Mamiko Takai

Mamiko Takai (高井麻巳子, Takai Mamiko, born December 28, 1966) is a Japanese idol from the eighties, who debuted in 1985 with the J-pop girl band Onyanko Club, and its first sub-group, duo Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi with her co-worker Yukiko Iwai. She has two other younger sisters.

Biography Takai's family owned a local bike shop. After entering , she became popular among the students and was dubbed (Jakkō is an abbreviation for Wakasa High School). At that time, she dreamed of becoming an actress in the future. On April 15, 1985, she was approached by Katsunobu Itō (伊藤克信, Itō Katsunobu), a reporter for the variety show , while she was shopping in Harajuku. In October 1985, she teamed up with Yukiko Iwai and made their record debut as Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi. This song was very different from surrealistic novelty songs of Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi, and was a ballad with a calm and quiet tone. Since then, three more of her songs reached number one in a row. In October 1986, her radio program, , was launched on Nippon Broadcasting System. In December 1986, Tōhō premiered the movie , in which she co-starred with Yuki Saitō and Haruko Sagara. In this film she played the role of a fun-loving disco queen. She also starred in the idol dramas and . Along with this, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi also disbanded. She mentioned that Onyanko Club's first concert, held at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in October 1985, was one of the most memorable events for her as a member of the group.

She then became a solo singer and actress. She was oriented more toward acting than singing. She also published a photo book titled , taken in Southern Europe.

They then lived in New York for a year and a half. Moreover, in December 2002, she and her husband published a picture book titled . However, at least in the early days, it is considered otherwise. They often took a cab home together after appearing on Yūyake Nyan Nyan at the time, since they were going home in the same direction. Iwai felt that Takai was privileged by Akimoto, which was also not amusing to her. Iwai made a curt comment about the successive marriages of Takai and Ruriko Nagata (永田ルリ子, Nagata Ruriko), saying that they should not have rushed into marriage since they were only 21 years old. Note that Eri Nitta, one of the most popular members of Onyanko Club, considered Takai to be one of her best friends. On the other hand, Takai herself recalled that when she was in Onyanko Club, there were no members she was particularly close to, and she was frequently alone. She was also stalked by Akimoto when she and Aki Kihara went to see the movie Year of the Dragon at midnight. On this occasion, Akimoto approached Takai at the movie theater, feigning coincidence. "She is naive because she was nurtured by the warm love of her family. Such characteristics of hers make her very clean image stand out in the greasy entertainment industry. While Sonoko Kawai and Eri Nitta will definitely have affairs, she will never commit adultery." She was considered by the members of Onyanko Club to be the most feminine of the group. Her plain, unassuming, ordinary manner was described as her greatest appeal.

Singles Year Title Details Peak chartposition (Oricon) 1986 Released: June 25, 1986 B-side: Released: September 21, 1986 B-side: Released: December 21, 1986 B-side: 1987 Released: March 18, 1987 B-side: Released: June 10, 1987 B-side: Released: September 21, 1987 B-side: Released: December 16, 1987 B-side: 1988 Released: April 6, 1988 B-side:

Albums Studio albums (1987) (1987) (1988) Message (1988) Compilation albums series (2002) (2010) (2004) (2004)

Videos