Maki Goto

**Maki Goto** is an Japanese pop singer, currently signed to Avex Trax's sub-label rhythm zone. Goto originally made her debut in 1999 as part of Hello! Project, and was the only third generation member of Morning Musume.

Her combined CD and DVD sales exceed 2 million copies in Japan alone. She was the second best-selling solo artist in Hello! Project. Early in summer 2008, Goto left Hello! Project and moved to the rhythm zone label. Goto Maki's highest selling single is Ai no Bakayarou selling 434,790 copies and her lowest selling single is Secret selling 14,861 copies.

## History

### Early Life

Goto was born on September 23, 1985 in Edogawa, Tokyo, Japan.

### 1999-2001

In 1999, Goto Maki joined Morning Musume when she was just 13 years old. She became almost an instant favorite, helping them reach number one with the song "LOVE Machine." She soon established herself as a talented singer and dancer and took the lead on a large number of Morning Musume tracks.

In late 1999, Goto, Kei Yasuda andSayaka Ichii formed the Morning Musume sub-group Petitmoni. The group released their first single, "Chokotto LOVE," in November 1999.

From 2000 to 2002, Goto participated in various Hello! Project shuffle units: Akagumi 4 in summer 2000, 7nin Matsuri in summer 2001, Sexy 8 in summer 2002.

In March 2001, Goto Maki began her career as a solo artist within Hello! Project. She released her debut single, "Ai no Bakayarou," in March 2001, which ranked #1 in the weekly Oricon charts.

In 2002, she graduated from Morning Musume to pursue a solo career and has since released five studio albums, as well as a number of singles. She was also in the Morning Musume ten year anniversary group, Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai. She also formed a unit called Gomattou alongside Hello! Project soloists Matsuura Aya and Miki Fujimoto.

### After Morning Musume

In 2003, Goto participated in the movie Seishun Bakachin Ryorijuku as Koguren Hitomi the main character in the movie. She was also in the unit Nochiura Natsumi alongside Natsumi Abe and Matsuura Aya.

All Hello! Project members participated in the unit H.P. All Stars and released the single ALL FOR ONE & ONE FOR ALL!

In mid-2005, Goto was part of the unit DEF.DIVA

On October 28, Nikkan Sports reported Goto's graduation from Hello! Project had been announced by UFA and took place on the last date of her tour. According to the article, her graduation was in response to her brother, Yuki Goto's arrest, as well as different ideas in the direction of her singing career. Later in 2007, after her sudden H!P graduation, rumors surfaced the very next day stating that Avex's CEO, Max Matsuura, had shown interest in signing Goto. During Goto's brother trial, she disappeared from the media's eye.

On March 25, Maki re-opened her blog during her stay in Los Angeles, where she studied and practiced different types of song and dance, including R&B, jazz and hip-hop. Her blog didn't include any reference to Up-Front agency (but was still on the same address), and it was assumed that her contract with Up-Front had expired on March 1st and was not renewed as expected. Her last blog entry was on April 22.

On June 19, after many rumors had circulated, it was released to the press that Goto Maki had signed with the record label Rhythm Zone under Avex.

Maki debuted with Avex when she participated in the company's shareholders' meeting on June 22nd, singing a cover of Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You." She also participated in a-nation'08 (Osaka on August 24th and Tokyo on August 31st) alongside Kumi Koda, Ai Otsuka, EXILE, Ami Suzuki, AAA, TVXQ, Namie Amuro, and Ayumi Hamasaki, among others. On a-nation, she performed the self-written song "Hear me," a song unreleased to the date, drawing media attention for the first time since her graduation.

The SWEET BLACK Project was a cross-media collaboration between J-WAVE, Avex and Mixi. Goto Maki herself chose the logo and the name, which is meant to reflect the “positive and negative” side of the life of today’s women.

On January 5th, J-WAVE premiered “SWEET BLACK Girls,” a 15 minute segment hosted by Goto Maki and Ryu as part of the popular radio show “PLATOn.” The show aired Mon-Fri and focused on the life of women in their twenties. Reception was extremely good, as 30,000 messages were received during the first week alone.

To complete the project, Mixi, the most used networking community in Japan, opened a special space for SWEET BLACK, and Avex launched a web-documentary on YouTube based on Goto’s daily routine as a singer. Immediate success was admittedly beyond expectations.

On January 21st, Goto released her first digital single with Avex: Fly away. The lyrics, penned by Maki herself, are based on Mambo, a story written by young author Hitomi Kanehara, who won the Akutagawa Prize for her 2003 novel "Hebi ni Piasu" ("Snakes and Earrings").

One month later, on February 25th, Goto released her second digital single, Lady-Rise, also penned by herself. This time, Goto collaborated with Sakurazawa Erika, a Japanese manga author whose works are mostly published in josei magazines (comics targeted to young women).

On March 7th, Maki modeled at Japan’s biggest fashion event, TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION.

After a brief hiatus, Goto returned to the music scene announcing her official debut (as opposed to her collaboration with SWEET BLACK). The mini-album "ONE," was released on July 28th, featuring five new songs. Goto put on a mini-live, which was recorded and streamed live online, in which she discussed the album and performed three songs.

As promotion for this release, Goto appeared on several Television shows. One particular show, Kinyoubi no Suma tachi e, aired a 2-hour special on her life and included interviews with Goto as well as a performance of one of her new songs, 華詩-hanauta-, written for her mother. This episode reached 19.3% ratings for the show, making it the most watched program of the day.

On July 24th, she performed on MelodiX!, a TV Tokyo program.

On May 2, Goto appeared on the TV show "Kamisun!".

On June 22, she announced on her official website that she would be going on hiatus in January 2012. In her blog, she described that she had been looking at her life differently since her mother passed away, and she needed a hiatus to find herself again.[1]

On September 30, Goto Maki attended Takahashi Ai's graduation.

On August 2, an official website for Goto Maki’s pre-hiatus last concert titled G-Emotion FINAL opened.

On October 17, Goto opened a temporary Ameba blog. The blog was opened for 510 hours (Goto = 510), which is roughly 21 days.

On December 4, her last concert "G-Emotion Final ~for you~" before her last hiatus was streamed live and was open to watch for a small fee. At her last concert, Dream Morning Musume appeared and sang LOVE Machine.

On January 18, Goto Maki's “G-Emotion Final ~for you~” DVD Cover and track list were released. The release date for sale to the public was set for March 7.

On March 10th, Dream Morning Musume held their ‘First chapter final’ live concert titled “Dream Morning Musume Special LIVE 2012 Nippon Budokan~Dai 1 Shou Shuumaku ‘Yuusha tachi, Shuugou seyo’~” at Nippon Budokan. Current Morning Musume members, and OG members, Aya Ishiguro and Nozomi Tsuji made their guest appearance. Moreover, Goto Maki who had been on indefinite hiatus since the end of last year, made a surprise appearance. For this day’s live, a total of 24 former and current Morning Musume members got together on the stage.

On February 21st, Goto Maki returned, promoting Monster Hunter for Capcom.

On April 21, Goto made an appearance at an event for the 10th anniversary of Monster Hunter.

On April 28, Goto Maki opened her new blog.

She officially resumed entertainment activities on June 25 as a chief curator for the web magazine *Alifis*. The next day, she performed live for the first time in two years in the *TV Tokyo Music Festival 2014* for a Morning Musume OG reunion.

On February 8, Goto and several other public figures received the Excellence Award at Ameba Blog's "BLOG of the year 2015", making her first public appearance since giving birth to her first child in December 2015.

On September 2, Goto appeared at TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION.

On March 23, Goto modeled for the fashion site ＆Co. with her two-year-old daughter, who made her modeling debut.

On June 27, Goto performed live for the first time in four years in the *TV Tokyo Musical Festival 2018* with other Morning Musume OG members.

On March 13, the gossip tabloid *Bunshun Online* (the official site for *Shukan Bunshun* magazine) reported Goto had recently reconnected with an ex-boyfriend and was carrying on an affair, with the two checking in at Tokyo's Apa Hotel for a sexual encounter on the night of February 22 and the morning of February 23. Her husband had filed a lawsuit against the man seeking 3.3 million yen in damages. However, the man claimed he was not in violation of any rights because Goto's marriage had gone through a breakdown and her husband was abusive. Goto's agency confirmed there was a lawsuit, but made no further comments on the report. That evening, Goto released an official apology on her blog in which she admitted to the affair, but denied she was being domestically abused, saying her ex-boyfriend was misled by how she described her fights with her husband. She said she was reflecting her mistakes as a wife and a mother, for deeply wounding the feelings and betraying the trust of her husband with her actions. After frequent discussions, "he was able to forgive and accept someone like [her]," and they started spending more time together to restore their marriage. From this point on, Goto said they would do their utmost effort in public and private to support each other even more as husband and wife by nurturing their household and children.

On April 15, she opened up two YouTube channels, one for gaming and one for beauty.

On September 30, she performed "Ai no Bakayarou" at the TV Tokyo Ongakusai 2020 Autumn, and also collaborated with AKB48 to perform a special medley of "Aitakatta", "Flying Get", and "Heavy Rotation" on the program.

On December 20, Goto held an event called Goto Maki 20th Anniversary SPECIAL ONLINE EVENT with Yasuda Kei and Fujimoto Miki as guests.

On April 13, it was announced that Goto Maki had been diagnosed with COVID-19. She took a PCR test on April 12 after reporting symptoms of fever on April 11, and received a positive result. She would concentrate on her treatment under the direction of health centers and medical institutions.

On October 22, it was announced that Goto would collaborate with Billboard to hold two solo live shows, "Maki Goto Billboard LIVE ~Reply~" at Billboard Live OSAKA on November 28th and at Billboard Live YOKOHAMA on December 5th. This marked her first solo live show in front of an audience since 2011.

On February 17, it was announced that Goto Maki had tested positive for COVID-19 after taking a PCR test. She was asymptomatic, but planned to concentrate on treatment at home under the direction of health centers and medical institutions. She recovered and returned to activities on February 24.

On June 7, it was announced that Goto would be collaborating with Global Produce, a corporate event management company. The intent of the collaboration is to encourage businesses to return to hosting events. The collaboration invites businesses to enter for a chance to have Goto attend a production meeting to help produce their event.

On August 5, Goto announced that she would be touring in the fall with six shows under the title Goto Maki Live Tour 2022 Utattemita ~Songs of You and Me!~.

In August, Goto Maki appeared on the singing competition show *The Masked Singer Japan Season 2* as the masked singer Venus. She won the finals and became the champion of the season, revealing her identity as Goto Maki.

On November 2, she released her first digital cover album titled Songs of You and Me!, which marked her first music release since 2011.

On December 25, Goto held an event with fellow Avex artist Suzuki Ami called Suzuki Ami Goto Maki X'mas Live & Talk 2022.

On March 4, Goto participated in e-sports event SBI Neo festival NEXUM 2023.

On March 12, Goto appeared as a guest during Fujimoto Miki 20 Shuunen Kinen! Dai Kansha Live! ~Mikitty Idol Yarimasu! Haru no Dai Shuukai! ~Ashita kara 21 Shuunen~.

On May 21, Goto held a solo live event under the title Goto Maki Live 2023 - Moriagaru Shika!?.

## Appearance

Maki wears a teal shirt with a white underlay, teal trousers and dark green shoes. She has brown hair.

## Trivia

* Her official YouTube username is GotoOfficial.