Junko Sakurada - Biography

Biography

Sakurada was born in 1958. She is a singer and actress. In 1973, she was part of "a hit female trio", which also included musicians Momoe Yamaguchi and Masako Mori. The music trio became popular as part of the television program Producing the Stars (Star Tanjō!); they were known as "The Trio of Third-Year Junior High School Students" ("Hana no Chu 3 Trio"). According to Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture, after this experience in a music group, she went off on her own to develop a solo music career, and became a megastar. Cruising the Anime City: An Otaku Guide to Neo Tokyo described Sakurada as a 1970s music idol, like Pink Lady and Linda Yamamoto. Sakurada's music inspired then 15-year-old Junichi Hirokami, who would go on to become a classical conductor. Hirokami started a fan club dedicated to Sakurada in 1973, located in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture close to Tokyo. In 1979, Sakurada appeared as a principal cast member in the film The House of Hanging (Byoinzaka no kubi kukuri no ie), made by production company Toho. By 1991, she had become a "movie heartthrob".

Sakurada is a member of the Unification Church founded by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea in 1954. According to The Washington Times, which is owned by the Unification Church affiliated News World Communications, Sakurada joined the church in 1977. In July 1992, Sakurada announced she would allow Moon to select a husband for her in an arranged marriage. This led to "a mad scramble among young Japanese men" competing to be her groom. In August 1992, Sakurada took part in a Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church in Seoul, South Korea along with 10,000 other couples representing 131 nations. Her husband is a Japanese businessman who is also a Unification Church member and an official within the church. Sakurada said to journalists that she felt "very happy" to have married a husband selected for her by Moon.

According to The Australian, "Ms Sakurada disappeared from public life soon after the ceremony." One of Sakurada's last roles as a star was in the television piece Don't Call Me Auntie (Obasan Nante Yobanai de) on NHK. According to The Daily Yomiuri, "This was one of Junko Sakurada's last starring roles before she fell out of favor with the public. Since she took part in the Rev. Moon's Unification Church mass marriage in Seoul in August, it is said that her commercial contracts have evaporated." In 1999 a church spokesperson said: "Ms Sakurada is living happily with her husband and three children. She does not want to talk to the press."

After 14 years of media silence she released a book in November 2006, called "Aisuru Jun Van Deta".