Fuyumi Sakamoto

With her soaring vocals, Japanese enka singer Fuyumi Sakamoto (坂本 冬美, Sakamoto Fuyumi, born 30 March 1967 in Kamitonda, Nishimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture) has found a close affinity with the national style since first debuting as an enka singer with the single "Abare Daiko" in March 1987 following a year of training. Two years later, she went to number seven in Japan with the single "男の情話" before temporarily shifting her focus to rock music. She joined the rock group HIS alongside bassist Haruomi Hosono and guitarist Kiyoshiro Imawano and released the album Nippon No Hito (日本の人) in 1991. Two years later, she secured the song "美少女戦士セーラームーン" for the animated series Sailor Moon. After experiencing personal trauma and heartbreak, notably the death of her father in 1997, she took a break from music but returned with the "気まぐれ道中" single in 2003, which went to number 17 in Japan. During the 2000s and 2010s, she issued a steady stream of releases, notching up fourteen studio albums from あばれ太鼓 in 1987 to 愛してる… Love Songs III in 2012, also winning the Best Singer Award at the Japan Records Awards in 2011. She has participated in the country's NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (New Year's Eve "song battle") countless times, appearing consistently since first stepping up in 1988. In 2020, Fuyumi Sakamoto made her presence known on the Japanese charts again with "俺でいいのか", which finished in 12th place and followed it with 2021 album Love Emotion. In 2023, she issued a new EP, Saikaisakaba.