Sayuri Kokushō

Sayuri Kokushō
Sayuri Kokushō
Birth name	國生こくしょうさゆり
Also known as	Sayu-chan (さゆちゃん)
Born	December 22, 1966 (age 57)
Origin	Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan
Genres	J-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress, tarento
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Sony Music Artists
Website	http://www.sma.co.jp/artists/kokusyosayuri/

Sayuri Kokushō (国生こくしょうさゆり or 國生こくしょうさゆり, Kokusho Sayuri) born December 22, 1966 in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan is a Japanese actress, singer, and tarento. She was an original member of Onyanko Club. She works for the talent management firm Sony Music Artists. Her debut single, "Valentine Kiss", is the most popular Valentine's Day song in Japan.^[1]

Brief biography

Kokushō was named after Sayuri Yoshinaga, of whom her father was a fan.^[2] After spending time living in Sasebo, Nagasaki when she was young, she attended Nishihara Elementary School and First Kanoya Junior High School, both Kanoya Municipal schools.^[2] She then attended Shimizugaoka High School in Kure, Hiroshima due to her father's transferring from JMSDF Kanoya Air Base to JMSDF Kure Naval Base while in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.^[2]

While in high school, she represented the Chūgoku region in the 3rd Miss Seventeen Contest in 1984. While she didn't win the contest, she was scouted by a representative from CBS Sony (two others scouted at the same contest were Misato Watanabe and Shizuka Kudō. Kokushō later appeared on a radio show with Misato Watanabe in 1986.)^[2] She moved to Tokyo after becoming a beauty model for Shiseido and the CBS Sony representative suggested she enter the "High School Girl Special" contest on Fuji TV's All Night Fuji, where she made her television debut.^[2]

After winning the in-show beauty contest, she made her debut on Yūyake Nyan Nyan("Sunset Meow Meow") (夕ゆうやけニャンニャン) as a founding member of Onyanko Club.^[2] Because she was attending a high school in Hiroshima Prefecture at the time, she was described as being from Hiroshima. She was the captain of the track and field club during high school.^[2]

Onyanko Club era

On April 1, 1985, Kokushō made her professional debut as a founding member of Onyanko Club (member #8). Because she had already graduated from high school, she was senior to most of the other members of Onyanko Club and became the de facto leader of the group.^[2] However, the "public image" leaders of the group were promoted as being Eri Nitta, Miharu Nakajima (中島なかじま美春みはる, Nakajima Miharu), Satomi Fukunaga, and Kazuko utsumi (内海うつみ和子かずこ, 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.

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 "Valentine Kiss", which was backed by Onyanko Club. The single reached No. 2 on the Oricon charts,^[3] No. 1 on the Music Lab and Music Research charts, and No. 4 on the music program The Best Ten (ザ・ベストテン) on TBS. The single also won the Japan Gold Disc Award for Best Single of the Year.^[4] In a 2006 survey in Japan, Oricon Style found "Valentine Kiss" to be the most popular Valentine's Day song.^[1] 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 promotion Oz Academy, working as the manager of the villainous Ozaki-gun alliance.^[5]^[6]

Discography

Singles

Year	Title	Details	Peak chart position (Oricon)
1986	"Valentine Kiss" (with Onyanko Club) (バレンタイン・キッス)	Released: February 1, 1986 B-side: "Koi wa Ring Ring Ring" (恋こいはRing Ring Ring)	#2
	Natsu wo Matenai (夏なつを待まてない)	Released: May 10, 1986 B-side: "Samba wo Odorasete" (サンバを躍おどらせて)	#1
	Noble Red no Toki (ノーブルレッドの瞬間しゅんかんとき)	Released: August 14, 1986 B-side: "Mou Ichido Hashitte Koibito yo" (もう一度いちど走はしって恋人こいびとよ)	#1
	Ano Natsu no Bike (あの夏なつのバイク)	Released: December 3, 1986 B-side: "Yoake made "Happy Birthday!"" (夜明よあけまで"Happy Birthday!")	#1
1987	Hoshikuzu no Sniper (星屑ほしくずの狙撃そげき手しゅスナイパー)	Released: March 11, 1987 B-side: "Kowareta Taiyou" (こわれた太陽たいよう)	#2
	Sore Ijou, Are Miman (ソレ以上いじょう、アレ未満みまん)	Released: May 28, 1987 B-side: "Non-Fiction Shitai" (ノンフィクションしたい)	#2
	Koi wa Tooku kara (恋こいは遠とおくから)	Released: October 1, 1987 B-side: "Cordon Bleu Jealousy-aji" (コルドンブルー・ジェラシー風味ふうみあじ)	#9
1988	Glass no Mori (ガラスの森もり)	Released: April 30, 1988 B-side: "WAIT!"	#34
2008	"Valentine Kiss 2008" (バレンタイン・キッス 2008)	Released: January 16, 2008 New version of the 1986 single B-sides: "Valentine Kiss 2007", "Valentine Kiss"	#135

Albums

Studio albums

Pep Talk (Pep Talk) (1986)
BALANCE OF HEART (BALANCE OF HEART) (1987)
SUMMER SNOW (1988)
Sakana (album)|SAKANA (1989)

Compilation albums

TRANSIT (1987)
Aishuu -Still Loving- (愛執あいしゅう -Still Loving-) (1988)
Kokushō Sayuri Best Collection (国生こくしょうさゆりベストコレクション) (1997)
GOLDEN BEST: Kokushō Sayuri SINGLES (GOLDEN☆BEST 国生こくしょうさゆり SINGLES) (2002)
Golden Idol Deluxe: Kokushō Sayuri (ゴールデン☆アイドルデラックス国生こくしょうさゆり) (2015)

Filmography

Film

Eureka (2000) as Yumiko
One Week Friends (2017) as Shiho Fujimiya^[7]

Television

Sukeban Deka II: The Legend of the Girl In The Iron Mask (1985) as Saori Kokobun
The Way of the Househusband (2020) as Mother (episode 9)

References

^ ^a ^b 大だい公開こうかい！『バレンタインソング』といえばこの曲きょく！ [The Great Exhibition! When speaking of a "Valentine song", this is the song!] (in Japanese). Oricon Style. February 3, 2006. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Komukai, Shoji, ed. (April 1, 1986). "巻頭かんとう特集とくしゅう国生こくしょうさゆり" [Cover Story Sayuri Kokusho]. BOMB (BOMB) (in Japanese). No. April 1986. Tokyo, Japan: Gakken. pp. 24–31.
^ 1986年ねん2月がつオリコンシングルランキング [February 1986 Oricon Single Ranking] (in Japanese). オリコンランキングデータベース (Oricon Ranking Database). 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
^ 第だい1回かい日本にっぽんゴールドディスク大賞たいしょう [1st Japan Gold Disc Award] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. 2002. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
^ "Oz新宿しんじゅく大会たいかいでの尾崎おざき軍ぐんセコンドに国生こくしょうさゆりさんが登場とうじょうした件けんにつきまして". Oz Academy (in Japanese). November 3, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
^ "Ozアカデミー女子じょしプロレスユニットについて". Oz Academy (in Japanese). Retrieved October 18, 2012.
^ 一いち週間しゅうかんフレンズ。. eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved September 3, 2016.

External links

(in Japanese) Kokushō's official blog Archived May 9, 2004, at the Wayback Machine

[oricon-pop-valentine-1] 大だい公開こうかい！『バレンタインソング』といえばこの曲きょく！ [The Great Exhibition! When speaking of a "Valentine song", this is the song!] (in Japanese). Oricon Style. February 3, 2006. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved March 17, 2010.

[Bomb-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Komukai, Shoji, ed. (April 1, 1986). "巻頭かんとう特集とくしゅう国生こくしょうさゆり" [Cover Story Sayuri Kokusho]. BOMB (BOMB) (in Japanese). No. April 1986. Tokyo, Japan: Gakken. pp. 24–31.

[takigawarecords-3] 1986年ねん2月がつオリコンシングルランキング [February 1986 Oricon Single Ranking] (in Japanese). オリコンランキングデータベース (Oricon Ranking Database). 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2010.

[gold_disc-4] 第だい1回かい日本にっぽんゴールドディスク大賞たいしょう [1st Japan Gold Disc Award] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. 2002. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2010.

[5] "Oz新宿しんじゅく大会たいかいでの尾崎おざき軍ぐんセコンドに国生こくしょうさゆりさんが登場とうじょうした件けんにつきまして". Oz Academy (in Japanese). November 3, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2012.

[6] "Ozアカデミー女子じょしプロレスユニットについて". Oz Academy (in Japanese). Retrieved October 18, 2012.

[7] 一いち週間しゅうかんフレンズ。. eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved September 3, 2016.

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