Maki Goto

2007–2011: Label change to Avex, Sweet Black Project Late in 2007, after her sudden Hello! Project graduation, rumors arose the very next day stating that Avex's CEO, Max Matsuura, had shown interest in signing Goto in for Avex. During Goto's brother trial, she disappeared from the media-eye.

Goto's official blog reopened on March 25, 2008. Over the course of several entries, she revealed that she was in Los Angeles, California, taking singing and dancing lessons. On June 19, 2008, Goto had signed with the record label Rhythm Zone under Avex.

Maki debuted with Avex when she participated in the company's shareholders' meeting on June 22, 2008, singing a cover of Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You." She also participated in A-nation'08. At A-nation, she performed the self-written song "Hear Me", drawing media attention for the first time since her graduation. She also sang "Saving All My Love for You", and a cover of Diana King's "Shy Guy".

In 2008, Goto became involved with The Sweet Black Project, a cross-media collaboration between J-Wave, Avex and Mixi. Goto herself chose the logo and the name, which is meant to reflect the "positive and negative" side of the life of today's women. On January 5, 2009, J-Wave premiered Sweet Black Girls, a 15-minute segment hosted by Goto and Ryū as part of the popular radio show "PLATOn". The show airs from Monday to Friday and focuses on the life of women in their twenties. 30,000 messages were received during the first week alone.

To complete the project, Mixi opened a special space for Sweet Black, and Avex launched a web-documentary on YouTube based on Goto's daily routine as a singer. Promotions were met with immediate success, admittedly beyond expectations.

On January 21, 2009, Goto released her first digital single with Avex, titled "Fly Away". The lyrics, penned by Maki herself, are based on Mambo, a story written by Hitomi Kanehara. On February 25, Goto released her second digital single, titled Lady-Rise, also penned by herself. This time, Goto collaborated with Erika Sakurazawa, a Japanese Josei manga author.

On March 7, 2009, Goto modelled at Tokyo Girls Collection.

Goto released her second mini album, "One", on July 28, 2010. This album and on she had begun to use her actual name rather than her "Sweet Black" stage name. As promotion for this release, Goto appeared on several television shows. One particular show, "Kinyoubi no Suma tachi e", aired a 2-hour special on her life, and included interviews with Goto as well as a performance of one of her new songs, 華詩-hanauta-, written for her mother. This episode reached 19.3% ratings for the show, making it the most watched program of the day.

She released her third EP, LOVE, on May 5, 2011.

2012–present: Recording hiatus and return to public appearances

On June 22, 2011, Goto announced on her official website that she would take an indefinite hiatus from her music career beginning in 2012. She continued to make limited minor appearances at public events, such as Dream Morning Musume's concert and starred in a commercial for Monster Hunter. However, in 2014, Goto relaunched her blog stating that she was not "resuming activities right now," and that she will "still [be] on hiatus."

In September 2018, Goto made her first television appearance in six years on the variety show Trio Idol na Onna.

In August 2022, Goto, wearing the "Venus" character costume, competed in the second season of The Masked Singer Japan. She advanced to the final round, along with Mika Ahn and Kouji Yamamoto, and was ultimately declared the winner. In November of the same year, Goto released her first album in 11 years, a collection of covers originally performed on her YouTube channel, entitled Songs of You and Me!

On October 26, 2023, Goto debuted as a virtual YouTuber.

Personal life Goto's official nickname in Hello! Project is , and she is referred to that name sometimes by the press.

In 1996, Goto's father died from a fall while mountaineering. Two years after joining Morning Musume, at the age of 15, Goto purchased a three-story house for her entire family to live in. However, she was also bullied and decided to drop out of high school.

Goto has two older sisters and a younger brother named Yuki Goto, a YouTuber and former rapper of EE Jump. After her brother Yuki was arrested on October 20, 2007, for robbery, the magazine Flash stated that Goto and one of Yuki's accomplices had been romantically involved for some time after meeting at Yūki's wedding in 2005. They have not been in contact with each other since his arrest.

On January 23, 2010, Goto witnessed her mother, Tokiko Goto, falling from the third story of their house in Edogawa, Tokyo at 11 pm. Tokiko was rushed to the hospital, but died from her injuries on January 24 at 1:13 am.

Goto announced on her blog on July 22, 2014, that she had married. She gave birth to a daughter and a son on December 7, 2015, and March 27, 2017, respectively. In March 2019, Japanese weekly magazines reported Goto having an extramarital affair with her 28-year-old ex-boyfriend, whom she met in 2011 and kept in contact through online games. Messages between them had suggested Goto was abused by her husband and planned to divorce him; however, she apologized for the affair on her blog and called the domestic abuse allegations "misleading." Goto's husband is suing the ex-boyfriend for for damages.

Discography

Makking Gold 1 (2003) 2 Paint It Gold (2004) 3rd Station (2005) How to Use Sexy (2007) Ai Kotoba (Voice) (2011) Songs of You and Me! (2022)

Photobooks [2001.11.06] [2003.03.21] Maki [2003.09.??] – with Natsumi Abe, Mari Yaguchi and Kaori Iida [2003.06.27] More Maki [2004.04.24] Prism [2004.07.23] [2005.04.26] Dear... [2006.08.21] Foxy Fungo [2011.11.27] Go to Natura...

Essay books [2002.09.??] [2002.12.??] [2003.09.23] [2003.12.??] [2005.04.07]

Filmography

Films Year Title Role Notes 2000 Sanae Hasegawa 2002 Honami Natsume Supporting role 2003 2004 Promise Land: Clover no Daibōken Fumiko Kirishima Lead role; television movie

Television dramas

R.P.G.

Musicals

Radio [2003–20??] [2003–2005] [2009–]

Tours

Headlining

(2004) (2004) (2004) (2005) (2006) (2023) (2024)

Concert participation A-Nation'08: Avex All Cast Special Live (2008) A-Nation for Life (2011)