Who Is Sayaka Ichii?

Profile of Sayaka Ichii

• Her date of birth is December 31, 1983.
• Her place of birth is Funabashi, Chiba Japan.
• Her hobby is taking pictures.
• Ichii was part of Morning Musume’s second generation of members along with Mari Yaguchi and Kei Yasuda.
• She released a solo single in 2003 called 4U Hitasura.
• She has released an album called Folk Songs with Yuko Nakazawa. The album was released on November 29, 2001.

Her Career from 1998 Through 2003

Sayaka Ichii (not to be confused with Sayaka Isoyama) is a Japanese idol singer, model, and film actress. She is a former member of the idol group called Morning Musume (now Morning Musume 22). She is also one of the members that had been associated with Hello! Project (H.P. for short). Ichii’s career with Morning Musume began in May 1998 when she joined the group as a second generation member. There were two other girls that joined her. They are Kei Yasuda and Mari Yaguchi. However, Ichii’s career with Morning Musume lasted only two years. In May 2000, she graduated from both Morning Musume and Hello! Project. The reason given for her graduation was so that she could continue her education. She left the group following the release of the single called Happy Summer Wedding. Her debut single with Morning Musume was in Summer Night Town. In 2001, she released the album called FOLK SONGS with Yuko Nakazawa. Nakazawa is the oldest current or former member of Morning Musume at 49. It was also in 2001 that Ichii was a member in the band called CUBIC-CROSS. The band consisted of Naoki Yoshizawa who played keyboards and guitar and Ichii who did the vocals. She wrote two of the group’s songs. Ichii would retire from the music business at the end of 2003. She would later marry Yoshizawa and she gave birth to her first child in August 2003.

List of singles that Sayaka Ichii sang in as a member of Morning Musume

Hiatus for Ichii and Return to Entertainment Work

After a long absence from the music business, Ichii would join Ranves Management Agency in February 2009. On August 24, 2009, Ichii announced that she would make her return the next day. It was after this that Ichii’s comeback was complete.  She would use her talents to expand her range of activities. On August 30, 2009, Ichii made an appearance on TV in a show called Sunday Japan. Ichii would also star to do modeling. It was on September 5, 2009 that she would make her modeling appearance in Tokyo Girls Collection at Yoyogi Stadium. After graduating from Morning Musume, Ichii had not been in contact with any of the members. She said that she would like to appear in TV shows with them. In 2011, she appeared in a movie called Ashita ni Kakeru Ai. Filming began in April 2011 and the movie was released in both China and Japan the following year.   

There are some instances where children don’t follow their parent’s footsteps into the same career. Sayaka Ichii reported on her official blog in 2012 that her then eight year-old daughter has no interest in the world of show business and she even criticizes and finds faults with her mother appearing on T.V. This news is interesting even now that we are in 2015. Her daughter first mentioned in a conversation that Ichii wrote down that she (Ichii) is not suited for TV. Ichii replied that it may seem like that but she is actually doing her best. I can relate to this in some way because sometimes even when we do our best, our best does not seem to be good enough in the opinion of some people. Ichii describes her daughter as being “straight to the point” and that she does not hold back on her feelings. Ichii even said that she thinks her daughter is more relentless than her manager is. Ichii concluded the topic by saying that these actions show that her daughter has no interest in the entertainment business and that she wants to eventually work with her hands and do something practical. Ichii has confidence that her daughter will become a reliable person.

Ichii now has four children. In August 2012, she announced that she was pregnant at that time. She gave birth to a baby boy on March 2, 2013. On July 25, 2012, Ichii got married to a 37-year-old hairdresser. She had been previously married to Naoki Yoshizawa whom she divorced in May 2011 after 7 years of marriage. It is interesting that one of her nicknames is also Mother!

Sayaka Ichii’s Career (2014-Present)

In April 2014, Sayaka revealed that she had submitted an application for the contest called the Otona AKB48 Audition. This contest would result in the winner being chosen to be a member of AKB48 for a short time. The focus was choosing females that were over the age of 30. Ichii did not win the contest. On May 6, 2014, she joined the idol group called OFR48. This group is not related to AKB48. The concept for OFR48 is “bath house workers you can go meet.” In August 2014, Ichii graduated from OFR48. Ichii gave birth to a son in April 2017. On January 12, 2019, Ichii performed as a guest at the event called Hello! Project 20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project 2019 WINTER with Mari Yaguchi and Kei Yasuda. It was on June 24, 2019 that Ichii announced that she would make a run as a proportional representation candidate for the Constitutional Democratic Party in the House of Councillors Election that was held in July of last year. She did not win a seat. In February 2020 it was announced that Ichii would be a producer of a new idol unit. Members for the unit would be selected as part of an audition process called Sayaka Ichii Talent Idol Group Audition. The winner of these auditions would be announced in July 2020. It would be on January 23, 2021 that the results were made public with 15 members being chosen. The group’s name is called PATI PATI CANDY.

Interesting Facts & Trivia About Sayaka Ichii

• Ichii got her nickname of kaa-san due to her motherly nature of taking care of the other Morning Musume members & her personality.
• She is also the 3^rd former Morning Musume member to graduate from both Morning Musume & Hello! Project. The two others to do this are Asuka Fukuda and Aya Ishiguro.
• She is the first and so far only Morning Musume member to have auditioned for an AKB48 group.
• She and Nozomi Tsuji have the most number of children of any former Morning Musume members and that is four.