, also known as Nanno (ナンノ), is a Japanese actress and singer. She graduated from

Horikoshi High School is a private high school in Nakano, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City.Sukeban Deka'' TV series replacing fellow idol star Yuki Saitō. She is currently independent. She has previously worked for the S1 Company, Southern Field, Sweet Basil and K Dash Group talent agencies.

History

While attending the private Shoin High School in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

, Minamino successfully passed an audition in 1982. During the summer of her second year of high school, she moved to Tokyo where she attended

Horikoshi High School is a private high school in Nakano, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City.Miharu Morina and

Minako Honda , better known as , later changed to , was a Japanese idol and musical singer. In 1985, she made her debut with the single "Satsui no Vacane". She was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia on January 5, 2005. At 4:38 A.M. on November 6, 200 ...

. Minamino and Honda met when they both took the entrance examination. Minamino made her debut television role in 1984 in ''Meimon Shiritsu Jōshi Kōkō''. She began working for the talent agency S1 Company at this time. Despite being a mostly unknown face in Japanese entertainment, Minamino was given an unusually large number of

photos A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...

in a

seinen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

magazine. This led to her being cast in 1985 in the role of Saki Asamiya in the second season of Fuji TV's ''Sukeban Deka'', a popular live action TV series about a

juvenile delinquent Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

being forced to go undercover for the police in a high school known for its rough gangs. This role made Minamino an instant star, and many phrases from this season became fashionable. She was also nominated at the 11th Annual Japan Academy Prize event as "Rookie of the Year" for her performance in the movie version released in 1987. Her "Saki Asamiya" character was used in a wide range of adverts. She made her singing debut on 1985-06-23 with her song ''Hazukashi Sugite''. Along with

Shizuka Kudo , known by her maiden name , is a Japanese singer, actress and former idol, born in Hamura, Tokyo, Japan. She was a member of Onyanko Club between May 1986 and September 1987 and went on to have a successful solo career with 11 number-one hits. ...

Miho Nakayama is a Japanese singer and actress. She is affiliated with Big Apple Co., Ltd. Nakayama is nicknamed , and sometimes uses the pseudonyms or when she writes the lyrics. Biography History Nakayama was born in Saku, Nagano, Japan. Following her ...

, and

Yui Asaka is a Japanese actress, a J-Pop singer, and an idol who came to fame in the 1980s. Biography Yui was born in Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan, and later attended Nakano High School. In 1984, she was the Grand Prix Winner for a Young Girls Comics Mag ...

, Minamino was considered one of the of the time until she temporarily suspended her career in 1992. In 1988 she played two roles, including the starring role, in the Taiga drama ''Takeda Shingen''. That same year, she reached the number one spot for sales of publicity photo shots sold, setting a new record. Minamino was also honored by the country of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

when they issued postage stamps featuring two different

head shot A head shot or headshot is a modern (usually digital) portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles, the 'about us page' of a cor ...

s. In 1989, Minamino switched talent agencies, moving from S1 Company to the private Southern Field agency. In the 1992 film ''Kantsubaki'', she made her first nude appearance, closely followed by her second in ''Watashi o Daite, Soshite Kiss-shite'' that same year. Minamino was nominated for the 16th Annual Japan Academy Prize for "Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role" (basically "Best Actress") for her performances in both of these films. Minamino has appeared in interviews and photo shoots in

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

's ''

Weekly Playboy , also known as or ''WPB'', is a Japanese weekly magazine published by Shueisha since 1966. Although the magazine publishes a variety of news and special interest articles, columns, celebrity interviews, and manga, it is considered an Pornographi ...

'' magazine since 1984. In the 1989-08-01 issue, she appeared on the cover.

Filmography

Television

Series

One-shot dramas

Discography

Singles

Singles marked with "※" reached No. 1 on

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 ...

chart. Sources:

Albums

The majority of albums released after 1991 are "Best of" albums. Sources:

Commercial tie-ins

Minamino has performed the theme songs for multiple television series and movies, and her music has been used in many commercials. Following is a list of some of them.

Video

* ''Tokimeki, Kudasai'' (1986-06-21) * ''First Concert'' (1986-11-01) * ''Nanno Club'' (1987-07-22) * ''Summer Concert'' (1987-11-21) * ''From Summer Concert'' (1987-11-21) * ''Colorful Ave.'' (1988-08-01) * ''Etu du Cinema Yoko Minamino Summer Concert '88'' (1988-12-21) * ''Omoi no Mama ni: Yoko Minamino Summer Concert '89'' (1989-11-22) * ''Just Sweet Love'' (1989-11-24, promo item never offered for sale) * ''Abend'' (1990-11-21) * ''Toki no Nagare ni: The Last Day of Tour 1991 in Sunplaza Hall by Yoko Minamino'' (1991-11-21) * ''Dear My Best'' (1992-11-21) * ''Nanno DVD Box'' (2005-09-28, complete compilation of her performances in movies)

Books

Photo

* (April 1986,

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

, Photographer: Seiichi Nomura) * (September 1986,

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV ...

, Photographer: Ryū Ōmatsu) * (1987,

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

) * (November 1988,

Wani Books is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was established in November 1979. It publishes a manga magazine called ''Comic Gum''. Magazines published ''Wink Up'' is an idol ...

, Photographer: Seiichi Nomura) * ''My Dear'' (January 1991, CBS-Sony Shuppan, Photographers: Seiichi Nomura, et al.) * ''Great'' (April 1991, Kodansha, Photographers:

Hajime Sawatari is a Japanese photographer. He is known for his fashion and advertising photography as well as his nudes of girls and women. He earned his degree from Nihon University's College of Art with a major in photography. Sawatari won the Japan Photogr ...

, et al.) * ''Flowers'' (October 2004,

, Photographer: Yorihito Yamauchi)

Other

* (September 1989,

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

)

Awards

References

External links

Official agency profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minamino, Yoko 1967 births Living people Horikoshi High School alumni Actors from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese actresses Japanese idols Japanese television personalities Japanese women pop singers Musicians from Hyōgo Prefecture