Junko's stamina and flexibility have always been mind-blowing, but to maintain a whole concert of both so many high notes *and* tender moments while staying clear and focused even after several decades of maturing in her voice is truly a legendary feat. 🙏💖
Junko Yagami, she was born in 1958 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. She has been playing piano since the age of 3 and leaned Japanese traditional dance in elementary school. She has loved singing from an early age. In high school, she formed a folk guitar club, and attended YAMAHA's vocal talent school, and began writing songs. She won the Best Song Award at the "8th YAMAHA Popular Song Contest" held on October 1974 for her self-composed song "Monologue on a Rainy Day". She was only 16 years old high school student at the time. The following year, in May 1975, she participated in the 9th YAMAHA Popular Song Contest consecutively, winning the Outstanding Song Award for "To the Land of Happiness". One female high school girl from Aichi Prefecture achieved the feat of winning the prize for the second consecutive year. This led her to professional debut as Singer Song Writer. In January 1978, at the age of 20, she officially made her debut as a professional Singer Song Writer with the single "Memories Were Too Beautiful". The song suddenly became a hit selling 120,000 copies. On June 25 of the same year, she released her debut album "Memories Were Too Beautiful", which became a hit album in Japan. * By the way, name of “Junko” means "Pure Woman", and “Yagami” is her real name and it means "Eight Gods".
