Yuki Saito (actress)

Yuki Saito
Native name 斉藤 由貴
Born (1966-09-10) September 10, 1966
Nationality Japan
Other names Yuki Isarai (小井 由貴)
Citizenship Japan
Occupation actress, author, essayist, poet, singer-songwriter
Years active 1984 - present
Employer Toho Entertainment
Notable work
TV drama
Hane Konma
Sukeban Deka
Wagahai wa Shufu Dearu
Film
Totto Channel
Music
"Aozora no Kakera"
"Kanashimi yo Konnichi wa"
"Shiroi Honō"
"Sotsugyō"
"Yume no Naka e"
Home town Yokohama
Height 1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Religion LDS
Spouse(s) Nobuyasu Isarai (m. 1994)
Children 3
Relatives Ryūji Saitō (brother)
Website Official Toho site
Femme Fatale (official blog)

Yuki Saito (斉藤 由貴 Saitō Yuki, born on September 10, 1966 in Minami-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, essayist, author, and poet.[1][2][3] Her married name is Yuki Isarai (小井 由貴 Isarai Yuki), though she continues to work under her maiden name. She attended Kanagawa Prefectural Shimizugaoka High School (now Yokohama Seiryo Sogo High School).[1]

She is well known in Japan for being a member of LDS Church,[3] as she refuses to work on Sundays.[4] Saito used a fake cigarette while filming the 1986 film Koisuru Onnatachi due to her beliefs.[4]

In 1985, after making her singing debut with her single Sotsugyō and her debut album, Axia, she was cast in the lead role of Saki Asamiya in the first Sukeban Deka television drama series.[1][2] She later revisited that story by playing Saki's mother in the 2006 movie, Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki. She has starred in and been cast in many television and film dramas and comedies, and has also done voice-over narration work.

Saito has released twenty-one singles and twelve original albums. She has also released a live album, eight "best of" compilation albums, and has been featured on five tribute albums where she covered songs by The Carpenters, songs from Walt Disney films, and others.

Her father owns an obi shop in Yokohama,[5] and her brother is the actor Ryūji Saitō.[2]

Career

While attending high school in 1984, Saito won the third annual "Miss Magazine" Grand Prix contest run by Kodansha in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.[1][2] She made her singing debut in 1985 with her single release Sotsugyō[1][2] and her debut album, Axia. That same year, Saito took the leading role in Sukeban Deka,[1][2] a TV series following the exploits of Saki Asamiya, a high school delinquent who is pressed into service as a yo-yo-wielding undercover police officer sent to a high school known for its vicious gangs.

Saito was selected to play the heroine in the NHK morning TV novel series Hane Konma in 1986.[1][2] This series garnered a rating of 41.7% for its timeslot.[6] At the end of the year, she was the captain of the Red Team on Kōhaku Uta Gassen, where she debuted her song, Kanashimi yo Konnichi wa, the first opening theme for the anime TV series Maison Ikkoku.[2] This song became one of the most popular anime theme songs of all time.[3]

She was captain of the red team again in 1989, where her single In A Dream (夢の中へ Yume no Naka e) was ranked fifth in the competition.[7] She would later, in 2007, perform both the opening and ending theme songs for another anime series, Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette, an adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel by Nippon Animation for their World Masterpiece Theater series.[1] Saitō had earlier played the title character, Cosette, in its 1987 musical stage version.[1]

She wrote a commentary on Yasutaka Tsutsui's work Kyakusō Gijitsu in 1989. Saito married salaryman Nobuyasu Isarai in 1994,[2] and they have one son and two daughters.[8] While she still occasionally takes acting roles, she spends most of her time with her family. During the 1990s, Saito began moving from the role of idol star to doing more acting in movies, television, and on stage. She also began writing poetry, doing voice-over narration, and song and lyric writing.

Saito has a wide range of roles, from serious to comedic. Throughout the 1990s, most of her roles on stage, TV, and film were serious, dramatic roles. In 2006, she returned to her comedy roots with a role in Wagahai wa Shufu Dearu. Along with Mitsuhiro Oikawa, she formed a duo called "Yanake" (やな家) in 2006 and released Kateinai Date (家庭内デート),[9] and made her first singing appearance in seven years on June 8, 2006. This year also marked the 17th year since her appearance on the Takaaki Ishibashi owarai show Tonwarazu no Mina-san no Okage Desu. In the 2006 movie, Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki (a.k.a. Yo-Yo Girl Cop), Saito plays Saki's mother. She held several 25th anniversary concerts in February 2011.[10]

Personal life

Saito is well known in Japan for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,[3] as she refused to work on Sundays.[4] In the 1986 film Koisuru Onnatachi, Saito used a fake cigarette used for asthma patients due to her LDS beliefs, which forbid the use of tobacco, including smoking.[4][11]

Saito's father owns a long-standing and respected obi tailoring shop in Yokohama, and sells his obis to multiple kimono stores in Motomachi, Tobe, and other places within the city.[5] Her brother is the actor Ryūji Saitō.[2] Saito's hobbies include poetry, illustrating, and writing books.[1]

Albums

Filmography

TV dramas

Films

Theatre

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 東宝芸能 オフィシャルサイト 女性俳優 :: プロフィール :: 斉藤　由貴: [Toho Entertainment Official Site Female Actors - Profile - Yuki Saito] (in Japanese). Toho Entertainment. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "斉藤由貴のプロフィール・ヒストリーならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" [Yuki Saito Profile and History from the Oricon Entertainment Encyclopedia Oricon Style] (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Yuki Saito". LDS Films. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 4 斉藤由貴「仕事より礼拝」…宗教上“制約”多く [Yuki Saito: "Beliefs come before work"...Religious taboos are many] (in Japanese). Zakzak via Sankei Digital. May 17, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  5. 1 2 斉藤由貴さん（女優）が語る [A talk with actress Yuki Saito] (in Japanese). Kanagawa Prefectural Government. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ "NHK朝の連続テレビ小説" [NHK Morning TV Novel Series] (in Japanese). Video Research. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ 【1989年5月】夢の中へ／あの独特な振り付けで斉藤由貴最大のヒット曲に [May 1989 - "Yume no Naka e" / Yuki Saito's hit song due to unusual choreography] (in Japanese). Sponichi Annex via Sports Nippon Newspapers. May 10, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  8. ↑ 【斉藤由貴】母が道ならぬ恋「子供たちは早く寝かせたほうがいいかも」。 [Yuki Saito - Mom had an illicit love affair "Perhaps it would be good to put the kids to bed early"] (in Japanese). Zakzak via Sankei Digital. April 21, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ "やな家のプロフィール・ヒストリーならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" [Yanake Profile and History from the Oricon Entertainment Encyclopedia Oricon Style] (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  10. ↑ "斉藤由貴 25th Anniversaryコンサート ～何もかも変わるとしても～" [Yuki Saito 25th Anniversary Concert: Even if we changed almost everything] (in Japanese). Parco Play. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  11. ↑ "What is the Word of Wisdom that Mormons talk about?". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
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