Sayaka Ichii

**Sayaka Ichii** (市井紗耶香) is a former member of Morning Musume and CUBIC-CROSS. She is also a former member of the sub-group Petitmoni and the shuffle group Aoiro 7. She has three children and is currently a TV talent, planning to debut as an actress.

## History

### Early Life

Sayaka was born in the Ciba Prefecture in Japan on New Year's Eve (December 31), 1980.

### 1998-2000

Ichii Sayaka joined Morning Musume in May with fellow second generation members Kei Yasuda and Mari Yaguchi. Her debut within the group is Summer Night Town.

She left Hello! Project and Morning Musume after the single Happy Summer Wedding in May to continue her education.

### After Morning Musume

Late in the year she released the album "FOLK SONGS" with Yuko Nakazawa. The same year she rejoined the music business with CUBIC-CROSS, which consisted of her (vocals), Yoshizawa Naoki (keyboards) & (guitar). Taisei, who used to play keyboards in Sharan Q, was also the producer for the group. She also wrote two of their songs.

She retired from the music business at the end of the year and later married Yoshizawa Naoki. In August her first child was born.

In February, she joined Ranves Management agency.

On August 24, it was announced she'd return to show business the next day, on which her official blog opened and an interview with FLASH magazine was published.

On August 30, she returned to TV in a TBS show called Sunday Japan.

On September 5, she appeared as a model in Tokyo Girls Collection (Yoyogi Stadium). Her agency stated that "She's returning as a talent with a bright and cheerful character, cultivated by her time in Morning Musume, that anybody would love. In the future, she'll be an actor with special and rare talents." The FLASH interview revealed that her husband and her two children have supported her in her comeback decision. She's realized she can't be an idol anymore, and doesn't want to be a mama-dol either, and that she hasn't been in contact with Morning Musume members, but she would like to appear on TV shows with them.

On May 18, Sayaka Ichii was in a movie titled “Ashita ni Kakeru Ai”. Ichii commented, “I think it will be a heartwarming work that portrays love across generations.” One of the themes of the film is encouraging the relief efforts of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Filming began on April 28th and the movie was released in China and Japan in the spring of 2012.

On June 14, it was announced that Ichii divorced her husband on May 23. Sayaka was dissatisfied with her husband’s uncooperative attitude in raising their two daughters. She was also said to be frustrated with Yoshizawa when he quit being a guitarist and settled into a period where he had no work.

On August 25th, she revealed she was married to a hairdresser, aged 37. The couple had registered their marriage on July 24th. She also revealed she was in the early stages of pregnancy.

In April, Ichii revealed that she had submitted an application to the ”Otona AKB48 Audition,” an audition searching for limited time members over 30. On April 14, she blogged that she had failed the audition.

On May 6, Ichii joined the idol group OFR48 (not related to AKB48). OFR48's full name is 'Ofuro48', the group was formed in 2011, and its concept is bath house workers that you can go meet. She graduated from OFR48 on August 31, 2014.

In February, Ichii opened an official site.

On November 10, Ichii announced that she was pregnant with her fourth child, due in spring 2017.

In April, Ichii gave birth to a daughter.

On June 15, it was announced that Ichii would make an appearance at the Hello! Project 20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project 2018 SUMMER concerts on August 4 and August 5 as part of a guest list featuring former Hello! Project members. This was her first UP-FRONT GROUP-related activity in over 14 years. Unfortunately, her appearances were cut from the DVD and Blu-ray releases due to the arrest of Yoshizawa Hitomi, who Ichii had her only appearances with.

Ichii once again performed as a guest in the Hello! Project 20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project 2019 WINTER ~YOU & I~ concert on January 12 with Mari Yaguchi and Kei Yasuda. Their appearance was included as bonus footage in DVD and Blu-ray releases of the tour, likely to make up for her and Yasuda both being cut from the releases for the Hello! Project 20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project 2018 SUMMER tour.
On June 24, she announced that she would run as proportional representation candidate for the Constitutional Democratic Party in the 2019 House of Councillors election that would be held in July. Ichii, who is a mother of four children between ages 2 to 14, told reporters that she wants to deliver the voice of young mothers of a child-rearing generation. Her election campaign called for the expansion of child care support in urban areas and more financial assistance for families with young children.

Ichii failed to win a proportional representation seat in the House of Councillors election on July 21. She received 50,415 votes, coming ninth in the Constitutional Democratic Party behind the eight members who won seats. She acknowledged her loss and thanked her supporters on social media. She told the press that she has not discussed future political activities at this time; however, as the runner-up in her party, there is the possibility she could win a seat during the term if there is a vacancy.

In January, Ichii announced she had teamed up with Mayumi Muroya for an event on March 14, where they would talk about a pleasant organic life as well as offering a vegan lunch. Ichii presents herself in the ad as a woman who lives under the themes of beauty, food, and environment, while raising four children.

Ichii announced the same month she had opened an online salon you could access using a QR code. It is intended as a place where people could share ideas and act. They are also planning a meeting room to think with everyone. The themes are food education, beauty, music, work, life counseling, environmental meetings, and so on.

On February 14, it was announced that Ichii will be the producer of a new idol unit. The unit will be selected through an audition called Sayaka Ichii Talent Idol Group Audition. The audition screenings and training camps for the new unit will be shown in the mysta app. Simultaneously, Ichii released her first single in 17 years; Hajimari no Countdown. The winner will be announced in July.

In June, it was announced that Ichii would produce an idol group called L・I・E・P (Lucky Girl Idol Excavation Project). The aim is to create an idol group that will help each and every person's life. They will pre-debut June 23. This group has nothing to do with the "Sayaka Ichii Talent Idol Group Audition".

On October 16, Ichii opened a fan club called Ichii Sayaka FC (市井紗耶香FC) at Fanicon.

On January 23, the results of Ichii's audition Sayaka Ichii Talent Idol Group Audition was unveiled, 15 members were selected and the group name is PATI PATI CANDY...☆.

One of Sayaka Ichii's idol groups, L.I.E.P, have kept a low profile since their launch last June. Until this month they had only chatted on a few YouTube vids, but recently their song, "Kimi no Rhythm", had a low-key launch.

In April, Ichii rleased her official YouTube Channel.

On August 10, Ichii announced that she will again run for the House of Councillors in the fall 2022 election, representing the Constitutional Democratic Party. She plans to focus on political canvassing to design a campaign that fully represents the voting population.

On November 30, Ichii participated in the Constitutional Democratic Party leader election on November 30 for the first time. The 37-year-old is expected to be a candidate for the House of Councillors in the Japanese elections next year.

## Appearence

Sayaka wears a white shirt with a teal cardigan, teal skirt with white fluff anf blue boots. She has brown hair.

## Trivia

* Her official YouTube username is IchiiComedian2000.