is a 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, ...

singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history. Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK ''

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 ne ...

'' broadcast. Up till 2017, she has been invited to perform 40 times since 1977, the year she released her biggest hit, " Tsugaru Kaikyo-Fuyugeshiki". To date, she holds the record for the most appearances in the ''NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' for a female artist. She has released over 100 albums (including compilation albumsIshikawa's official website lists only her Teichiku albums.) and more than 120 singles, of which a few were not enka, but rock and jazz music instead. Another of her biggest hits, "

Amagi-goe "Amagi-goe" (天城越え Walk Over Amagi Pass) is the 45th single by Japanese singer Sayuri Ishikawa. The song is written by Osamu Yoshioka as lyricist, Tetsuya Gen ( 弦哲也) as composer and Nobuyuki Sakuraba ( 桜庭伸幸) as arranger. T ...

", which was released in 1986, won her many awards, and many believe that it was this song that made her an icon as an A-list enka singer.

Biography

Ishikawa grew up during enka's heyday and went with her mother and grandmother to see

Chiyoko Shimakura (30 March 1938 – 8 November 2013) was an ''enka'' singer and TV presenter in Japan. She was considered "the Goddess of Enka". Career Chiyoko was born in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, Japan. In 1954 Chiyoko won the 1st prize of the Columbia Music ...

's performance. “I loved singing,” she recalls. Ishikawa won a singing contest in 1972 when she was only 14 years old and released her first single "Kakurenbo" (かくれんぼ) the next year. She finished her high school but didn't go to university, entering show business instead. Her biggest hit, "

Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki "Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki" (津軽海峡・冬景色 Tsugaru Strait - Winter Scene) is the 15th single and signature song by Japanese singer Sayuri Ishikawa. The song is written by Yu Aku as lyricist and Takashi Miki ( 三木たかし) as comp ...

", was released in 1977.

Major league baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

player

Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began hi ...

of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

chose Sayuri Ishikawa's "

" as an AT-BAT MUSIC of 2008 with "Ishin Denshin" and "Royal Chocolate Flush" of

Misia Misaki Itō, commonly known as and stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended ...

. She re-recorded this song with

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 unti ...

for Ichiro. In 2010, Ishikawa release a rare, non-enka single, ''Baby Baby'', a duet with rock singer

Tamio Okuda is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and producer. He started his career in 1986 as a member of the band Unicorn. After Unicorn broke up, Okuda moved on to a solo career in 1994 with the single "Ai no Tame ni". He has written and composed many song ...

. In 2015, Ishikawa recorded "Chanto Iwanakya Aisanai", the ending theme of the '' Lupin the 3rd Part IV'' anime. In July 2017, Tokyo Olympic 2020 organizers kicked off the countdown celebration to the Olympic by releasing a promotional theme song along with a summer dance. The song, with which the organizer is aiming to promote the Japanese summer festivals, is a new version of “Tokyo Gorin Ondo,” the theme song for the 1964 Summer Olympics, but with updated lyrics. It will be performed by Ishikawa, alongside Yūzō Kayama and

Pistol Takehara A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

. On May 20, 2019, it was announced that Ishikawa would be awarded the 2019 Spring Purple Ribbon Medal of Honours (令和元年春の紫綬褒章) for her accomplishments.Jiji Press, 20 May 2019 (「歌手の石川さゆりさんら紫綬褒章＝囲碁の趙治勲さんも－春の褒章」https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2019052000090&g=pol ), viewed 9, June, 2019. See also, Ishikawa's press conference script, (「春の紫綬褒章、受章。」 http://www.ishikawasayuri.com/news/2019/05/post_442.html ), viewed 9, June, 2019. Ishikawa married Kenji Baba in 1981, but the couple divorced in 1989. Their daughter, Saori, was born in 1984.

NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' appearances

Ishikawa's first ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' appearance was in 1977, four years after her debut and following the hit of her signature song "Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu-geshiki". 2017 marked her 40th appearance in total, and 36th consecutive year in the ever popular annual event, which is a record for a female artist. She missed the 34th edition in 1983 as she was heavily pregnant, though she did attend the show and appeared as a guest, cheering the red (female) group.

Discography

Honors

* Medal with Purple Ribbon (2019)

Notes

References

External links

Official site

Ishikawa's site by Teichiku
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishikawa, Sayuri 1958 births Enka singers Japanese women musicians Japanese women singers Living people Musicians from Kumamoto Prefecture People from Kumamoto Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon