Minayo Watanabe

is a Japanese idol and singer. She debuted as member number 29 of the idol group Onyanko Club. As she was one of the most popular members, in 1986 she started releasing solo songs. Her solo career continued after the group disbanded in 1987. She was born in Gifu Prefecture, but moved to Nishikasugai District in Aichi Prefecture when she was two years old. Her father owned a construction company.

In April 1985, she enrolled at in the local area and also attended a celebrity training school in Nagoya. This led to her being scouted by CBS Sony Records. She also joined , a leading entertainment agency, thus she quit high school and moved to Tokyo. Note that since Burning Production had limited the number of celebrities belonging to the agency, , who was waiting for her debut as a singer, was released to its affiliate agency after Watanabe, who was highly favored by , the president of Burning Production, joined the agency. Unlike usually, the audition at this time was a joint project with the popular radio program , featuring comedian as DJ, and they were also looking for a poster girl for the radio program.

In February 1986, when Kokushō made her solo debut with the song Valentine Kiss, she and Mako Shiraishi served as backing vocalists. In March 1986, Kawai and Kokushō left the radio program, and Shiraishi was joined as a new DJ. Shortly thereafter, Watanabe caused controversy by saying on the program that "the old ladies were no longer here". Shortly thereafter, she made her solo debut with the song , which ranked No. 1 on the Oricon in its first appearance. As a result, she had five consecutive No. 1 songs since her debut as a solo singer. In November 1986, she released her debut album called .

In January 1987, she suddenly started crying while singing her new song on Yūyake Nyan Nyan. The reason was that she was emotionally unstable due to a poor rehearsal for a popular singing show called . She was positioned as a new leader of Onyanko Club. She was considered a legitimate beauty among the Onyanko Club members, many of whom were said to be not very good looking. Since her debut as a solo singer in July 1986, she remained one of the most popular members of the group. In 1996, she married , a member of the rockabilly band Hot Sox, and had two children. She has since continued her entertainment career while also being involved in a nail salon and an interior design store. In addition, her two sons also made their debut in the entertainment industry.

Discography

Singles No Title Release date OriconWeeklySinglesChart Album 1 July 16, 1986 1 Alfalfa 2 October 15, 1986 1 3 "TOO ADULT" January 15, 1987 1 Hopping 4 April 15, 1987 1 5 July 29, 1987 1 Frill 6 November 18, 1987 2 7 February 26, 1988 10 Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! 8 May 18, 1988 6 My Boy 9 August 3, 1988 6 The Heart of Love 10 November 9, 1989 13 11 January 21, 1989 14 Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! 12 June 14, 1989 14 13 November 22, 1989 34 14 August 22, 1990 43 Will 15 August 23, 1991 90 16 April 26, 1995 — 17 April 24, 1996

Albums

Studio albums No Title Release date 1 November 29, 1986 2 May 28, 1987 3 December 21, 1987 — Sweet Little Songs Mini-album July 1, 1988 4 August 19, 1988 5 February 10, 1989

Best-of albums Title Release date OriconWeeklyAlbumsChart December 21, 1989 31 October 21, 1991 July 21, 1997 November 20, 2002

Videos