Sayaka Ichii

Sayaka Ichii (born December 31, 1983 in Chiba, Japan) was a Japanese singer best known as a second-generation member of the mega-girl group Morning Musume. Ichii was well-known as a calming presence in the group, earning herself the nickname "Kaasan" - mother in Japanese. Insert a joke about Stacy's mom here.

Sayaka Ichii Career

Ichii joined Morning Musume in 1998 alongside Kei Yasuda and Mari Yaguchi. Ichii was well-known as a calming presence in the group, earning herself the nickname "Kaasan" - mother in Japanese. She was not loud and slightly insane like Yaguchi or deemed a troll like Yasuda. Rather, Ichii became known as the quiet girl that could become a wallflower if she chose to, but was impossible to ignore when she wanted to be seen.

Ichii proved that last point on the album Second Morning, where she sang a catchy duet with Yasuda. The track was very well-received, and Yasuda and Ichii were put into a trio with newcomer Maki Goto called Pucchimoni. Their first single, "Chokotto Love" was a major success. However, that one single was to be Ichii's last with the group, as she left Pucchimoni and Morning Musume to continue her education in 2000.

She made her comeback in late 2001 on a collaboration called "Folk Songs" with Yuko Nakazawa, and later as part of a band called Cubic Cross. However, Cubic Cross disbanded in 2003, because Ichii and the guitarist, Naoki Yoshizawa, were getting married.

In light of these events, Ichii retired, married, and has had a child. In 2009, she reentered show business, indicating that she wanted to concentrate on acting, rather than music. She has had some guest appearences on TV talk/variety shows.