(born February 4, 1966) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is signed to

Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...

Career

In 1981, Kyoko Koizumi participated in and won the Star Tanjo! programme and released her first single in March 1982. She obtained several number one hits on the Oricon charts in 1984: "Nagisa no Haikara Ningyo / Kaze no Magical", "Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge" and "The Stardust Memory", the latter holding the top spot over the end of 1984 and the beginning of 1985, and thereafter established herself as one of Japan's most popular pop idols, alongside rivals Seiko Matsuda and

Akina Nakamori is a Japanese Singing, singer and Actor, actress. She is one of the most popular and List of best-selling music artists in Japan, best-selling music artists in Japan. Akina achieved national recognition after winning the 1981 season of the tal ...

. Her biggest hit (あなたに会えてよかった) came in 1991, which sold more than a million copies in Japan alone. Koizumi went on to release another single (優しい雨) which also sold over a million copies in 1993. Koizumi had singles reach the Top Ten for 12 consecutive years between 1983 and 1994, a female solo artist record, until this was broken by

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

. In the 1990s, she released a few dance remixes on vinyl only under the Koizumix Production moniker. She has worked with

Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer of soundtracks for anime series, Video game, video games, Japanese television drama, television dramas and movies. She has written scores for ''Cowboy Bebop'', ''Terror in Resonance'', ''Gho ...

who composed the music for Koizumi's 1996 album, '' Otoko no Ko Onna no Ko''. She had her first hit single in 18 years when her version of the song "Shiosai no Memorī" from the 2013

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

morning television drama '' Amachan'', in which Koizumi also acted, reached number 2 on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), 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 down ...

. With that, Koizumi made her 6th appearance (as a special guest performer) in the annual Red and White Song Festival, having previously participated from 1984 to 1988. From mid-90s onward, Koizumi shifted her focus onto acting. As an actress, she played in numerous dramas and movies, most notably, she was cast in two of the most successful movies in Japan ever: as the serial killer in '' Bayside Shakedown: The Movie'' (1998) and as the witch in '' Onmyoji'' (2001). She starred in Toshiaki Toyoda's 2006 film ''

Hanging Garden A hanging garden is a form of sustainable landscape architecture that can take several different forms, such as roof gardens, but is generally defined as a garden planted at a suspended or elevated position off the ground. These gardens are crea ...

'' and

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic, author, actor, and a former professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (2005-2023). Noted for his psychological films that often focus on ambiguous narratives and on their characters' i ...

's 2008 film ''

Tokyo Sonata is a 2008 Japanese psychological drama film directed and co-written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It stars Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyōko Koizumi, Yū Koyanagi and Kai Inowaki as an emotionally distant middle-class family of four who all individually come to ...

''. She starred in Kurosawa's 2012 television drama ''

Penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derive ...

''. Koizumi was given the Best Actress award at the 1989

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

for her work in the film '' Kaito Ruby''. She won the award for best actress at the 26th

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the '' Hochi Shimbun''. Categories *Best Picture *Best International Picture *Best Animated Picture (since 2017) *Best Actor *Best Actress *Best Supporting Actor *Best Supporting Actress *Best New Artist ...

s for ''Kaza Hana''. She also won the award for Best Actress at the 66th

Mainichi Film Awards The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by '' Mainichi Shimbun'' (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of ...

for '' Mainichi Kaasan''. She featured in the French-Japanese film, ''

Umami Umami ( from ), or savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes. It is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. People taste umami through taste receptors that typically respond to glutamates and nucleotides, which are widely present in me ...

'', directed by Slony Sow and starring

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

, which was filmed in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, Japan and

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

, France. In 2025, she hosts the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

-original dating reality show '' Offline Love'' alongside Takahira Kuruma and Kemuri Matsui of the comedy duo Reiwa Roman.

Personal life

She married actor

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's ''Cold Fever'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''Mystery Train (film), Mystery Train''. Nagase was described by Todd Brown of Twitch Film as "one of t ...

in 1995, the couple divorced in 2004.

Discography

As of 2023, Koizumi released 27 original albums, 22 compilation albums, 40 physical singles, 10 digital singles and 17 home-videos.

Singles

Digital singles

Studio albums

EPs

Soundtrack albums

Live albums

Remix albums

Compilation albums

Digital albums

Home video

Filmography

Film

* ''Seito shokun!'' (1984), Naoko Kitashiro * '' The Adventures of Milo and Otis'' (1986) * '' Kaitō Ruby'' (1988) * '' Bayside Shakedown: The Movie'' (1998), Manami Hyuga * ''Kyohansha'' (1999) * ''Kaza Hana'' (2000) * '' Onmyoji'' (2001) * '' Blue Spring'' (2001) * ''Rockers'' (2003) * '' What the Snow Brings'' (2005) * ''

'' (2005) * '' Survive Style 5+'' (2005) * '' Tears for You'' (2006) * '' Love My Life'' (2006) * ''Yajikita Dochu Teresuko'' (2007) * ''

Sakuran , is a Japanese manga series by Moyoco Anno. The manga is about a girl who goes through different names throughout the story and becomes a , or high ranking (courtesan). North American publisher Vertical Inc published it in English in July 2 ...

'' (2007) * '' Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad'' (2007) * '' Adrift in Tokyo'' (2007) * '' Gu-Gu Datte Neko de Aru'' (2008) * ''

'' (2008) * ''Mother Water'' (2010) * '' Bayside Shakedown 3: Set the Guys Loose'' (2010), Manami Hyuga * '' Mainichi Kaasan'' (2011) * ''Kako: My Sullen Past'' (2016) * '' Before We Vanish'' (2017) * ''Eating Women'' (2018), Atsuko * ''

'' (2022), Taya * ''Plastic'' (2023) * ''Silence of the Sea'' (2024), Anna Tamura * ''Bushido'' (2024) * ''Belonging'' (2024) * ''I Ai'' (2024) * ''Shinji Muroi: Not Defeated'' (2024), Manami Hyuga

Television

* ''Toge no Gunzo'' (1982), Tsuru * ''Ato wa Neru Dake'' (1983) * ''Anmitsu Hime'' (1983) * ''Shojo ni Nani ga Okotta ka'' (1985) * ''Hanayome Ningo wa Nemuranai'' (1986) * ''Aishiatteru Kai'' (1989) * ''Ashita wa Atashi no Kaze ga Fuku'' (1989) * ''Papa to Natchan'' (1991) * ''Anata Dake Mienai'' (1992) * ''Chance'' (1993) * ''Aisuru to Iu Koto'' (1993) * ''Boku ga Kanojo ni Shakkin wo Shita Riyu'' (1994) * ''Mada Koi wa Hajimaranai'' (1995) * ''Melody'' (1997) * ''Kamisan Nanka Kowakunai'' (1998) * ''Owari no Nai Dowa'' (1998) * ''Renai Kekkon no Rule'' (1999) * ''Koi wo Nannen Yasundemasu ka'' (2001) * ''Shiritsu Tantei Hama Mike'' (2002) * ''Kawa, Itsuka Umi e'' (2003) * ''Manhattan Love Story'' (2003) * ''Sensei no Kaban'' (2003) * ''Suika'' (2003) * ''Yasashii Jikan'' (2005) * '' Sailor Suit and Machine Gun'' (2006) * ''Hatachi no Koibito'' (2007) * '' Second to Last Love'' (2012–25) * ''

'' (2012) * '' Amachan'' (2013), Haruko Amano * ''Totto TV'' (2016), narrator * ''Kangoku no Ohimesama'' (2017), Kayo Baba * '' Idaten'' (2019), Mitsuko * '' First Love'' (2022) * '' Extremely Inappropriate!'' (2024), herself * '' Offline Love'' (2025), herself as co-host

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koizumi, Kyoko 1966 births Living people Japanese idols Japanese women pop singers Japanese film actresses Japanese television actresses People from Atsugi, Kanagawa Actresses from Kanagawa Prefecture Singers from Kanagawa Prefecture Singing talent show winners 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers