Yuki Saito (Japanese: 斉藤 由貴, romanized: Saitō Yuki; born September 10, 1966, in Minami-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese actress, singer and narrator.^[1][2][3] She attended Kanagawa Prefectural Shimizugaoka High School (now Yokohama Seiryo Sogo High School).^[1]

She is well known in Japan for being a member of LDS Church,^[3] as she refuses to work on Sundays.^[4] Saito used a fake cigarette while filming the 1986 film Koisuru Onnatachi due to her beliefs.^[4]

In 1985, after making her singing debut with her single Sotsugyō and her debut album, Axia, she was cast in the lead role of Saki Asamiya in the first Sukeban Deka television drama series.^[1][2] She later revisited that story by playing Saki's mother in the 2006 movie, Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki. She has starred in and been cast in many television and film dramas and comedies, and has also done voice-over narration work.

Saito has released 21 singles and 13 original albums. She has also released a live album, eight "best of" compilation albums, and has been featured on five tribute albums where she covered songs by The Carpenters, songs from Walt Disney films, and others.

Her father owns an obi shop in Yokohama,^[5] and her brother is the actor Ryūji Saitō.^[2]

Career

While attending high school in 1984, Saito won the third annual "Miss Magazine" Grand Prix contest run by Kodansha in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.^[1][2] She made her singing debut in 1985 with her single release Sotsugyō^[1][2] and her debut album, Axia. That same year, Saito took the leading role in Sukeban Deka,^[1][2] a TV series following the exploits of Saki Asamiya, a high school delinquent who is pressed into service as a yo-yo-wielding undercover police officer sent to a high school known for its vicious gangs.

Saito was selected to play the heroine in the NHK morning TV novel series Hanekonma in 1986.^[1][2] This series garnered a rating of 41.7% for its timeslot.^[6] At the end of the year, she was the captain of the Red Team on Kōhaku Uta Gassen, where she debuted her song, Kanashimi yo Konnichi wa, the first opening theme for the anime television series Maison Ikkoku.^[2] This song became one of the most popular anime theme songs of all time.^[3]

She was captain of the red team again in 1989, where her single In A Dream (夢の中へ, Yume no Naka e) was ranked fifth in the competition.^[7] She would later, in 2007, perform both the opening and ending theme songs for another anime series, Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette, an adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel by Nippon Animation for their World Masterpiece Theater series.^[1] Saitō had earlier played the title character, Cosette, in its 1987 musical stage version.^[1]

She wrote a commentary on Yasutaka Tsutsui's work Kyakusō Gijitsu in 1989. Saito married salaryman Nobuyasu Isarai in 1994,^[2] and they have one son and two daughters.^[8] While she still occasionally takes acting roles, she spends most of her time with her family. During the 1990s, Saito began moving from the role of idol star to doing more acting in movies, television, and on stage. She also began writing poetry, doing voice-over narration, and song and lyric writing.

Saito has a wide range of roles, from serious to comedic. Throughout the 1990s, most of her roles on stage, TV, and film were serious, dramatic roles. In 2006, she returned to her comedy roots with a role in Wagahai wa Shufu Dearu. Along with Mitsuhiro Oikawa, she formed a duo called "Yanake" (やな家) in 2006 and released Kateinai Date (家庭内デート),^[9] and made her first singing appearance in seven years on June 8, 2006. This year also marked the 17th year since her appearance on the Takaaki Ishibashi owarai show Tonwarazu no Mina-san no Okage Desu. In the 2006 movie, Sukeban Deka: Codename = Asamiya Saki (a.k.a. Yo-Yo Girl Cop), Saito plays Saki's mother. She held several 25th anniversary concerts in February 2011.^[10]

Personal life

Saito is well known in Japan for being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,^[3] as she refuses to work on Sundays.^[4] In the 1986 film Koisuru Onnatachi, Saito used a fake cigarette used for asthma patients due to her LDS beliefs, which forbid the use of tobacco, including smoking.^[4][11]

Saito's father owns a long-standing and respected obi tailoring shop in Yokohama, and sells his obis to multiple kimono stores in Motomachi, Tobe, and other places within the city.^[5] Her brother is the actor Ryūji Saitō.^[2] Saito's hobbies include poetry, illustrating, and writing books.^[1]

Albums

Filmography

Theatre

• Les Misérables (1987) (Cosette)
• Kara Sawagi (1990)
• 5-ji no Koibito (1992)
• Nijūyon no Hitomi (1994)
• Kimi to Naru: Nobody Else But You (1995)
• Ningen Kazaguruma (2000)
• Sora no Kaa-sama (2001)
• Friends (2001)
• Nikui Anchi Kushō (2002) (Kosode)
• Claudia kara no Tegami (2006)
• Zebra (2009)
• Saitō Sachiko (2009)
• Kiseki no Melody: Watanabe Hamako Monogatari (2010)
• Our Town (2011)

References

External links

• Official agency profile (in Japanese)
• Yuki Saito at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Yuki Saitô at IMDb