Yoko Nagayama

Japanese enka singer Yōko Nagayama was born in Tokyo on January 13, 1968. She was introduced to Japanese folk music by her father, who gave her a shamisen at the age of 10. Even though she always aspired to become an enka singer, she began her career as a J-pop artist, releasing her debut single "Haru wa SA-RA SA-RA" in 1984. The track failed to make a splash upon its release, but she would later achieve mainstream success in 1986 with a cover of Shocking Blues' "Venus," which was turned into a hit by British dance-pop group Bananarama earlier that year. All of her subsequent singles—"You're My Love," "Kanashiki Koibitotachi," "Heart ni Hi o Tsukete," and "Hangyaku no Hero"—cracked the Top 10 of Japan's Oricon charts as she made her small screen debut on the TV dramas Sanbiki ga Kiru!, Minipato yori Ai o Komete, and Yūwaku. In 1993, she kicked off her enka career with the award-winning single "Higurashi," followed by other hits such as "Suterarete" (1995), "Jonkara Onnabushi" (2003), "Kizuna" (2006), and "Bōkyōhitorinaki" (2007). In 2022, "Imasara nē," the title track from her 2022 album of the same name, reached Number 45 on the Oricon Singles Chart.

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