Yukiko Okada: Difference between revisions
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On April 21, 1984, singer Yukiko Okada was born in debut single "First Date". She was known by "Yukko" later in the beginning of her career as a result of mispronouncing her stage name, Yukiko, due to her nervousness on her first Television appearance on "[[The Best Ten]]", which aired on [[Tokyo Broadcasting System|TBS]]. The name Yukko had a ring to it and was her nickname by her fans. Her smile was named to "The Yukko Smile". |
On April 21, 1984, singer Yukiko Okada was born in debut single "First Date". She was known by "Yukko" later in the beginning of her career as a result of mispronouncing her stage name, Yukiko, due to her nervousness on her first Television appearance on "[[The Best Ten]]", which aired on [[Tokyo Broadcasting System|TBS]]. The name Yukko had a ring to it and was her nickname by her fans. Her smile was named to "The Yukko Smile". |
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Revision as of 04:16, 12 June 2009
Yukiko Okada |
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Yukiko Okada (岡田有希子, Okada Yukiko, August 22, 1967 - April 8, 1986) was a Japanese Idol singer.
Biography
Early life
On Tuesday, August 22, 1967, Yukiko was born as the second daughter of the Satō family at the Ichinomiya-shi Hospital in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. She weighed at 2,700g and was 47cm tall. In the days of her elementary school life, Yukiko loved to read books, especially comic books and had talent to draw pictures. In the days of her junior high school life, Yukiko begin to yearn gradually strong for becoming a singer and applied for every audition out there possible. Yukiko has challenged anything from a big major audition to an audition of the slightest talent recruitment as she would think this is a chance for becoming a Star. One after another she was rejected. However, she was finally accepted to a TV program much like American Idol, to sing and win to become a Japanese idol. The program was on Nippon Television and was called "Star Tanjō!". On March, 1983, she won the championship of Nippon Television's "Star Tanjō!"
However, there was a difficult problem before then. Yukiko's parents thrust a very difficult problem. She was told to give up a dream of as a result of her wanting to becoming a singer, and they were...
1. Being the number-one on a test in the school.
2. Entering by taking a mock exam of the prefecture within Best 5 in the school.
3. Entering her parent's desired Koyo senior high school
She wanted to please everyone and did the unthinkable and impossible, and that was that she had been able to carry out her dream and do all 3 of the major goals or dreams she also wanted.
Professional career
On April 21, 1984, singer Yukiko Okada was born in debut single "First Date". She was known by "Yukko" later in the beginning of her career as a result of mispronouncing her stage name, Yukiko, due to her nervousness on her first Television appearance on "The Best Ten", which aired on TBS. The name Yukko had a ring to it and was her nickname by her fans. Her smile was named to "The Yukko Smile".
Yukiko defeated the rookie of the year title on that same year, and was awarded honors of "the 26th Japan Record Awards, Grand Prix Best New Artist Award", at the end of her debuting year (1984).
Yukiko played as the leading role on the first serious drama "Kinjirareta Mariko" in 1985. Her 1986 song Lip Network was written by Seiko Matsuda and was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The two were very known people in the Music industry and famed celebrities. The single reached number-one on the Oricon weekly single charts of February 10, 1986.
Death and Speculations
On a beautiful day in April, 1986, Yukiko jumped to her death. This was a sudden and unexpected death. It was not long after she got no-1 single in Japanese cd chart, and she smiled in TV or magazines just before the death. She had naive and sensitive character, enough to take her own life. She had longed to be a cute idol like Seiko Matsuda, Naoko Kawai, etc... from her child age, and she had got what she wanted, but soon she was overwhelmed as to live the life as a idol singer. So much in fact, the gap between reality and dreamland had existed in so many places, but except her life. If she could avoid the sorrowful outcome, for instance, by retiring her working as the singer and so on, she would have not taken her own life. But she was serious, naive, and honest and had pure mind, so she could not do such a thing.
Around 10 o'clock April 8, 1986, the 18-year-old Yukiko was found with a slashed wrist in her gas-filled Tokyo apartment, crouching in a closet and sobbing. Two hours later, Okada jumped to her death from the seven-story Sun Music Agency building. [1][2] The reason for the suicide is still unknown. Her untimely death resulted in many copycat suicides and the christening of the neologism Yukko Syndrome (in reference to copycat suicides) in Japan. [3]
Yukiko Okada has been and forever will be called the "legendary Seitouha (pure style) idol".
Discography
Singles
In chronological order
- First Date (4/21/1984) [Glico's Cafe Jelly advertisement song] Lyrics and Composer: Mariya Takeuchi, Arranger: Hagita Mitsuo
- Little Princess (7/18/1984) Lyrics and Composer: Mariya Takeuchi, Arranger: Ōmura Masaaki
- -Dreaming Girl- Koi, hajimemashite (9/21/1984) [Glico's Special Chocolate advertisement song] Lyrics and Composer: Mariya Takeuchi, Arranger: Hagita Mitsuo
- Futari Dake no Ceremony (1/16/1985) [Toshiba's Let's Chat advertisement song] Lyrics: Jun Natsune, Composer: Ami Ozaki, Arranger: Masataka Matsutoya
- Summer Beach (4/17/1985) [Glico's Cafe Jelly advertisement song] Composer: Ami Ozaki, Arranger: Masataka Matsutoya
- Kanashii Yokan (7/17/1985) Lyrics and Composer: Mariya Takeuchi, Arranger: Masataka Matsutoya
- Love Fair (10/5/1985) [Glico's Cecil Chocolate advertisement song] Lyrics and Composer: Kashibuchi Tetsurō, Arranger: Masataka Matsutoya
- Kuchibiru Network (1/29/1986) [Kanebo's Lipstick commercial] Lyrics: Seiko Matsuda, Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Arranger: Kashibuchi Tetsurō
- Hana no Image (5/14/1986) [Released posthumously] Lyrics, Composer and Arranger: Kashibuchi Tetsurō
- Believe in You (2002 strings version) (12/4/2002) [Released posthumously] Lyrics: Yoshizawa Kumiko, Composer: Umegaki Tatsushi, Arranger: Hattori Takayuki
Albums
- Cinderella (シンデレラ)
- Okurimono (贈りもの, Gift)
- Fairy
- Jyūgatsu no Ningyo (十月の人魚, October Mermaid)
- Okurimono II (贈りものII, Gift II)
- Venus Tanjō (ヴィーナス誕生, Birth of Venus)
- Okurimono III (贈りものIII, Gift III) (heritage, Released posthumously)
- All Songs Request (posthumous singles collection)