is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 singer and actress. She is well-known for her comedy roles featuring idiosyncratic looks, and a string of successful torch song

Torch song

A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship...

s that gained popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Biography

In 1971, Ken debuted as an enka-oriented singer with a single "Daitokai no Yasagure On'na". In 1975, after the release of several charted singles, she gained the first outstanding commercial success with a song "Guzu", which was written by Ryudo Uzaki and his wife Yoko Aki. "Abayo", a song written by Miyuki Nakajima

Miyuki Nakajima

is a Japanese vocalist, guitarist, lyricist, composer and radio personality. As a principal Japanese female veteran singer-songwriter she is often compared to Yumi Matsutoya, she has released 37 studio albums, 40 singles, 2 live albums and multiple compilations to date, and whose sales have been...

 became the most successful single for Ken, selling more than 600,000 copies. In 1976, the prize-winning song reached number-one spot on the Oricon, Japan's most eminent chart.

In addition to the success as a musician, she also obtained popularity as a tarento

Tarento

is a Japanese rendering of the English word "talent" and is used as a catch-all term for mass media personalities who regularly appear on television. Detractors of the phenomenon have referred to it in an English sense as "famous just for being famous" because many that fall into this career line...

in the mid 1970s, through her comical actings on the multiple TV shows including Kakkurakin Daihousou!!.

After the temporary hiatus of its career in 1977 owing to her arrest for the suspicion of possession of marijuana, she returned to the Japanese entertainment industry with a hit tune "Kamome wa Kamome". The melancholic ballad written by Nakajima became known as one of her signature song

Signature song

A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...

s, finally sold in excess of 300,000 units.

In 1982, she gained huge commercial success as a singer again with a cover version of the Southern All Stars

Southern All Stars

, also known by the abbreviations or SAS, is a Japanese pop/rock band that formed in the mid 1970s.The band is composed of Keisuke Kuwata , Yuko Hara , Kazuyuki Sekiguchi , Hiroshi Matsuda and Hideyuki "Kegani" Nozawa...

' song "Natsu wo Akiramete", winning several Japanese music prizes. The song is her last top-ten hit solo single so far.

Through her long-term career as a comedic TV personality, she has released several novelty singles with other performers such as Ken Shimura

Ken Shimura

, is a Japanese comedian and actor. He co-starred with Masashi Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano in the Japanese variety show "Ken Shimura no Bakatono-sama"....

. The song "Natsuzakari Ho no Ji Gumi" recorded with an idol singer Toshihiko Tahara is the last top-40 hit single for Ken on the Japanese record charts.

Solo singles

Year	Single	Chart positions	Label
		JP Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
1971

}" / ""
|align="center"|-
|rowspan="7"|Toho
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|rowspan="4"|1972
|"" / ""
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|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
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|"" / ""
|align="center"|52
|-
|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|1973
|"" /""
|align="center"|59
|-
|"" / ""
|align="center"|60
|-
|1974
|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
|rowspan="33"|Canyon

Pony Canyon

is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...

|-
|1975
|"" / ""
|align="center"|9
|-
|rowspan="3"|1976
|"" / ""
|align="center"|28
|-
|"La La La" / ""
|align="center"|28
|-
|"" / ""
|align="center"|1
|-
|rowspan="3"|1977
|"" / ""
|align="center"|14
|-
|"" / "Blues"
|align="center"|43
|-
|"" / ""
|align="center"|35
|-
|rowspan="3"|1978
|"" / ""
|align="center"|7
|-
|"" / ""
|align="center"|8
|-
|"" /""
|align="center"|17
|-
|rowspan="4"|1979
|"" /""
|align="center"|55
|-
|"" /"Goodbye"
|align="center"|33
|-
|"" /""
|align="center"|-
|-
|"" /""
|align="center"|39
|-
|rowspan="3"|1980
|"" /""
|align="center"|31
|-
|"" /""
|align="center"|-
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|"" /"Bravo-Bravo"
|align="center"|91
|-
|rowspan="3"|1981
|"" /""
|align="center"|-
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|"" /""
|align="center"|-
|-
|"" /""
|align="center"|69
|-
|rowspan="2"|1982
|"" /""
|align="center"|5
|-
|"" /""
|align="center"|53
|-
|rowspan="3"|1983
|"Lonely Way" /""
|align="center"|-
|-
|"" /"Lonely Star"
|align="center"|71
|-
|align="left"|"" / ""
|align="center"|41
|-
|rowspan="3"|1984
|"" / "Don't Cry My Heart"
|align="center"|-
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|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
|-
|"" / "Give Me Blues"
|align="center"|78
|-
|1985
|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
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|1986
|"" / ""
|align="center"|73
|-
|rowspan="2"|1987
|"" / "Etranger"
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|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
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|1989
|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
|rowspan="6"|Pony Canyon
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|1992
|"" / ""
|align="center"|-
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|rowspan="2"|1993
|"" / "Off"
|align="center"|-
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|"Mary Jane" / "Half Moon"
|align="center"|-
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|1994
|"" / ""
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|1995
|"" / ""
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|}

Other singles

Year	Single	Chart positions	Additional information	Label
		JP Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
1985

}" / "" (with Toshihiko Tahara)
|5
|Credit to "Toshi and Naoko"
|align="center"|Canyon
|-
|1992
|"" / "" (with the Lilacs)
|91
|Credited to "Naoko and Lilacs"
|rowspan="2"|Pony Canyon
|-
|2001
|"" / "Love Tokyo Night" (with Ken Shimura

Ken Shimura

, is a Japanese comedian and actor. He co-starred with Masashi Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano in the Japanese variety show "Ken Shimura no Bakatono-sama"....

)
|41
|Credited to "Ken♂♀Ken"
Produced by Tsunku

Tsunku

, better known professionally as , is a prolific Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist.He is best known for having two major roles in the Japanese music landscape: first as the lead singer of the popular rock group Sharam Q, and now as the producer, primary composer, lyricist and main...

|-
|2004
|"" (with Toshihiko Tahara)
|123
|
|align="center"|Gauss Entertainment
|}

Studio albums

(1973) (1974) (1975) (1976)　(1977)

• Naoko VS Miyuki (a.k.a. ) (1978)
• Naoko VS Aku Yu (1979) (1980) (1981)
• Naoko Mistone (1983) (1983)
• Again (1984)
• Deep (1985)
• Bitter (1989)
• Re-Naoko (1992)
• Ago (1993)
• Love Life Live (2008)

External links

• Official site (Japanese)
• JMDb Profile (in Japanese)