, born in Niigata, Japan, is a female Japanese

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 occasional voice actress and voice provider of VOCALOID 4 Sachiko developed by YAMAHA co. She previously worked alongside

the Pokémon Company The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, ''Kabushiki gaisha Pokemon'') is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, which consists of video game s ...

, under the alias " Garura Kobayashi".

Biography

When Kobayashi was 9 years old in 1963, she became a champion in the TBS-produced music variety show and was scouted by famous Japanese composer and guitarist

Masao Koga was a Japanese composer, mandolinist, and guitarist of the Shōwa era who was dubbed "Japan's Irving Berlin" by Universal Press Syndicate. His melancholy style, based upon Nakayama Shimpei's '' yonanuki'' scale, was popularly known in Japan as ...

. Although Kobayashi was only a grade four student, her voice was said to be exactly like well-known Japanese

singer

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 posth ...

. One year later, Kobayashi and her family left their hometown,

Niigata, Niigata is a city located in the northern part of Niigata Prefecture (). It is the capital and the most populous Cities of Japan, city of Niigata Prefecture, and one of the cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, located in the Chūbu regio ...

and headed to Tokyo where she released her debut song, . In 1968, she acted as the heroine in , a TV drama produced by

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

. The drama's ending song was also credited to her. However, after 1968, Kobayashi's level of celebrity dropped, thus causing her to get fewer TV appearances and other opportunities. In 1979, her song became the best seller of the year, winning the 21st Japan Record Awards, and causing her to be popular again. As a result, she was asked to take part in the illustrious annual end-of-year music show "

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 ...

". After 1979, Kobayashi was considered one of the most famous

singers in Japan until now. Her more recent activity has intersected with Japanese

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...

culture. In July 2015, a

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...

called "

Sachiko is a feminine Japanese given name that means "''child of bliss''." It also means "''happiness''" when it is written with the kanji characters 幸子. One common short form of the name is ''Sachi''. People * Sachiko, Princess Hisa (久宮祐子� ...

" was released by Yamaha based upon her voice for the

Vocaloid 4 Vocaloid 4 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 3 in the Vocaloid series. History In October 2014, the first Vocaloid confirmed for the Vocaloid 4 engine was the English vocal Ruby. Its release was delayed so it could be re ...

engine. In April 2018, coinciding with the launch of her official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel, Kobayashi debuted her

Virtual Youtuber A , or , is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated in Japan in the mi ...

persona, Virtual Grandmother Sachiko Kobayashi. At Nico Nico Chōkaigi, she collaborated with fellow Vtuber

Kizuna AI is a Japanese virtual YouTuber (VTuber) currently part of Kizuna AI Inc., a subsidiary of digital entertainment company Activ8. From her debut in 2016 until 2021, she was the most subscribed VTuber on Youtube, with more than 4 million subsc ...

on a cover of Vocaloid

Hatsune Miku , also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official moe anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise bu ...

's song "Senbonzakura". Kobayashi also had a recurring "Virtual Grandmother" segment in 2019 Vtuber

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

show, "VIRTUAL-SAN - LOOKING".

Discography

Singles

* (1964.06.05) * (1964.09) * (1964.11) * (1965.01) * (1965.03） * (1965.05) * (1965.07) * (1965.09) * (1965.11) * (1966.02) * (1966.06) * (1966.11) * (1967.01) * (1967.08) * (1968.04) * (1969.11) * (1970.02) * (1970.08) * (1971.04) * (1971.09) * (1972.07) * (1973.06) * (1976.08) * (1977.08) * (1977.10.25) * (1978.01.25) * (1978.06.21) * (1979.01.25) * (1979.01.25) * (1980.01.01) * (Unknown) * (1980.06.01) * (1980.09.25) * (1981.02.10) * (1981.06.11) * (1982.01.01) * (1982.06.25) * (1983.01.25) * (1984.01.25) * (1984.07.10) * (1984.09.25) * (1985.02.25) * (1986.02.25) * (1986.09.10) * (1987.06.25) * (1988.02.25) * (1989.06.25) * (1989.02.25) * (1989.09.25) * (1990.04.10) * (1990.11.15) * (1991.08.25) * (1992.06.21) * (1992.07.10) * (1993.02.22) * (1993.04.10) * (1993.04.10) * (1993.10.10) * (1994.03.25) * (1995.06.25) * (1996.08.30) * (1997.08.30) * (1997.12.10) * (1997.12.10) * (1997.12.10) * (1997.12.10) * (1997.12.10) * (1998.02.10) * (1998.02.21) * (1998.09.03) * (1999.01.01) * (1999.09.10) * (1999.09.22) * (2000.01.01) * (2000.04.21) * (2001.01.01) * (2001.01.01) * (2001.04.21) * (2001.09.01) * (2002.01.01) * (2002.06.21) * (2002.12.05) * Ribbon(2003.01.01) * (2003.01.01) * (2003.08.20) * (2004.03.03) * (2006.06.21) * (2007.06.21) * (2008.02.20) * (2008.08.20) * (2009) * (2010.01.27) * (2010.10.17) * (2011.06.01) * (2013.06.05) * (2014.06.04) * (2015.06.03) * (2015.10.28) * (2016.07.06) * (2016.07.13) * (2016.08.18) * (2017.12.06) * (2019.02.06)

Album

* (1964.11) * (1978.06) * (1979.07.25) * (1979.11.28) * (1980.04.25) * (1980.07.25) * (1980.08.10) * (Unknown 1980) * (1980.12.23) * (1981.04.25) * (Unknown 1981) * (Unknown 1981) * (Unknown 1982) * (Unknown 1982) * (Unknown 1982) * (Unknown 1983) * (Unknown 1983) * (1984.04.25) * (1984.11.28) * (1985.04.25) * (1985.11.28) * (1986.04.25) * (1986.12.10) * (1987.11.10) * (1988.09.10) * (1989.09.10) * (1990.06.25) * (1990.12.21) * (1991.06.25) * (1991.12.10) * (1992.10.25) * (1992.12.05) * (1993.06.25) * (1993.10.21) * (1994.06.25) * (1995.12.21) * (1996.10.19) * (1996.10.25) * (1997.05.21) * (1997.10.04) * (1998.04.21) * (1998.06.05) * (1998.08.01) * (1998.11.21) * (1999.02.20) * (1999.05.01) * (1999.08.21) * (2000.02.19) * (2000.09.01) * (2001.01.20) * (2001.04.21) * (2001.11.21) * (2002.04.20) * (2002.10.19) * (2002.12.04) * (2003.06.05) * (2003.10.22) * (2004.05.19) * (2004.10.20) * (2005.07.20) * (2005.10.19) * (2006.06.21) * (2006.10.18) * (2007.07.04) * (2007.10.17) * (2008.06.18) * (2008.10.01) * (2008.11.19) * (2009.05.20) * (2009.10.21) * (2010.06.23) * (2010.10.20) * (2011.03.23) * (2011.03.23) * (2011.10.19) * (2012.05.23) * S (2013.09.04) * K (2013.12.04) * (2014.08.17) * (2015.08.17) * SACHIKO THE BEST (2016.12.26) * PINSPOT ～Sachiko's Night Club～ (2018.07.04)

Other songs

*"Poketto ni Fantajī" (Ending for ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'': Original Series Chapter 1: Sekiei Rīgu), sung with Juri Ihata) *"Pokémon Ondo" (Ending for ''

'': Original Series Chapter 1: Sekiei Rīgu) & ''

'': Original Series Chapter 2: Orenji Shōto Hen) sung with

Unshō Ishizuka was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director from Katsuyama, Fukui. He was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death and was known for providing the voice of both the narrator and Professor Oak on the Japanese ...

Kōichi Sakaguchi is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with 81 Produce. He also had a recurring role in both the Japanese and English language ''Pokémon'' anime which saw him voicing Jessie's Arbok up until Episode 6 of the Hoenn series which saw Arbok and its c ...

) *"Yokoso Arks" (Collaboration song for ''

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'', collaborated with Beat Mario) *"Kaze to issho ni" (Ending for ''Pokémon Movie 1: Myūtsū no Gyakushū'') *"Kaze to issho ni" (Ending for ''Myūtsū no Gyakushū EVOLUTION'', sung with

Shoko Nakagawa is a Japanese media personality, actress, voice actress, illustrator, and singer. Also known by her nickname , she is best known as the presenter of ''Pokémon Sunday'', and as the performer of the opening theme from the anime ''Gurren Lagann'' ...

) *"Suteki na Korekushon" (from the ''

'': Kaze to issho ni album), sung with Raymond Johnson *"Torikaekko Purīzu" (from the ''

'': Torikaekko Purīzu album)

Filmography

Movie

*''

Zatoichi's Revenge is a 1965 Japanese chambara film directed by Akira Inoue and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company (later acquired by Kadokawa Pictures). ''Zatoichi's Revenge'' is t ...

'' (座頭市二段斬り with

Shintaro Katsu was a Japanese actor, singer, and filmmaker. He is known for starring in the ''Akumyo'' series, the ''Hoodlum Soldier'' series, and the ''Zatoichi'' series. Life and career Born Toshio Okumura (奥村利夫 ''Okumura Toshio'') on 29 Novemb ...

) 1965 *''

A Certain Killer is a 1967 Japanese crime suspense film directed by Kazuo Mori. Screenplay by Yasuzo Masumura and Yoshihiro Ishimatsu. It stars Raizō Ichikawa. The film was adapted from the novel ''Zenya'' written by Keishi Nagi. Sequel of the film ''Aru Korosh ...

'' (ある殺し屋 with

Ichikawa Raizō VIII was a Japanese film and kabuki actor. His birth name was ,While the stage names of all kabuki actors have retained traditional order (Surname-Givenname) on Wikipedia, birth names of those born after the Meiji Restoration are in Western order (Giv ...

) 1967 *''Kewaishi'' (化粧師 KEWAISHI with

Kippei Shiina is a Japanese actor. Career Shiina portrayed John Rain and co-starred in Max Mannix's '' Rain Fall'' (2009) with Gary Oldman. He starred in Takeshi Kitano's '' Outrage'' (2010). Filmography Film *''Wangan Bad Boy Blue'' (1992) *''A Night in Nu ...

) 2002 *''Devilman'' (デビルマン) 2004

TV Anime

(ポケットモンスター) 1997 *

Yatterman is a Japanese anime television series broadcast from January 1, 1977 to January 27, 1979, comprising 108 episodes. It is the second and longest show in the ''Time Bokan'' series by Tatsunoko Productions. The series succeeded ''Time Bokan'' a ...

(ヤッターマン) 2008 * Danganronpa: The Animation (ダンガンロンパ) 2013 – "Monokuma Ondo" (モノクマおんど) * VIRTUAL-SAN - LOOKING (バーチャルさんはみている) 2019 - as Virtual Grandmother Sachiko Kobayashi

TV Commercials

*Pippu Erekiban (ピップエレキバン) *

Honda Airwave The Honda Airwave is a subcompact car produced by the Japanese automaker Honda from 2005 until 2010. It is a five-door station wagon version of the first-generation City/Fit Aria and Fit/Jazz, which was a sedan and a hatchback respectively. Th ...

(ホンダ・エアウェイブ), 2007 *

Toyo Suisan , best known as , is a Japanese company specializing in ramen noodles, through its Maruchan brand, seafood and frozen and refrigerated foods. It is the fourth-largest transnational seafood corporation. History The company was established in 195 ...

(東洋水産), 2010 * '' Nyanko Daisensou'' (にゃんこ大戦争) 2014 * Niigata-gen; Niigata-gen policeman Tokushu Sagi Higai Boushi Keihatsu "Kiken Sacchi" (新潟県・新潟県警察特殊詐欺被害防止啓発)「危険さっち」), 2016 * Kirin: Hyoketsu (キリン「氷結」), 2016 *

Cup Noodles Cup noodle is a registered trademark of Nissin Foods and is known as precooked instant noodle with flavoring powder and/or seasoning sauce sold in a polystyrene, polyethylene, or paper cup. The flavoring can be in a separate packet or loose in t ...

(日清食品カップヌードル), 2016–present

TV Dramas

* ''DCU'' 2022 - as Aki Negishi (ep. 7)

Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances

Dubbing

*''

Meet the Robinsons ''Meet the Robinsons'' is a 2007 American computer-animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The List of Walt Disney Animation Studios films, 47th animated film produc ...

'' (Mildred)

References

External links

Official website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Sachiko Actors from Niigata Prefecture Enka singers Japanese film actresses Japanese television actresses Japanese voice actresses Japanese women singers Musicians from Niigata Prefecture Living people Vocaloid voice providers 1953 births 20th-century Japanese actresses 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers VTubers