Sayuri Ishikawa

is a Japanese enka singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history.

Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen broadcast. Up till 2017, she has been invited to perform 40 times since 1977, the year she released her biggest hit, "Tsugaru Kaikyo-Fuyugeshiki". To date, she holds the record for the most appearances in the NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen for a female artist. She has released over 100 albums (including compilation albums ) and more than 120 singles, of which a few were not enka, but rock and jazz music instead. Another of her biggest hits, "Amagi-goe", which was released in 1986, won her many awards, and many believe that it was this song that made her an icon as an A-list enka singer.

Ishikawa appears in the Wim Wenders film "Perfect Days", which won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Early life and career Ishikawa grew up during enka's heyday and went with her mother and grandmother to see Chiyoko Shimakura's performance. "I loved singing," she recalls. Ishikawa won a singing contest in 1972 when she was only 14 years old and released her first single "Kakurenbo" the next year. She finished her high school but didn't go to university, entering show business instead. Her biggest hit, "Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki", was released in 1977.

Major league baseball player Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners chose Sayuri Ishikawa's "Amagi-goe" as an at-bat walk-up song in 2008 along with Misia's "Ishin Denshin" and "Royal Chocolate Flush". Ishikawa re-recorded this song with Marty Friedman for Ichiro.

In 2010, Ishikawa released a rare, non-enka single, Baby Baby, a duet with rock singer Tamio Okuda.

In 2015, Ishikawa recorded "Chanto Iwanakya Aisanai", the ending theme of the Lupin the 3rd Part IV anime.

In July 2017, Tokyo Olympics 2020 organizers kicked off the countdown celebration to the Olympics by releasing a promotional theme song along with a summer dance. The song, with which the organizer aimed to promote Japanese summer festivals, is a new version of "Tokyo Gorin Ondo," the theme song for the 1964 Summer Olympics, but with updated lyrics. It is performed by Ishikawa, alongside Yūzō Kayama and Takehara Pistol (ja).

On May 20, 2019, it was announced that Ishikawa would be awarded the 2019 Spring Purple Ribbon Medal of Honours (令和元年春の紫綬褒章) for her accomplishments.

Personal life Ishikawa married Kenji Baba in 1981, but the couple divorced in 1989. Their daughter, Saori, was born in 1984.

NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen appearances Ishikawa's first Kōhaku Uta Gassen appearance was in 1977, four years after her debut and following the hit of her signature song "Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki".

2017 marked her 40th appearance in total, and 36th consecutive year in the ever popular annual event, which is a record for a female artist.

She missed the 34th edition in 1983 as she was heavily pregnant, though she did attend the show and appeared as a guest, cheering the red (female) group.

Year/Kōhaku # # Song Appearance Order Opposite Notes 1977/28th 1 Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyugeshiki 19/24 Akira Kobayashi 1978/29th 2 Hino Kuni e (火の国へ) 3/24 Kariudo (狩人) 1979/30th 3 Inochi Moyashite (命燃やして) 19/23 Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five 1980/31st 4 Kamome to Iu Na no Sakaba (鴎という名の酒場) 17/23 Takashi Hosokawa 1981/32nd 5 Namida no Yado (なみだの宿) 17/22 Goro Noguchi 1982/33rd 6 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (2) 19/22 Hideo Murata 1983/34th – Guest appearance only – - 1984/35th 7 Tokyo Meguri-Ai (東京めぐり愛) 14/20 Gannosuke Ashiya (芦屋雁之助) 1985/36th 8 Hatoba Shigure (波止場しぐれ) 18/20 Hideo Murata (2) 1986/37th 9 Amagi-goe 20/20 Shinichi Mori Ultimate (1) 1987/38th 10 Meoto Zenzai (夫婦善哉) 18/20 Saburo Kitajima 1988/39th 11 Taki no Shiraito (滝の白糸) 19/21 Hiroshi Itsuki 1989/40th 12 Kaze no Bon Koiuta (風の盆恋歌) 20/20 Saburo Kitajima (2) Grand Ultimate (2) 1990/41st 13 Utakata (うたかた) 28/29 Shinji Tanimura Penultimate (1) 1991/42nd 14 Minato Uta (港唄) 27/28 Saburo Kitajima (3) Penultimate (2) 1992/43rd 15 Hotel Minato-ya (ホテル港や) 26/28 Takashi Hosokawa (2) 1993/44th 16 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (3) 26/26 Saburo Kitajima (4) Ultimate (3) 1994/45th 17 Kiga Kaikyo (飢餓海峡) 24/25 Saburo Kitajima (5) Penultimate (3) 1995/46th 18 Kita no Nyobo (北の女房) 23/25 Saburo Kitajima (6) 1996/47th 19 Showa Yume-Tsubame (昭和夢つばめ) 23/25 Takashi Hosokawa (3) 1997/48th 20 Amagi-goe (2) 23/25 Shinichi Mori (2) 1998/49th 21 Kaze no Bon Koiuta (風の盆恋歌) (2) 21/25 Takashi Hosokawa (4) 1999/50th 22 Amagi-goe (3) 25/27 Shinji Tanimura (2) 2000/51st 23 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (4) 25/28 Takashi Hosokawa (5) 2001/52nd 24 Namida Tsuzuri (涙つづり) 24/27 Takao Horiuchi 2002/53rd 25 Amagi-goe (4) 27/27 Hiroshi Itsuki (2) Ultimate (4) 2003/54th 26 Noto Hanto (能登半島) 28/30 Saburo Kitajima (7) 2004/55th 27 Ichiyo Koiuta (一葉恋歌) 26/28 Kiyoshi Hikawa 2005/56th 28 Amagi-goe (5) 22/29 Porno Graffitti 2006/57th 29 Meoto Zenzai (2) 14/27 Shinichi Mori (3) First half ultimate 2007/58th 30 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (5) 27/27 Hiroshi Itsuki (3) Ultimate (5) 2008/59th 31 Amagi-goe (6) 24/26 SMAP 2009/60th 32 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (6) 23/25 Kiyoshi Hikawa (2) 2010/61st 33 Amagi-goe (7) 20/22 Saburo Kitajima (8) 2011/62nd 34 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (7) 25/25 SMAP(2) Ultimate (6) 2012/63rd 35 Amagi-goe (8) 24/25 Saburo Kitajima (9) Penultimate (4) 2013/64th 36 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (8) 21/26 Akihiro Miwa 2014/65th 37 Amagi-goe (9) 20/23 Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi 2015/66th 38 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (9) 20/26 Hiroshi Itsuki (4) 2016/67th 39 Amagi-goe (10) 23/23 Arashi Ultimate (7) 2017/68th 40 Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki (10) 22/22 Yuzu Ultimate (8) 2018/69th 41 Amagi-goe (11) 22/22 Arashi (2) Ultimate (9)

Discography

Filmography

Film Izu no Odoriko (1974), Okimi Perfect Days (2023), Mama

Television Kōmyō ga Tsuji (2006), Setsu Awaiting Kirin (2020), Maki

Honors Medal with Purple Ribbon (2019)