# Miki Matsubara

Miki Matsubara (松原 みき, Matsubara Miki) (28 November 1959 – 7 October 2004) was a Japanese composer, lyricist, and singer from Kishiwada, Osaka, Japan. She participated in the opening and ending theme songs of the TV anime Gu-Gu Ganmo under the name "Suzie Matsubara".
Her 1979 debut song "Mayonaka no Door (Stay With Me)" became a hit, reaching number 28 on the Oricon chart, selling 104,000 copies according to Oricon survey, and selling 300,000 copies announced by Canyon Records. In addition, since around 2020, the song has become widely heard not only in Japan but also overseas thanks to the video sharing platform TikTok and the resurgence of city pop.

## Early life

Matsubara was born 28 November 1959 in Kishiwada, Osaka in Japan. She spent her childhood in Hiraoka Town, Nishi-ku, Sakai, Osaka.
She grew up in a family of four, including a father, a mother and a younger sister. Her father was a board member of a hospital and her mother was a jazz singer who had sung with the Japanese jazz band and comedy group Crazy Cats. Matsubara started learning the piano at the age of three and later became familiar with jazz. As a child, she went to Sakai city's Hiraoka Elementary School and then in 1972, entered Poole Gakuin Junior High School. Around this time Matsubara became interested in rock music and joined the rock band "Kurei". In 1975 she started in Poole Gakuin High School and became active as a keyboard player of the band "Yoshinoya Band". They would play songs at a live house called Takutaku located in Kyoto. Matsubara was described as an excellent student and was expected by many around her to attend college, but at that time she had already made plans to pursue her dream of becoming a singer. In 1977, when she was still in high school, Matsubara went to Tokyo alone at the age of 17 to make her debut as a singer. The Japanese pianist Yuzuru Sera [ja] found her playing music and singing in various places in Kantō such as in the live music venue Birdland located in Roppongi, Tokyo.

## Career

Matsubara started her career in 1979 and is known from hit songs such as her debut and immediate breakthrough "Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)" which has been covered by numerous artists, including Akina Nakamori. The song was ranked 28th on the Oricon Chart, and according to that chart sold 104,000 copies and 300,000 copies announced by Canyon records. Some of her other known songs were "Neat na gogo san-ji (ニートな午後3時)" and "The Winner" among others.
After the release of the song "Neat na Gogo San-ji" Matsubara became a well-known singer during that time. She was offered by many to perform in college festivals, concerts and so on. The song even gained a feature in a commercial of the famous Japanese multinational personal care company Shiseido, only less than two years after her debut.
Miki Matsubara received a number of artist awards. Amidst her career, she formed her own band called Dr. Woo. Matsubara also had some international work with Motown jazz fusion group Dr. Strut in Los Angeles (becoming a backing band in the album recordings for "Cupid" and "Myself"), Tokyo and Osaka (Hall concerts), later releasing a jazz cover album titled Blue Eyes. On that album she covered some famous jazz songs like "Love for Sale" and the soft rock song "You've Got a Friend", originally written and sung by Carole King.
Her vocal range was that of a mezzo-soprano.
During her music career she released 8 singles, and 12 albums. Despite her work being mainly domestic, outside of Japan she was also known for her work as an anime singer and songwriter, singing the opening and ending songs to anime such as Dirty Pair: Project Eden, although recently with the popularization of city pop her other work has gained overseas fans as well. While singing theme songs for the anime Gu Gu Ganmo, she performed under the name Suzie Matsubara (スージー・松原). Matsubara's song "The Winner" was used as the opening for the Gundam OVA-series Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.
From the 1990s forwards she especially worked on anime soundtracks and music for commercials. Matsubara composed songs for a couple of anime, some of her most known musical compositions were for the anime series Gundam. Matsubara composed songs for several singers, like Hitomi Mieno, but her most notable works were likely with the singer and actress Mariko Kouda, whom Matsubara composed multiple songs to. Kouda's song "Ame no Chi Special" (雨のちスペシャル), which Matsubara composed, was featured in the five-minute music television and radio series Minna no Uta as a music video in 1997. It attracted a lot of attention and ranked 28th place on the Oricon chart. The song was repeatedly rebroadcast until 2004.
On 5 December 2024, Miki Matsubara's previously unreleased new song "Sky Restaurant", known as Hi-Fi Set's hit, was released for distribution.

## Personal life

Little is known about Miki Matsubara's personal life. She married Masaki Honjo (1953-2007), a support musician (drummer) for her band. Later Masaki became a dentist and died in 2007 at the age of 54.
During Matsubara's years as a student, her eyesight deteriorated due to fatigue from a part-time job. Her eyesight was, however, fixed with surgery.

## Health problems and death

At the end of 2000, Matsubara sent an e-mail to her company, the members of Dr. Woo, and others around her, stating, "Actually, I can no longer continue with my music for a certain reason. I am cancelling my phone, cell phone, and email. So please do not reply. Please live your life without regrets." She stopped all music activities and disappeared from the spotlight altogether. She burned all her cherished sheet music and records. In an e-mail sent to her cousin at the time, she wrote, "Please forget all the times in the past when I was singing and composing."
In 2001, it was revealed that Matsubara's actions were prompted by a late-stage cancer diagnosis she had received at the time, after which she began treatment. She associated her career with the time when she became ill, so putting music behind her was in hopes for a new chance at life. She regretted doing music as she wished she got to enjoy life more instead of focusing on her career. Matsubara returned to her parents' home and spent her final years battling her illness.
After being told by her doctor that she only had three months left to live, Matsubara died on 7 October 2004, at age 44 due to complications from uterine cervix cancer. Her death was announced to the public two months later.

## Legacy

An increased interest in city pop during the 21st century, particularly the 2010s, contributed to Matsubara gaining global recognition and "Stay with Me" (真夜中のドア, "Mayonaka no door") becoming a resurgent hit in the West and throughout Asia in 2020. Billboard Japan credits Indonesian YouTuber Rainych for the song's initial surge in popularity, after she shared a cover version with her almost 1.3 million subscribers on the platform in October that year. This rediscovery of the song in Indonesia—indicated by an upsurge of streams on digital music platforms Apple Music and Spotify—then spread to other countries worldwide and it continued to gain traction, especially in North America where it became a "'visible hit' on numerous streaming rankings" and "shot to No. 1 on Spotify's viral charts". The song became a well-known sound on the multimedia streaming app TikTok, most notably during December 2020—prior to this, it was already somewhat popular in the platform's anime community—where it sparked a trend among users of Japanese descent, who shared videos of themselves playing the song for their mothers and filming their reactions when they recognized the track. One such video garnered over 23 million views and 6 million likes. As of February 2021, the sound has been used in over 200,000 videos on the platform.
As a result of this resurgence in popularity, Matsubara's debut album, Pocket Park, was repressed on vinyl in late 2020.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Year | Title | Label |
| 1980 | Pocket Park | See･Saw |
| 1980 | Who Are You? | See･Saw |
| 1981 | Cupid | See･Saw |
| 1982 | Myself | See･Saw |
| 1982 | 彩 | See･Saw |
| 1983 | Revue | See･Saw |
| 1984 | Blue Eyes (cover album) | See･Saw |
| 1984 | Cool Cut | See･Saw |
| 1985 | Lady Bounce | See･Saw |
| 1987 | Dirty Pair (Original Soundtrack) | Victor |
| 1988 | Wink | Victor |

### Compilations

| Year | Title | Label |
| 1983 | Paradise Beach | See･Saw |
| 1986 | Super Best | Pony |
| 2002 | Best | Pony Canyon |
| 2011 | Golden☆Best | Pony Canyon |
| 2013 | The Premium Best | Pony Canyon |
| 2014 | Light Mellow | Pony Canyon |
| 2015 | Aya | Pony Canyon |
| 2017 | Platinum Best | Pony Canyon |

### Magazines

| Date of Issue | Magazine name | Issuer | Page | Type | Title |
| 1979.12.9 | Weekly Myojo | Shueisha | End of book | gravure | Debuted with “Midnight Door,” a rich feeling cultivated through jazz and rock. |
| 1980.1.1 | weekly playboy | Shueisha | End of book | gravure | The other side of midnight: contemporary music |
| 1980.1.10 | GORO | Shogakukan | End of book | gravure | A love sounds singer aiming to be Japan's Diana Ross is born! |
| 1980.1.22 | weekly women's | Shufu to Seikatsusha | End of book | gravure | 50 people who were popular in the 1980s |
| 1980.4.20 | Weekly Myojo | Shueisha | p.92 | Dialogue | Haruo Chikada 's “In-depth Conversation” (22) My first love was in the third grade of elementary school, and she was 28 years old! |
| 1980.4.22 | weekly playboy | Shueisha | p.71 | | Miki Matsubara's braless incident has a cute face but likes music |
| 1980.4.29 | weekly women's | Shufu to Seikatsusha | p.42 | | A heated battle between the 7 favorites that colors the post Momoe ! |
| 1980.5.6 | weekly playboy | Shueisha | p.53 | | Miki Matsubara's carefree and simple life "When it comes to a boyfriend, that's what I want" |
| 1980.5.20 | weekly playboy | Shueisha | Opening page | gravure | MISS Fresh BEST 5 If she wants a sepia- colored love, her mood is " Manhattan " |
| 1980.5.29 | Weekly Sankei | Sankei Shimbun | End of book | gravure | girl time |
| 1980.6 | PLAYBOY | Shueisha | p.27 | | MUSIC PLAY OFF Miki Matsubara |
| 1980.7 | Lovely lady | Fujin Seikatsusha | p.224 | | Woman's Heart/Singing Heart ( Noboru Hayakawa ) |
| 1980.7.1 | weekly playboy | Shueisha | p.73 | | Miki Matsubara's new professional spirit leads a RICH singer life |
| 1980.8.19・26 Merger | weekly women's | Shufu to Seikatsusha | p.93 | | Great fashion survey - list of 70 stars released!!My fashion, hair, and makeup tips |
| 1980.8.19・26 Merger | weekly women's | Shufu to Seikatsusha | In the middle of the volume | gravure | Secret Revealed! Star Fashion BOOK Wearing New Autumn Fashion! Me Wearing Autumn... |
| 1980.11.4 | weekly playboy | Shueisha | p.46 | interview | Date in movie with Miki Matsubara who watched the movie " Chapter 2 " and had a deep ohanashi between a man and a woman |
| 1980.12.23・1981.1.1 Merger | weekly women's | Shufu to Seikatsusha | Opening page | gravure | The last concert of '80 feels like Hollywood ! |
| 1981.1.1 | weekly playboy | Shueisha | p.84 | | The Music Miki, known as the Space Cat, has a message for those who hate cats ! |
| 1981.1.15 | Women themselves | Kobunsha | p.67 | | Butamagamation! Something that surprised me recently |
| 1981.2.3 | weekly women's | Shufu to Seikatsusha | p.144 | | Spring cosmetics campaign Miki Matsubara vs. Akiko Yano faces off! |
| 1981.3.26 | Women themselves | Kobunsha | p.87 | | First release, a little MY privacy Miki Matsubara's memo diary |
| 1981.4.14 | young lady | Kodansha | p.76 | | 20-year-old woman confesses “my way of love” Miki Matsubara |
| 1981.4.16 | Women themselves | Kobunsha | p.58 | | Worst Dressed Announcement 19th place |
| 1981.5.8 | weekly post | Shogakukan | Opening page | gravure | A NEET gal who dreams of becoming the No. 1 showgirl |
| 1981.5.28 | Women themselves | Kobunsha | p.159 | | Young Star 50 questions 50 answers |
| 1981.6.9 | young lady | Kodansha | p.113 | | BOYS & GIRLS topic zoom up Miki Matsubara is the topic |
| 1981.6.18 | Women themselves | Kobunsha | Opening page | gravure | 9 stars wearing their favorite summer formal wear |
| 1981.9.27 | Sunday every day | Mainichi Shimbun | p.43 | | Even the promoters were put to shame at the school festival, which was full of entertainment. |
| 1982.10.2 | Weekly Jewels | Kobunsha | p.67 | | Wonderful Time Now, I want to approach you mysteriously! |
| 1983.1.9 | Sunday every day | Mainichi Shimbun | | gravure | Walking - (Early New Year '83 - Would you like to run with a wild boar ?) |
| 1988.9.10 | smile | Shodensha | p.36 | | A kiss from my heart! Miki Matsubara I long for a kiss, but there are also “contacts” so exciting that kisses fade. |
| 1989.7.20 | Asahi entertainment | Tokuma Shoten | p.12 | gravure | The enthusiastic "good woman" has returned as a mature woman! Miki Matsubara (29) |
| 1989.7.20 | asahi entertainment | Tokuma Shoten | pp.35-36 | interview | A complete look at the current status of 20 of those "good women"! (6) Miki Matsubara Completes 4 years of "recharging" "I started hanging out with strange archaeologists..." |
| sources: Oya Soichi Bunko Magazine Article Index General Catalog Personal Name Edition 5 June 1, 1985 Soichi Oya Bunko (editor), Kinokuniya Shoten (publisher) Oya Soichi Bunko Magazine Article Index General Catalog 1988-1995 Personal Names Volume 4 1997.1.20 Soichi Oya Bunko (editor), Kinokuniya Shoten (publisher) ISBN 4-314-10121-0 Weekly Magazine Article Index 81/87 People Edition Chi-wa 1988.2.20 Toshio Otaka (ed.), Nichigai Associates (Publisher) ISBN 4-8169-0757-2 ||||||

### Singles

| Year | Title | Label |
| 1979 | "Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)" (真夜中のドア～Stay With Me) | See･Saw |
| 1979 | "愛はエネルギー" | See･Saw |
| 1980 | "ハロー・トゥデイ～Hello Today" | See･Saw |
| 1980 | "あいつのブラウンシューズ" | See･Saw |
| 1981 | "ニートな午後3時" | See･Saw |
| 1981 | "倖せにボンソワール" | See･Saw |
| 1982 | "予言" | See･Saw |
| 1983 | "パラダイス ビーチ (ソフィーのテーマ)"" | See･Saw |
| 1984 | "Knock, Knock, My Heart" | See･Saw |
| 1985 | "恋するセゾン　～色恋来い～" | See･Saw |
| 1987 | "サファリ アイズ" | Victor |
| 1987 | "Pas De Deux" | Victor |
| 1988 | "In the Room" | Victor |
| 2020 | "The Winner" | Sunrise Music |
| 2020 | "Back to Paradise" | Sunrise Music |
| 2021 | "Miki Matsubara Night Tempo Presents the Showa Groove" | Pony Canyon |

### Some notable compositions

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1991 | "Mou Hitotsu no Sotsugyou" (もう一つの卒業) | a·chi-a·chi |
| 1992 | "Men of Destiny" – Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | MIO |
| 1992 | "True Shining" | Rumiko Wada |
| 1994 | "Good-Bye Tears" | Yumiko Takahashi |
| 1994 | "Harmony" | Mariko Kouda |
| 1994 | "Run ~今日が変わるMagic~" | Hitomi Mieno |
| 1994 | "誰のせいでもない二人" | Mariko Kouda |
| 1995 | "Kanjite itai..." | Yoko Ichikawa |
| 1995 | "Mimikaki wo Shiteiru to" (みみかきをしていると) | Mariko Kouda |
| 1995 | "Heroine" (ヒ・ロ・イ・ン) | Rumi Shishido |
| 1995 | "Doll-tachi no Dekuritsu Kinenbi" (Dollたちの独立記念日) | Hitomi Mieno |
| 1995 | "Ame no Kioku" (雨の記憶) | Keiko Yoshinari |
| 1996 | "Watashi ga Tenshi Dattara Iinoni" (私が天使だったらいいのに) | Mariko Kouda |
| 1997 | "Yume wa hitori miru mono janai" (夢はひとりみるものじゃない) | Mariko Kouda |
| 1997 | "Accel" (アクセル) | Mayumi Iizuka |
| 1998 | "Ultraman Gaia!" (ウルトラマンガイア!) | Masayuki Tanaka & Kazuya Daimon |