Ishikawa Sayuri(石川さゆり)

Ishikawa Sayuri(石川さゆり) first became interested in singing when she was in first grade after attending Shimakura Chiyoko(島倉千代子)'s concert. In fifth grade, her family moved, and she started taking singing lessons.

In the third year of junior high school, she entered and successfully passed Fuji Television's singing competition in place of her friend who applied but wasn't able to make it. That year, she appeared in a serial drama "The Shining Sea(光る海 Hikaru Umi)."

She made her singing debut with Columbia Records in March of 1973 singing "Hide and Seek(かくれんぼ Kakurenbo)."

Her 1977 single "The Wintry Scenery of Tsugaru Strait(津軽海峡冬景色 Tsugarukaikyō Fuyugeshiki)" became a smash hit, winning multiple awards such as the 19th Annual Japan Record Awards' Singing Award.

She continued to release multiple hit songs in the 1980s including "Amagigoe(天城越え)" and "Drizzle at the Wharf(波止場しぐれ Hatobashigure)."

She married her former manager Baba Kenji(馬場憲治) in 1981, and her only child Saori(佐保里)(daughter) was born in 1984. They divorced in 1989, and she took custody of Saori. She has remained single since then.

Suzuki Ichiro(鈴木一朗) used her song "Amagigoe(天城越え)" in 2008 as one of his at-bat music.

She first appeared on Kōhaku Utagassen in 1977 and has appeared each year since then except 1983. She has sung in the tori(トリ) position six times and in the torimae(トリ前) position four times (as of 2014).

This blog post translates and incorporates information from the Wikipedia articles 石川さゆり, 馬場 憲治, and Sayuri Ishikawa which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.