Minami Saori

Minami Saori was born as Uchima Akemi on July 2, 1954 in Okinawa, Japan. She is widely known as Cynthia by her fans, singer Iwasaki Hiromi is actually a big fan of hers. Being born Okinawan and having a non-Japanese father, it seemed as if Saori was definitely not on the road to success in mainland Japan. After World War 2, due to the many American air bases on Okinawa and the Ryuukyuu Islands, mainland Japanese had a dislike of the Islanders, because of their constant contact with Americans, as well as other cultures such as the Phillipines. Saori's mother remarried when she was young, to a Filipino man, which to the eyes of the mainlanders would see Saori as a mut, and non-Japanese. When Saori was around 16 she went to the mainland to pursue her dream as a singer, eventhough all odds seemed against her. She got accepted into Horikoshi High School and began looking for an outlet in the musical industry. She hid the fact that she was Okinawan, by changing her name to a more traditional name as Minami Saori and denied all links to her Okinawan upbringing. She applied for a part-time job as an assistant at the Sony Music corporation, but her musical talent had been noticed and she met with the President and signed a record contract soon after. She debuted in June of 1971 with her single "17sai" which hit the charts strongly at the #2 spot. Becoming a huge hit from then on she won an award for beginners that year and was even invited to perform on that year's Kouhaku. In 1972, she was recognized officially as a part of the "Three Daughters," as with Koyanagi Rumiko, and Amachi Mari, as the three big idol singers at that time (what is with the Japanese and grouping their top idols into neatly named groups I don't know...) In 1973, she recorded a song with American artist Albert Hammond, unfortunately it didn't fare well on the charts. She kept a nice string of top tens until about 1976-77, when her career started to slow down a bit, during that time she went to college and decided to retire in 1978. She then got married and is now a mother of three. In 1991 she resumed her singing career, but it has been spread out, the last single released so far being back in 1997. In 1989, Idol Moritaka Chisato covered Saori's "17sai" and it still faired well then. Her style isn't easy to pin under one category to be honest, it is contemporary, easy-listening to describe it best, yet it is also pop, and has a hint of enka as well, rather unique. Some of Cynthia/Saori's best singles are: "17sai", "Irodzuku machi", "Hito koishikute", and "Kanashii yousei."

Personal Favorite Saori Song: Irodzuku machi
Number ones: 0
Top ten percentage: 9 out of 33 songs = 27%

Singles

#	Song Title	Release Date	Highest Position	My Rating	Picture
1.	17sai	6/1/1971	2	8/10
2.	Shiokaze no Melody	10/1/1971	7	8/10
3.	Tomodachi	2/1/1972	7	7/10
4.	Junketsu	6/1/1972	3	8/10
5.	Aishuu no Page	9/21/1972	3	6/10
6.	Soushun no minato	1/21/1973	11	-
7.	Kizutsuku sedai	5/1/1973	3	8/10
8.	California no aoi sora	7/5/1973	77	6/10
9.	Irodzuku machi	8/21/1973	4	10/10
10.	Hito kakera no junjou	12/5/1973	8	7/10
11.	Bara no kageri	3/21/1974	15	-
12.	Natsu no kanjou	6/21/1974	16	9/10
13.	Yogiri no machi	9/21/1974	17	7/10
14.	Josei	12/21/1974	23	-
15.	Omoidedoori	4/21/1975	19	6/10
16.	Hito koishikute	8/1/1975	8	9/10
17.	Hito nemuri	11/21/1975	27	-
18.	Ki ga mukeba denwa shite/ Furimuitara asa	3/1/1976	29	7/10
19.	Seishun ni hajinai you ni	5/31/1976	44	-
20.	Kanashii yousei	9/1/1976	20	8/10
21.	Ai wa meguriai kara	11/21/1976	45	-
22.	Yureru gogo	3/1/1977	54	7/10
23.	Machikado no Love Song	7/21/1977	36	8/10
24.	Kogarashi no sei	11/21/1977	63	-
25.	Haru no yokan -I've been mellow-	1/21/1978	25	8/10
26.	Ai naki sedai	5/21/1978	74	7/10
27.	Ms.	8/21/1978	80	7/10
28.	Goodbye Girl	10/21/1978	-	8/10
29.	Aozora	5/21/1992	-	8/10
30.	Yakusoku	3/21/1993	-	-
31.	Yoroshiku aishuu	6/22/1994	-	7/10
32.	Ai wa ichido dake desu ka?	1/21/1996	-	-
33.	Hatsukoi	4/21/1997	-	-