Yukiko Okada

Yukiko Okada
Yukiko Okada in 1984
Background information
Birth name	Kayo Satō (佐藤 佳代?)
Also known as	Yukko
Born	August 22, 1967(1967-08-22)
Origin	Nagoya, Japan
Died	April 8, 1986(1986-04-08) (aged 18)
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, actress, model, spokesperson
Instruments	Vocals, Piano
Years active	1984–1986
Labels	Pony Canyon

Yukiko Okada (岡田 有希子, Okada Yukiko^?, August 22, 1967 – April 8, 1986) was a singer and winner of the talent show, Star Tanjō! in Japan.

Early life

Okada was born on August 22, 1967, the second daughter of the Satō family in the Ichinomiya Hospital and later moved to Nagoya. At elementary school, Okada loved to read books, especially comic books and she was a talented artist. In junior high school, Okada wanted to become a singer and applied for every possible audition – anything from major audition to the smallest talent recruitment, hoping to become a star. She was rejected every time until she was finally accepted to a TV talent program, Star Tanjō! on Nippon Television – similar to American Idol. In March 1983, she was the winner of "Star Tanjō!".

Career

On April 21, 1984, Okada debuted with a single, "First Date". She was known as "Yukko" in the beginning of her career as a result of her mispronouncing her stage name, Yukiko, due to her nervousness on her first television appearance on The Best Ten, which aired on TBS.

That year, Okada won Rookie of the Year, and was awarded the 26th Japan Record Awards' Grand Prix Best New Artist Award for her third single, "-Dreaming Girl- Koi, Hajimemashite".

Okada played the leading role in her first television drama Kinjirareta Mariko (The Forbidden Mariko), in 1985. Her 1986 single "Kuchibiru Network", written by Seiko Matsuda and composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, reached number one on the Oricon weekly singles chart dated February 10, 1986.

Death

The Sun Music building, located in Yotsuya, Tokyo

Around 10 o'clock April 8, 1986, the manager of the Sun Music building found the 18-year old Okada with a slashed wrist in her gas-filled Tokyo apartment, crouching in a closet and sobbing. Two hours later, the singer jumped to her death from the seven-story Sun Music Agency building.^[1] The reason for the suicide is still unknown. Her untimely death resulted in many copycat suicides soon christened with the neologism "Yukko Syndrome" for copycat suicides in Japan.^[2]

Discography

Singles

1. First Date (1984) Glico's Cafe Jelly jingle
2. Little Princess (1984)
3. Dreaming Girl-Koi, hajimemashite (1984) Glico's "Special Chocolate" jingle
4. Futari Dake no Ceremony (1985) Toshiba's "Let's Chat" jingle
5. Summer Beach (1985) Glico's Cafe Jelly jingle
6. Kanashii Yokan (1985)
7. Love Fair (10/5/1985) Glico's Cecil Chocolate jingle
8. Kuchibiru Network (1986) Kanebo's lipstick commercial
9. Hana no Image (1986) [released posthumously]
10. Believe in You (strings version 2002) [released posthumously]

Albums

1. Cinderella (シンデレラ)
2. Okurimono (贈りもの, Gift^?)
3. Fairy
4. Jyūgatsu no Ningyo (十月の人魚, October Mermaid^?)
5. Okurimono II (贈りものII, Gift II^?)
6. Venus Tanjō (ヴィーナス誕生, Birth of Venus^?)
7. Okurimono III (贈りものIII, Gift III^?) (Heritage, released posthumously)
8. All Songs Request (posthumous singles collection)

References

1. ^ Yosha Research
2. ^ Okada Yukiko

External links

• Yukiko Okada on Myspace
• Yukiko Okada at Find a Grave

Preceded by The Good-Bye	Japan Record Award for Best New Artist 1984	Succeeded by Miho Nakayama
Preceded by The Good-Bye	FNS Music Festival for Best New Artist 1984	Succeeded by Minako Honda
Preceded by The Good-Bye, Sayuri Iwai, Yasuko Kuwata	Shinjuku Music Festival for Gold Prize 1984 (with : Koji Kikkawa)	Succeeded by Shigeyuki Nakamura, Minako Honda
Preceded by The Good-Bye	Ginza Music Festival for Grand Prix 1984	Succeeded by Noriko Matsumoto

Persondata
Name	Okada, Yukiko
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 22, 1967
Place of birth
Date of death	April 8, 1986
Place of death