Sakura Maya(さくらまや)

Sakura Maya(さくらまや) is the second daughter (and also the youngest child) born to the owners of an established restaurant in Hokkaido called Restaurant Sōno(割烹 草乃 Kappō Sōno).

She started learning various musical arts at an early age:

• the violin when she was 2 1/2 years old
• the piano, solfège, and children's songs when she was 3
• singing enka songs at Andō Kazunori Singing School(安藤和憲歌謡学院 Andō Kazunori Kayō Gakuin) when she was 6
• the harp and the koto when she was 8
• ballet, Japanese dance(Nihon buyō)

She won the gold medal at the National Children's Songs Singing Contest(全国童謡歌唱コンクール Zenkoku Dōyō Kashō Konkūru) in 2004.

In 2008, she made her professional debut with Nippon Crown as the youngest ever enka singer with the single " Big Catch Festival(大漁まつり Tairyoumatsuri)."

In 2009, she received the Japan Record Award's Best New Artist award and Japan Cable Award's Best New Artist award, the youngest person to win those awards (individually and together).

In 2010, Obihiro City(帯広市 Obihiroshi) in Hokkaido designated her their sightseeing ambassador. That year, she also received Japan Composer's Association Award(日本作曲家協会奨励賞 Nihon Sakkyokka Kyōkai Shōreishō) during the Japan Record Awards, once again becoming the youngest person to do so.

In 2013, she formed a singing unit MarMee（ミゲル&まや) with Miguel Guerreiro（ミゲル・ゲレイロ) who is the same age as Sakura.

She is also a talented artist, and in 2004, she received an award from UNESCO for her drawing.

She hopes to appear on Kōhaku Utagassen in the future and wave to her great grandmother.

This blog post translates information from the Wikipedia article さくらまや which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.