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The story
A thread on 5ch asking “which female celebrities have had multiple hits both as singers and as actresses” took off. Alongside names like Hiroko Yakushimaru, Momoe Yamaguchi, Tomoyo Harada, Yuki Saito, and Kyoko Koizumi, posters brought up a wide range of generations, including Akina Nakamori, Momoko Kikuchi, Haruka Fukuhara, Yuki Uchida, Arisa Mizuki, Kou Shibasaki, Ryoko Shinohara, Yumiko Takahashi, and Noriko Sakai. Miho Nakayama, who boasts a track record of dramas averaging over 20% ratings and multiple million-selling singles, drew particular praise as “the strongest if you mean genuine success in both fields.” Meanwhile, opinions split over whether Arisa Mizuki’s and Yumiko Takahashi’s songs could really be called “hits,” making where to draw the line on what counts as a hit a central point of debate.
What people said
Did you forget the 'Chanrinshan' lady, grandpa?
Etsuko Yakushimaru's mom
Ryoko Hirosue
Shinji (Koyote)
Cyndi Lauper
I've supported all kinds of group idols before, but I've never experienced that kind of thing among fellow fans — quite the rare experience lol
Dramas averaging over 20% ratings
Multiple million-selling singles
Has starring films, dramas, and songs
Feels like she doesn't really have a hit as a lead actress though
Only a handful of people pulled that off in the TV era
Acting: Mai Agare, Laid-Back Camp, Ano Hana ga Saku Oka de, Kimi to Mata Deaetara
Singing: Kitchen wa My Stage, Nameko no Uta
Even Kimutaku, who churned out lead-role hits himself, was only ever a supporting character in a Nakayama drama
For a second I thought you meant "Miku Miku" (Hatsune Miku) and got totally confused lol
Acting: 17-sai, Campus Note
Singing: TENCA wo Torou! -Uchida no Yabou-, Shiawase ni Naritai
Acting: Houkago, Jajauma Narashi, Nurse no Oshigoto
Singing: Densetsu no Shoujo, Happy wake up!
Chou Shoujo REIK…
Acting: Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu, Onna Joushu Naotora
Singing: Tsuki no Shizuku, Katachi Aru Mono
That one hit was massive though!
Honestly, her signature acting role isn't all that memorable…
The whole point of this question is "multiple" hits
If it's just one hit, there are plenty of candidates
It's just that the one written by Shigesato Itoi sold way too well and overshadowed the rest
Acting: Minami-kun no Koibito, Saikou no Koibito, Okami Sandai Onna no Tatakai
Singing: Tomodachi de Ii Kara, Step by Step, Fight!
That's zero hits though
"TOO SHY SHY BOY" is still famous even today
Fired up!
Hitotsu Yane no Shita, Hoshi no Kinka and its sequel
Two theme songs for Hoshikin
Acting: Densha Otoko, Keizoku, Ring
Singing: MIND CIRCUS, Suna no Kajitsu
Especially compared to Kyon-Kyon (Kyoko Koizumi)
229 Amuro, 206 Utada, 202 Shinohara
Shinohara's 'Motto Motto' alone sold 620,000 copies
Unfair / Last Cinderella averaged 15% ratings
Haken no Hinkaku was surprisingly low, just under 13%
Wait, you don't know Yumiko Takahashi?
Those were all massive hits lol
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tomoyo Harada belong to a generation that was at the heart of the 1980s Kadokawa Films business model, in which a film’s leading actress would also sing its theme song — releasing the movie and the record as hits simultaneously was the standard star-making playbook of the era. Add in the common practice of casting actresses to sing TV drama theme songs, and it wasn’t unusual back then for an actress to also top the charts as a singer. Today, idol, actress, and singer careers have become far more specialized — the thread even saw comments about Nogizaka46 members sticking out awkwardly in acting roles — suggesting it’s grown harder to succeed at “double duty.” The debate split over where to draw the line on what counts as a “hit”: whether to weight hard numbers like viewership ratings and million-selling singles, or the broader name recognition of a signature song.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Female celebrities with multiple hits as both singer and actress — Hiroko Yakushimaru, Momoe Yamaguchi, Tomoyo Harada, Yuki Saito, Miho Nakayama, Kyoko Koizumi,“
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