12,000 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Mit ...

. Her real given name is said to have the meaning of . She moved to the Jindaiji area of

Chōfu is a city in the western side of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 238,087, and a population density of 11,000 per km². the total area of the city is . Geography Chōfu is approximately in the south-center of ...

when she was three, to

Akishima, Tokyo is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 113,542, and a population density of 6500 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Akishima is located on the left ...

when she was five, and due to her father's job, Isesaki during her third year of junior high school. After she chose a co-ed high school instead of a girls' high school due to the cuteness of school uniforms, she began studying at . In August 1984, she and won the Grand Prize at the Miss Seventeen Contest. Her sister had recommended the magazine to her before she entered the pageant. In 1985, she made her idol debut with her song "". It charted at #28 in the

, and four more singles charted in the Top 30: "Aoi Kaze no Beachside", "Sayonara to Iwarete", "Nijiiro Scandal", and "No Wonder". She was awarded the New Artist Award at the

27th Japan Record Awards The 27th Annual Japan Record Awards took place at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo, December 31, 1985, starting at 6:30PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS. Award winners *Japan Record Award: **Akina Nakamori for " M ...

for her song "Sayonara to Iwarete". In 1987, she joined the Fuji TV variety show as a regular cast member. In 1992, she married baseball player Kenji Tomashino, and afterwards began a career hiatus to focus on raising her children. In the early-2010s, she returned from her career hiatus. In September 2011, she made her first singing appearance in nineteen years, on the NHK BS Premium music show ''J-Pop Seishun no '80''. On 29 April 2018, she made her first gravure appearance in twenty years in the magazine . In December 2019, she made her first radio appearance in 26 years on

Nippon Cultural Broadcasting is a Japanese radio station in Tokyo which broadcasts to the Kanto area. It is one of the two flagship radio stations of National Radio Network (NRN) (the other station is ) and is a member of the Fujisankei Communications Group. History The ...

's , appearing alongside her husband. She and her husband have three sons. She is the sister-in-law of baseball player Seiji Tomashino and the paternal aunt of actors and .

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsumoto, Noriko 1968 births Living people Japanese women pop singers Japanese female idols Japanese television personalities Singers from Tokyo People from Mitaka, Tokyo 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers