Momoe Yamaguchi(I)

Momoe Yamaguchi was born January 17, 1959 in Ebisu, Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan. Her mother named her Momoe which means 100 blessings, wishing her that she will live a fortunate life. For the first four years of her life, she was brought up by her grandparents and she still has fond memories of them. In 1966 she, her mother and sister moved to Yokosuka-shi where she attended primary and secondary school. In 1972, Momoe entered a TV talent search program called "Star Tanjo". She finished as a runner up to the grand champion, but 11 record companies expressed their desire to sign her up. Momoe signed up with Hori Production - a talent agency specializing in young singers and TV personalities. She moved to Tokyo to attend singing lessons and attend middle school. She made her record debut in April 14, 1973 with a song "Toshigoro", but her big break came with her second single "Aoi Kajitsu" which was composed by her teacher Shunichi Tokura, and lyricist Kazuya Senke. She became a nationally celebrated star throughout the '70s. In 1974, she met her future husband, Tomokazu Miura, who was a budding actor of 22, at the time in a location shooting for a commercial. Her career and popularity grew as she produced one hit single after another and starred in a TV drama franchise now known as "Akai (which means red in Japanese) series" due to all the title of the series starts with "Akai ...". In 1979 Tomokazu Miura popped a question to marry him in Hawaii. Momoe accepted and told him that she would retire from business after they got married. In October 1980, Momoe had her farewell concert in Budokan arena. She was married to Tomokazu Miura in Reinan Church in Akasaka Tokyo in November 19, 1980. Momoe now lives with her husband Tomokazu and two sons in Tokyo. She has retired from show business since 1980 and has not had any movie or TV drama series appearances since then.