Saori Minami

Saori Minami (born Akemi Shinoyama, 篠山 明美) is a retired Japanese female popular singer. She was also called "Cynthia" as a nickname.  
 Early life and career 
Minami was born on July 2, 1954 in Okinawa, Japan. She is bilingual in English and Japanese as her father-in-law was of the Philippine origin. In 1971, at age 17, her talent in music was discovered by a manager who worked for music company. She was recommended by him as a singer. 
Soon after that, she recorded a song "17才"(Seventeen years old), written by a songwriter Kyohei Tsutsumi. She then became popular all over Japan. She had been continuing to make hit songs in 1970s. She retired from a singer in 1978 and got married to Kishin Shinoyama, a famous cameraman in 1979. Shinoyama died in 2024.

 Discography 
Her major hit songs were as follows.

17才 (1971)music by Kyohei Ttsutsumi
潮風のメロディー (1971)
ともだち (1972)
哀愁のページ (1972)
早春の港 (1973)
色づく街 (1973)
ひとかけらの純情 (1973)
バラのかげり (1974)
想い出通り (1975)
人恋しくて (1975)
春の予感 (1978)

 References 

 Other websites 
Saori Minami official homepage at Sony Music.co.jp
Saori Minami solo show in 1975 at YouTube
A special article on the 50th anniversary of her debut in the weekly magazine "Gendai", or in Yahoo! News in Japanese

category:japanese singers
Category:Japanese idols