Nakamori Akina

Be prepared for a lengthy read as I now present you with the greatest idol of all time (just my opinion.) Nakamori Akina was born on July 13, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan. She is the second youngest child out of six. She was born to be a star participating in ballet at the young age of four and in elementary school she wrote about how she wanted to become a singer. She watched her idols fervently on tv programs and aspired to be one of them, her favorites were Iwasaki Hiromi and most of all Yamaguchi Momoe. In middle school Akina was good at everything she did: cooking, singing, sports, drawing, you name it she could do it, but she still kept her eyes to the stars. Akina tried her hardest to get into the idol scene, which she obviously made it or she wouldn't be on the page or in the S class for that matter, but here's how she got there. Akina tried out for the Star Tanjou program in 1979 when she was only 14, she decided to sing Iwasaki Hiromi's "Natsu ni dakarete" but afterwards was turned away, because the judges said that her song choice was too mature for a girl her age. She tried once more the next year and sang Matsuda Seiko's "Hadashi no kisetsu" but was turned away again because the judges thought she had too much of a baby face to be an idol. (I don't know what they were thinking and I've definitely seen some idols that were Akina's same age look like they were 10!) Finally, still not downhearted, Akina tried again in 1981, this time choosing to sing "Yumesaki annainin" from her all-time favorite idol Yamaguchi Momoe. She won! Not only that but she way overpowered her other competitors' scores by over 100, earning the highest score in Star Tanjou history at the time, a 392! I guess the judges finally realized they had been making a mistake turning her away those other two times, because Akina is good and she wasn't going to give up!

After being signed to Victor Entertainment, Akina debuted with her first single on May 1st of 1982, it was called "Slow Motion" and was sort of a cutesy pop single. It sold only not too well making the #30 spot only. Her producers decided to give her a different approach, noticing her likeness to and like of Yamaguchi Momoe, they transformed her songs and style to be more mature. Her next single Shoujo A was the mark of that and was a mark of success. While other idols were out being cutesy or sophisticated but still cute, Akina was the bad girl and people loved it and ate it up. Shoujo A sold well making the #5 spot; however, it was almost banned from the markets due to its portrayal of a hardcore, bad girl riding bikes and what not. But thankfully it wasn't and Akina enjoyed her success from it as much much more was surely coming her way. Her third single is what really brought her home, using a mature stlye, but also showing a vulnerable side, Akina released "Second Love" and it was an instant hit making the #1 spot. It sold almost 800,000 copies and has been Akina's highest selling single to date. Seeing Akina as a strong and formidable idol star, her company and idol Matsuda Seiko's company showed them as rivals, representing dark and light, but Akina didn't pay much attention to this, because she adored Seiko. In 1983, Akina learned to play on her fans, releasing the first single of the year in a bad girl style then the one after in a sweeter vulnerable style, then back to a mature style again. It obviously worked as Akina got 2 more #1s out of that year and an invitation to perform on Kouhaku. Akina continued doing well throughout 1984 and 1985, her next big mark being with her last single of 1985 "Solitude." It got much controversy from her fans questioning if that was the correct single for her to put out or should she had chosen another. It sold much lower then her previous singles at roughly over 300,000 copies, but it still hit the number one spot, the major breakthrough with this single though was that it transformed Akina from being just a plain old idol, into a mature and sophisticated singer! After that her singles were top quality, not that they weren't before, but these newer singles were definitely what made Akina the "Empress" as she is known today. Her biggest singles of 1986 "DESIRE" earned her great respect as a singer as she chose to perform it in Kouhaku with traditional Japanese attire, wearing a kimono. In 1987, her most memorable single "Nanpasen" wrenched her fans hearts as it told of heartache and longing beautifully, showing Akina's softer yet stern side. 1988 she released the hot number of TATTOO singing it in a 1940 jazz style. In 1989 she released her first and only single of that year, "LIAR", another smooth and tantalizing mature hit (and my personal favorite.) Sadly in July of that year she attempted to commit suicide, from overwork and being forlorn over her break up and strained relationship with her 7 year boyfriend and idol Kondou Masahiko, after learning of his affair with her rival idol Matsuda Seiko.

After her failed suicide attempt in 1989, Akina slowed down her career and took a break until the following year. She stayed in Hawaii and was rumored to be rather depressed and took up drinking and smoking (how true this is I'm not sure.) Her singles from then on were decent but nowhere near as wonderful as those of her primetime. She scored two number one hits in 1990, and kept the top ten until 1993. Though her singles have diminished and she's rather lucky to make the top forty very often, she tends to maintain spots below the top 100, which is definitely good for hanging on to a career after something that dramatic. Other than singing Akina is an actress, she has not only sung the songs of many a drama, but has also acted in many of them as well, with grace and much poise. Akina is a rare idol, good at whatever she does and always professional (why can't more idols be like her!?) Akina is still going strong and holds annual concerts which are still always sold out. Recently, as of 2007 Akina has ventured into singing Enka, which in my opinion is a great proposal since she has that luxurious and raspy voice, which is perfect for it, and she likes to add her own melodies smoothing out the traditional sounds making it real hot (listen to her rendition of Mori Masako's Ettou Tsubame and you'll know what I'm talking about.) As of 2008 though, there hasn't been any news of Akina (that I'm aware of) maybe she's planning to retire, if so it will be sad, but hopefully she'll finally settle down and have her life and possibly start a family as she wants to. To Japan (and me as well) she will forever be an idol, respected and divine, and will never be topped. Overall Akina has released 49 singles (I'm still waiting for #50!!!), and has had 23 number ones, 17 of them consecutive! Akina's most famous singles are: "Second Love", "DESIRE", "Nanpasen", and "TATTOO."

Personal Favorite Akina Song: LIAR
Number ones: 23
Top ten percentage: 29 out of 49 songs = 59%

Singles

#	Song Title	Release Date	Highest Position	My Rating	Picture
1.	Slow Motion	5/1/1982	30	8/10
2.	Shoujo A	7/28/1982	5	9/10
3.	Second Love	11/10/1982	1	8/10
4.	1/2 no shinwa	2/23/1983	1	9/10
5.	Twilight ~Yuugure tayori~	6/1/1983	2	7/10
6.	Kinku	9/7/1983	1	9/10
7.	Kita Wing	1/1/1984	2	8/10
8.	Southern Wind	4/11/1984	1	8/10
9.	Jukkai (1984)	7/25/1984	1	10/10
10.	Kazari ja nai no yo namida wa	11/14/1984	1	8/10
11.	Kita Wing w/Refrain	12/15/1984	1	8/10
12.	Mi Amore	3/8/1985	1	10/10
13.	Akai tori nigeta	5/1/1985	1	7/10
14.	SAND BEIGE ~Sabaku e~	6/19/1985	1	8/10
15.	Solitude	10/9/1985	1	8/10
16.	DESIRE -jounetsu-	2/3/1986	1	10/10
17.	Gypsy Queen	5/26/1986	1	9/10
18.	Fin	9/25/1986	1	8/10
19.	Non-Fiction Ecstasy	11/10/1986	1	8/10
20.	TANGO NOIR	2/4/1987	1	10/10
21.	BLONDE	6/3/1987	1	10/10
22.	Nanpasen	9/30/1987	1	10/10
23.	Al-Mauj	1/27/1988	1	8/10
24.	TATTOO	5/18/1988	1	9/10
25.	I missed "The Shock"	11/1/1988	3	10/10
26.	LIAR	4/25/1989	1	10/10
27.	Dear Friend	7/17/1990	1	8/10
28.	Mizu ni sashita hana	11/6/1990	1	8/10
29.	Futari shizuka	3/25/1991	3	9/10
30.	Everlasting Love	5/21/1993	10	-
31.	Kataomoi	3/24/1994	14	8/10
32.	Yoru no dokoka de ~night shift~	9/2/1994	14	-
33.	Gekka	10/5/1994	14	8/10
34.	Genshi, onna wa taiyou datta	6/21/1995	15	9/10
35.	Tokyo Rose	11/1/1995	32	8/10
36.	MOONLIGHT SHADOW -tsuki ni hoero-	8/7/1996	14	9/10
37.	APPETITE	2/21/1997	46	7/10
38.	Kisei ~Never Forget~	2/11/1998	19	8/10
39.	Konya, nagareboshi	5/21/1998	66	8/10
40.	Tomadoi	9/23/1998	40	7/10
41.	Ophelia	1/21/1999	29	8/10
42.	Trust Me	12/1/1999	57	-
43.	It's brand new day	5/31/2001	-	-
44.	The Heat ~musica fiesta~	5/2/2002	20	7/10
45.	Days	4/30/2003	30	7/10
46.	Akai hana	5/12/2004	40	7/10
47.	Hajimete deatta hi no you ni	7/7/2004	50	6/10
48.	Rakka ryuusui	12/7/2005	43	8/10
49.	Hana yo odore	5/17/2006	23	8/10