is a Japanese actress, singer, and

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

. She was an original member of

Onyanko Club was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. Some members of the group participated in spin-off groups, such as Nyangilas, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi and Ushirogami Hikaretai. Many of the latter two groups' songs were used as theme so ...

. She works for the talent management firm

Sony Music Artists , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. Her debut single, "

Valentine Kiss is the solo debut J-pop single from Sayuri Kokushō (though it was billed on the cover as "Sayuri Kokushō with Onyanko Club") released on February 1, 1986 by CBS Sony in Japan. Kokushō was the eighth member of Onyanko Club. The B-side song was ...

", is the most popular

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

song in Japan.

Brief biography

Kokushō was named after

Sayuri Yoshinaga is a Japanese actress and activist. She has won four Japan Academy Best Actress awards, more than any other actress, and has been called "one of the foremost stars in the postwar world of film." Career Her first media appearance was in the radi ...

, of whom her father was a fan. After spending time living in

Sasebo, Nagasaki is a Core cities of Japan, core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population de ...

when she was young, she attended Nishihara Elementary School and First Kanoya Junior High School, both Kanoya Municipal schools. She then attended Shimizugaoka High School in

Kure, Hiroshima is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan ...

due to her father's transferring from JMSDF Kanoya Air Base to

JMSDF Kure Naval Base , also simply known as the JMSDF Kure Naval Base, is a group of ports and land facilities of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), which are scattered in multiple districts of Kure City, Hiroshima, and where the Kure District Force, ...

while in the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

. While in high school, she represented the

Chūgoku region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In 2010, it had a population of 7,563,428. History '' ...

in the 3rd Miss Seventeen Contest in 1984. While she didn't win the contest, she was scouted by a representative from

CBS Sony , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

(two others scouted at the same contest were

Misato Watanabe is a Japanese pop singer. Discography Albums * ''Eyes'' (2 October 1985) * ''Lovin' you'' (2 July 1986) * ''Breath'' (15 July 1987) * ''Ribbon'' (28 May 1988) * ''Flower bed'' (1 July 1989) * ''Tokyo'' (7 July 1990) * ''Lucky (Misato Watanabe ...

and Shizuka Kudō. Kokushō later appeared on a radio show with

in 1986.) She moved to Tokyo after becoming a beauty model for

Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world and ...

and the CBS Sony representative suggested she enter the "High School Girl Special" contest on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

's '' All Night Fuji'', where she made her television debut. After winning the in-show beauty contest, she made her debut on as a founding member of Onyanko Club. Because she was attending a high school in

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

at the time, she was described as being from Hiroshima. She was the captain of the track and field club during high school.

Onyanko Club era

On April 1, 1985, Kokushō made her professional debut as a founding member of

(member #8). Because she had already graduated from high school, she was

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

to most of the other members of Onyanko Club and became the de facto leader of the group. However, the "public image" leaders of the group were promoted as being

Eri Nitta is a Japanese singer, actress, lyricist, and tarento. She made her professional debut as the fourth member of the all-female singing group Onyanko Club in 1985. She made her solo debut with the hit song on January 1, 1986. Nitta performed the o ...

, Miharu Nakajima ( 中島美春, Nakajima Miharu),

Satomi Fukunaga Satomi Fukunaga (福永恵規, Fukunaga Satomi, born January 26, 1967, in Tokyo, Japan), is a former Japanese idol and singer. She was among the 11 original members of Onyanko Club. Biography When Fukunaga was a child, her parents often took her ...

, and Kazuko utsumi ( 内海和子, Utsumi Kazuko) . Kokushō continued to stand out as a leader of the group, however, even with publicity surrounding the solo debut of fellow member

Sonoko Kawai may refer to: People *Sonoko Chiba (千葉園子, born 1993), Japanese football player *, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress *Sonoko Kato (加藤園子, born 1976), Japanese professional wrestler *Sonoko Kawai (河合その子, born 1965), ...

. Kokushō then had to determine whether she wanted to continue as a member of Onyanko Club or begin a solo career and leave the group. She received some support from Nitta and Kawai, both of whom had started successful solo careers of their own. She made her solo debut on February 1, 1986 with the single "

", which was backed by Onyanko Club. The single reached No. 2 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

charts, No. 1 on the Music Lab and Music Research charts, and No. 4 on the music program ' on TBS. The single also won the

Japan Gold Disc Award The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Associa ...

for Best Single of the Year. In a 2006 survey in Japan,

Oricon Style , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

found "Valentine Kiss" to be the most popular Valentine's Day song. She was not, however, able to match the Oricon No. 1 position reached by Nitta and Kawai with their respective solo debut releases. From November 2008 onwards, Kokushō has made sporadic appearances for

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

Oz Academy is a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion founded by Mayumi Ozaki. The promotion's full official name is . In addition to the contracted members of the roster, Oz Academy has also employed some of the top freel ...

, working as the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

of the villainous Ozaki-gun

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Discography

Singles

Albums

Studio albums

* ' (1986) * ' (1987) * ''SUMMER SNOW'' (1988) * ''Sakana (album), SAKANA'' (1989)

Compilation albums

* ''TRANSIT'' (1987) * (1988) * (1997) * (2002) * (2015)

Filmography

Film

*''

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

'' (2000) as Yumiko *''

One Week Friends is a manga series by Matcha Hazuki. It was serialized in Square Enix's '' Gangan Joker'' magazine between January 21, 2012 and January 22, 2015. It was first published as a one-shot manga in the magazine's September 2011 issue. The series h ...

'' (2017) as Shiho Fujimiya

Television

*'' Sukeban Deka II: The Legend of the Girl In The Iron Mask'' (1985) as Saori Kokobun *''

The Way of the Househusband is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kousuke Oono. Published in the online manga magazine ''Bunch'' since 2018, ''The Way of the Househusband'' follows an ex-yakuza member who retires from crime to become a househusband. T ...

'' (2020) as Mother (episode 9)

References

External links

*
Kokushō's official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokusho, Sayuri Onyanko Club 1966 births Japanese women pop singers Japanese idols Japanese film actresses Japanese radio personalities Japanese television actresses Japanese voice actresses Living people Actors from Kagoshima Prefecture People from Kanoya, Kagoshima Professional wrestling managers and valets Musicians from Kanagawa Prefecture 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