Taeko Ōnuki

is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician who achieved success and popularity during the 1970s and 80s in the city pop music scene.

Early life and career

Taeko Onuki was born in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, in 1953. Her father was Kenichiro Onuki, a member of the Japanese Special Attack Units during the Second World War.

In 1973, she formed the group Sugar Babe with Tatsuro Yamashita and Kunio Muramatsu. In 1976, Onuki began her solo career by releasing the album Grey Skies, which carried the same sound as Sugar Babe. Her second landmark album, Sunshower was released the following year in 1977 and had a much different style, mixing pop music and jazz. In 1978 she released her third album, Mignonne, in which she worked with producer Eji Ogura, but the album didn't sell as well as hoped.

From October 5, 2005, she served as Wednesday navigator (DJ) of the program "Night Stories / The Universe" of FM radio station J-WAVE in Tokyo. On November 2, 2006, the soundtrack for the Game Boy Advance game Mother 3 was released, featuring the song "We miss you ~ The theme of love ~", which Onuki sang. She also sang the theme song for Animal Crossing: The Movie based on Nintendo's Animal Crossing video game series.

In 2009, Onuki covered Eiichi Ohtaki's song "Kimi wa Tennen Shoku" for the album A Long Vacation. In 2020, the movie Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop was released, for which Onuki sang the insert song "Yamazakura".

On March 11, 2022, Onuki participated in the Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami tribute concert "One Last Live", performing "Tokai" and "Mon doux Soleil".

On February 7, 2026, Onuki performed live at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, marking the first time she had performed outside of Japan.

Discography

Albums