Okada Yukiko

Okada Yukiko was born on August 22, 1967 in Nagoya, Japan. Adoringly calling her Yukko, fans fell in love with her innocent and cute demeanor, and her famous smile, the "Yukko smile." Her idol was Kawai Naoko, and as well as being an idol, Yukiko was an amazing painter too, you will find a portrait she did of Naoko at the bottom of this section, which Yukiko gave to Naoko on Uta no Top Ten in 1985. She was signed to Pony Canyon records and the Sun Music agency (Matsuda Seiko, Hayami Yuu, and Sakai Noriko were also signed here) and debuted the idol scene in April of 1984 with her single "First Date." Her single "First Date" was released the same day as Kikuchi Momoko's first single, pairing them in the idol world as rivals, though they didn't play on this correlation much at all. Ever since after her second single her songs kept a nice top ten status. Yukiko's 3rd single "-Dreaming Girl- Koi hajimemashite" earned her an award for Japan's best new idol song. In late 1985 she started a small acting career in a television drama called "Kinjirareta Mariko" (Forbidden Mariko) in which she played the role of a girl with ESP powers. In 1985 she also travelled to Switzerland to record a music film for her singles and songs so far, it was called "Yukiko in Swiss", if you have the chance to watch it I recommend it, it's amazingly cute, you can probably find the whole thing on Youtube. In 1986 she hit the number one mark with her single "Kuchibiru Network" which was written by Matsuda Seiko, and was also the advertising song for Kanebo Cosmetic's spring campaign (this is a rather prestigious thing for an idol to do, as Matsuda Seiko, Koizumi Kyouko, and Kawai Naoko have also advertised for it.) Her success with Kuchibiru Network, which was her 8th single gained her much recognition as an idol as she was seen as a star rising fast towards the top. She began working on her 9th single "Hana no Image" and an album "Heart Jack" to go with. Sadly at the prime of her life and career, on April 8, 1986, she committed suicide, unfortunately many of her fans also committed suicide as well coining the term "Yukko syndrome" to account for the many copycat suicides following hers. It was a dark day in idol history, but Yukiko will never be forgotten. Her most famous singles were: "Little Princess", "-Dreaming Girl- Koi hajimemashite", "Futari dake no Ceremony", and "Kuchibiru Network"

Personal Favorite Yukiko Song: Kuchibiru Network
Number ones: 1
Top ten percentage: 6 out of 10 songs = 60%

#	Song Title	Release Date	Highest Position	My Rating	Picture
1.	First Date	4/21/1984	20	7/10
2.	Little Princess	7/18/1984	14	8/10
3.	-Dreaming Girl- Koi hajimemashite	9/21/1984	7	8/10
4.	Futari dake no Ceremony	1/16/1985	4	9/10
5.	Summer Beach	4/17/1985	5	7/10
6.	Kanashii yokan	7/17/1985	7	7/10
7.	Love Fair	10/5/1985	5	7/10
8.	Kuchibiru Network	1/29/1986	1	10/10
9.	Hana no Image	5/14/1986	-	9/10
10.	Believe in you (2002 Strings version)	12/4/2002	-	8/10

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