Yoshie Hayasaka, a very popular “balladol” of the ’90s, reveals why she is still in the spotlight!

I wanted to be a singer from an early age. In elementary school, most of my classmates were fans of “Hikari Genji” and Kyoko Koizumi, but I listened to the songs of Takashi Hosokawa and Mariko Takahashi. I was more attracted to their singing ability than to the glamour of idols.”

Yoshie Hayasaka, 47, who celebrated her 33rd anniversary in show business this year, recalls, “I was attracted by their singing ability rather than the glamour of idols. She debuted at the age of 15 with the catchphrase “Bakudan Komusume. She became popular as one of the most popular “balladolls” of the 1990s. Hayasaka, who is from Okinawa Prefecture, says she was familiar with the performing arts from her childhood due to the influence of her parents’ family, which has a long history.

My father was the head of Ryukyu Buyo, a classical Okinawan performing art. The first floor of our house was a dojo where many apprentices came and went, and I started practicing when I can remember.

When I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, I performed in a children’s musical. In her fourth year of elementary school, she performed in a children’s musical, which led to her being scouted by the Okinawa Actors School, which later produced Namie Amuro and SPEED.

At that time, the school was more like an entertainment agency than a talent training school, and I was getting commercials and TV work. What made me happy was that I was able to sing hit songs at festivals and supermarket events. I was singing songs by Yui Asaka and Risa Tachibana.”

Hayasaka moved to Tokyo by herself in 1989 when she was 14 years old. She caught the eye of producer Yasushi Akimoto, who happened to be in Okinawa, and asked her to come to Tokyo. The following year, he made his debut as a singer with “Absolutely! Part2”, she made her long-sought debut as a singer. However, …….

At the time, singing programs were decreasing rapidly, and I didn’t have many opportunities to sing on TV. The places where I sang were on the rooftops of department stores and parking lots where I sold CDs. Usually I had to go to high school, so I think I traveled to 36 places around the country during the 40 days of summer vacation.”

Most of her TV appearances are on variety shows. Her cheerful and unassuming personality made her popular as an idol, and she was inundated with requests to appear on TV, which kept her extremely busy.

She was extremely busy. “There were still lingering effects of the bubble economy,” she said, “and after the program aired, we would have a party every night. It was not unusual for us to stay up until dawn. In those days, there was little sense that minors should be sent home early (laughs). (Laughs.) I was the youngest, so I couldn’t even say, “Good-bye. Sometimes I had to stay up all night to go to high school, so I didn’t even have time to sleep, let alone rest.”