Kashiwabara Yoshie

Kashiwabara Yoshie was born on October 1, 1965 in Osaka, Japan. There's not much information on her about the times before she became a singer, so I'll start there. In fall of 1979, Yoshie participated in the Star Tanjou contest singing Shimizu Yukiko's "Ogenki desu ka?" and won first place and signed to Phillips. On the 1st of June, the following year, 1980, Yoshie released her debut single "No.1" It however was dismally received at the number 76th spot. Yoshie had fierce competition though, as 1980 was also the debut year for two other strong idols, Matsuda Seiko and Kawai Naoko. Being from Osaka as well, Kawai Naoko and Yoshie became friends. Yoshie's name didn't become big until her 7th single "Hello, Goodbye" earning her a top ten spot at #6. From then on Yoshie's career wavered from side to side, earning many good top ten hits, but also producing an occasional flop here and there. Suffice it to say, her singing skills though good they were, didn't much match up to the glamorous looks or catchy tunes of the other popular idols which competed with her. She garnered a nice fanbase though, reeling out 18 top ten hits, and 2 appearances on the Kouhaku Utagassen program. She has also been nominated consecutively from 1985-1987 for the best singer award. From the late 80s onward, Yoshie's career turned toward an acting prospect and she has starred in many movies and dramas. As of 2006 she has slightly resumed her singing career, and has produced 2 singles since then from her 16 year hiatus. Interestingly enough, the current crown princess of Japan, Michiko is a big Yoshie fan, and has met Yoshie and has her own personalized autographed copy of "Hello, Goodbye." So far, Yoshie has not retired, and with her current restart of her singing career as well as maintaining her acting career, it will probably be a long time before she calls it off. Yoshie's most famous songs are: "Hello, Goodbye", "Haru na no ni", "Saiai", and "Shi-no-bi ai."

Personal Favorite Yoshie Song: Shi-no-bi ai and Kaseki no mori
Number ones: 0
Top ten percentage: 18 out of 37 songs = 49%

Singles

#	Song Title	Release Date	Highest Position	My Rating	Picture
1.	No.1	6/1/1980	76	6/10
2.	Mainichi ga Valentine	9/5/1980	64	7/10
3.	Dainishou kuchidzuke	11/5/1980	49	7/10
4.	Otomegokoro naniiro?	2/25/1981	55	7/10
5.	Glass no natsu	5/25/1981	21	7/10
6.	Merankorii hakusho	9/5/1981	23	7/10
7.	Hello, Goodbye	10/15/1981	6	9/10
8.	Koibito-tachi no Café Terrace	2/5/1982	9	7/10
9.	Nagisa no Cinderella	4/21/1982	7	6/10
10.	Shiawase ondo	7/10/1982	70	-
11.	Ano basho kara	7/21/1982	9	8/10
12.	Karin	10/1/1982	10	7/10
13.	Yoshie no Christmas	11/5/1982	88	7/10
14.	Haru na no ni	1/11/1983	6	9/10
15.	Chotto nara biyaku	4/13/1983	10	8/10
16.	Natsu moyou	6/29/1983	8	8/10
17.	Tiny Memory	9/21/1983	6	8/10
18.	Camouflage	12/1/1983	6	8/10
19.	Tremolo	2/29/1984	8	8/10
20.	Itazura NIGHT DOLL	5/30/1984	10	8/10
21.	Saiai	9/5/1984	8	8/10
22.	Lonely Canary	1/1/1985	9	7/10
23.	Machikutabirete Yokohama	4/3/1985	9	8/10
24.	Taiyou wa shitte iru	7/3/1985	10	8/10
25.	Shi-no-bi ai	9/11/1985	9	9/10
26.	Harugokoro	1/1/1986	10	8/10
27.	Hanayome ni naru asa	5/11/1986	18	7/10
28.	Onna tomodachi	7/30/1986	14	8/10
29.	Tochuugesha	1/1/1987	46	8/10
30.	A-r-i-e-s	5/1/1987	13	8/10
31.	Fuyu no kujaku	10/26/1987	67	8/10
32.	Tasogare no Diary	5/11/1988	79	7/10
33.	Aishita dake yo	12/4/1988	-	7/10
34.	Kaseki no mori	2/22/1989	27	10/10
35.	Anata nara dou suru	12/6/1989	-	8/10
36.	MaMa	5/24/2006	-	8/10
37.	Kuchidzuke ni negai wo	1/9/2008	-	8/10

Honda Minako

Honda Minako was born on July 31, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan. She participated in the Star Tanjou program in the early 80s but did not win a record deal from it. In 1984 she participated in the Nagasaki Kayousai singing contest and won. She was then signed to the Toshiba EMI company and produced her first single "Satsui no Vacance." She held a nice steady run of top ten hits and became known as the Japanese Madonna for her imitation of Madonna's style, midriff showing tops, cross necklaces, even having a concert called "the virgin in concert"... In the late 80s her solo career seemed unstable so she formed an all-girl band called MINAKO and the WILD CATS which disbanded only a year later. As the band was up against Kikuchi Momoko and her band Ra Mu, who in the end did better one the charts. In 1990 she set her solo career aside and started taking formal acting and singing lessons and went on to perform in theatre. She played the role of Kim in the play "Miss Saigon" and became known from then on as the Miss Saigon of Japan. After her performances in Miss Saigon, Minako released an inspirational song "Tsubasa" in which she holds one note for 30 seconds! Shortly after, she began singing opera and making albums mixing pop with opera (how many idols do you know can sing opera as well as regular pop?) She also sang a lot of songs for animes including "Magic Knight Rayearth", "Hunter x Hunter", and "Ashita no Nadja". She has worked with many American musicians, such as Brian May and John Deacon from Queen, Gary Moore, and Joe Jackson from the Jacksons. In early 2005 she was discovered to have Leukemia and under went a lot of therapy, it went into remission and Minako began speaking at cancer benefits as well as continuing her musical career. In late 2005 her leukemia relapsed/came back and she underwent more therapies including blood transfusion. Sadly, on November 6, 2005, Minako lost her battle against leukemia. Minako was one of a kind, a shining starlet who will never be forgotten. It is reportedly said that Iwasaki Hiromi was her best friend, Hiromi even sang Minako's "Tsubasa" in a memorial concert for her. Minako's more famous singles are "Satsui no Vacance", "Temptation", "1986nen no Marilyn", and "Tsubasa."

Personal Favorite Minako Song: HELP
Number ones: 0
Top ten percentage: 11 out of 29 songs = 38%

Singles

#	Song Title	Release Date	Highest Position	My Rating	Picture
1.	Satsui no Vacance	4/20/1985	21	8/10
2.	Suki to ii nasai	7/20/1985	21	7/10
3.	Aoi shuumatsu	8/31/1985	23	8/10
4.	Temptation	9/28/1985	10	8/10
5.	1986nen no Marilyn	2/5/1986	3	9/10
6.	Sosotte	5/1/1986	3	8/10
7.	HELP	7/23/1986	2	9/10
8.	-the Cross- ai no juujika	9/3/1986	5	8/10
9.	Oneway Generation	2/4/1987	2	7/10
10.	CRAZY NIGHTS	4/22/1987	10	7/10
11.	HEART BREAK	6/22/1987	3	7/10
12.	Kodoku na Hurricane	9/9/1987	2	8/10
13.	Kanashimi SWING	11/25/1987	3	9/10
14.	Anata to, nettai (w/ WILD CATS)	7/6/1988	10	7/10
15.	Stand Up ~Full Metal Armor (w/ WILD CATS)	11/30/1988	59	8/10
16.	Katte ni sasete (w/ WILD CATS)	5/31/1989	49	7/10
17.	7th Bird "Ai ni koi"	10/11/1989	53	-
18.	SHANGRI-LA	7/4/1990	62	7/10
19.	Tsubasa	5/25/1994	62	10/10
20.	Lullaby~Yasashiku dakasete	5/10/1995	19	8/10
21.	Boku no heya de kurasou	7/26/1995	99	-
22.	Fall In Love With You	11/6/1995	-	-
23.	shining eyes	7/21/1996	-	6/10
24.	Kaze no uta	11/21/1999	-	7/10
25.	Honey	10/21/2000	-	-
26.	Hoshizora	1/24/2001	-	-
27.	Nadja!!	2/21/2003	-	6/10
28.	Shinsekai	5/14/2004	85	7/10
29.	Amazing Grace (w/ Hailey Westenra)	5/21/2008	-	8/10