# Yumi Shizukusa

Yumi Shizukusa (滴草 由実, Shizukusa Yumi, born on July 9, 1984) is a former Japanese singer, songwriter and artist. Born and raised in Kagoshima, she relocated to Osaka in 2002 after winning the Super Starlight Audition and signing a recording contract with Being. In July 2002, Shizukusa appeared in the compilation album Giza Studio Mai-k & Friends Hotrod Beach Party alongside the other Being artists including Mai Kuraki, Rina Aiuchi, and Yuri Nakamura. Her breakthrough came in early 2003 after appearing Day Track's song "Don't Say Don't Love", which topped the Usen chart.

## History
### 2002–2003: Audition and success

In April 2002, she won the 1st place on the audition called "Super Starlight Contest" brought by Giza Studio. After that, she appeared on some compilations like "GIZA studio MAI-K & FRIENDS HOTROD BEACH PARTY" and "DAY TRACK: Lady Mastersoul".
On July 2, 2003, she released her first single "Don't you wanna see me <oh> tonight?". It peaked at No. 35 on the Oricon Singles Chart and gained many radio plays.
On December 3, her debut studio album "CONTROL Your touch" was released.

### 2004: "Yumi Shizukusa II"

On April 14, she released the lead single from her 2nd album "Yumi Shizukusa II", "Kokoro wa itsumo Rainbow Color". It achieved weak success, charting at No. 84 on the Oricon Singles Chart.
On October 27, 2004, she released her second studio album "Yumi Shizukusa II". It includes "I'm in Love" featuring Wyclef Jean.

### 2005–2006: Comeback in popularity and "Hana kagari"

On February 9, 2005, she released her 6th single "Hana kagari". It was used in Japanese famous TV mystery drama "Kyoto Chiken no Onna" and gained many airplays.
On December 15, 2005, she released her 1st digital single "Communication break out" on iTunes. It peaked at No. 1 on the iTunes Chart.
On March 1, 2006, her third studio album "Hana Kagari" was released.

### 2007–2010: "I still believe" and duet with KG

On May 30, 2007, she released her 8th single "I still believe: Tameiki". It was used in one of the most popular Japanese anime Case Closed and peaked at No. 50 on the Oricon Singles Chart.
On October 29, she released 10th single "GO YOUR OWN WAY". It performed moderate success with the usage in Case Closed.
Her 4th studio album "THE PAINTED SOUL" was released on December 3, 2008.
On August 19, 2009, she released her first extended play "ENDLESS SUMMER". It peaked at No. 1 on the iTunes R&B Albums Chart.
On February 24, she appeared on KG's album "Love for you" and sang "Kanawanai Koi demo" with him. This song gained moderate success on iTunes.
After that, she went silent about for 3 years.

### 2013–2014: Comeback in the music scene

Her 5th studio album "A woman's heart" was released on December 18, 2013. It achieved weak success though it was praised from critics.
On June 11, she released her first compilation album "#10-story: best of Yumi Shizukusa". It includes two new songs.

### 2015–2017: "BLUE" and "Rouge"

On July 22, 2015, she released her 6th studio album "BLUE", which was acclaimed by critics. It includes the song "Everytime", which was produced by a Grammy-nominated producer starRo. On Marc 22, 2017 she released her 7th studio album "Rouge".

### 2018-2021: First Art Exhibition and Retirement

On July 31, 2018, she provided music Wanna Be Loved for the image movie of the women's luxury brand "Elza Winkler". The song is available only through the official SoundCloud profile.
In October 2019, two paintings were officially exhibited at the art festival "Salon Art Shopping Paris" held at the Carrousel du Louvre in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
In November 2020, she held first YouTube live stream Atelier Music Room on the Being Inc.'s Official YouTube channel.
In March 2021, her name disappeared from the Being's official website and her paintings were no longer available for the sale on the Being's portal site. On the same year in December, Shizuku announced through her instagram profile about not renewing contract with agency and retired as a singer, however in future claims to be active as a painting artist only. In July 2023, she posted on her instagram photo of giving a birth to a child.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales (JPN) |
| Title | Album details | JPN | Sales (JPN) |
| CONTROL Your touch | Release date: December 3, 2003 Label: GIZA studio, Styling Records Format: CD, Digital download | 97 | 4,516 |
| Yumi Shizukusa II | Release date: October 27, 2004 Label: GIZA studio, Styling Records Format: CD, Digital download | 83 | 3,856 |
| Hana Kagari | Release date: March 1, 2006 Label: Zain Records Format: CD, Digital download | 131 | 1,549 |
| The Painted Soul | Release date: December 3, 2008 Label: Northern Music Format: CD, Digital download | 191 | 964 |
| A woman's heart | Release date: December 18, 2013 Label: Northern Music Format: CD, Digital download | — | |
| Blue | Release date: July 22, 2015 Label: Northern Music Format: CD, Digital download | — | |
| Rouge | Release date: March 22, 2017 Label: Northern Music Format: CD, Digital download | — | |

### Extended plays

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | JPN |
| Shiz-tic Covers | Release date: September 24, 2008 Label: Northern Music Format: Digital download | — |
| Endless Summer | Release date: August 19, 2009 Label: Northern Music Format: CD, Digital download | 295 |
| A Limited Edition of Yumi Shizukusa | Release date: August 23, 2014 Label: Northern Music Format: CD | — |
| Limited Remixes | Release date: May 27, 2015 Label: Brad Music Format: Vinyl | — |
| Wildfire | Release date: January 26, 2019 Label: Northern Music Format: CD | — |
| Darkwater | Release date: January 26, 2019 Label: Northern Music Format: CD | — |
| Maze | Release date: July 14, 2019 Label: Northern Music Format: CD | — |
| Found | Release date: July 14, 2019 Label: Northern Music Format: CD | — |

### Compilation albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | JPN |
| #10-story: Best of Yumi Shizukusa | Release date: June 11, 2014 Label: Northern Music Format: CD, Digital download | 225 |

### Singles

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales (JPN) | Album |
| Title | Year | JPN | Sales (JPN) | Album |
| "Don't You Wanna See Me (Oh) Tonight?" | 2003 | 35 | 9,613 | CONTROL Your touch |
| "Take Me Take Me" | 2003 | 72 | 2,485 | CONTROL Your touch |
| "Control Your Touch" | 2003 | 122 | 1,031 | CONTROL Your touch |
| "Kokoro wa Itsumo Rainbow Color" | 2004 | 84 | 1,149 | Yumi Shizukusa II |
| "Missing You" | 2004 | 132 | 1,267 | Yumi Shizukusa II |
| "Hana Kagari" | 2005 | 70 | 4,568 | Hana Kagari |
| "Communication Break Out" | 2005 | — | | Non-album single |
| "Kimi no Namida wo Muda ni shitaku nai" | 2006 | 151 | 522 | Hana Kagari |
| "I Still Believe: Tameiki" | 2007 | 50 | 4,687 | The Painted Soul |
| "Calling Me" | 2008 | 169 | 417 | The Painted Soul |
| "Go Your Own Way" | 2008 | 77 | 1,580 | The Painted Soul |
| "Katachi Aru Mono" | 2009 | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Arigatou, Zutto" | 2010 | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Someday: Watashi wo Wasurete" | 2010 | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Sakura no Nukumori" | 2014 | — | | #10-story: Best of Yumi Shizukusa |

### Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, showing other artist(s), year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "California Girls" | 2002 | Various artists | GIZA studio Mai-K & Friends Hot Rod Beach Party |
| "Don't Say Don't Love" | 2003 | Various artists | Day Track "Lady Mastersoul" |
| "Foggy Night" | 2003 | Tak Matsumoto | The Hit Parade |
| "Kanawanai Koi demo..." | 2010 | KG | Love for You |
| "Snow: tetralogy ～Dark snow" | 2014 | Ikuro Fujiwara | quatre saisons series: Scenario de la saison –hiver- |

## Filmography

Television roles :
| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 2010 | Heart of Gold | Xiaxue | |