Beginnings
Like most teen idols, her J-pop career was spectacular but short. In 1989, at the advanced age of 22, she made an attempt to revive her flagging career and attain "street cred" by forming an edgy girl group called "Minako with Wild Cats". This effort was unsuccessful, and it seemed that she would fade into obscurity.
By 1992, however, she had reinvented herself. She took formal acting and singing lessons, and became a notable theatrical singer and actress. In auditions for the Tokyo production of Miss Saigon, she won out over 12,000 other candidates for the part of Kim, earning the nickname "Tokyo's Miss Saigon". She also appeared in numerous other theatrical performances.
Towards the end of her life, she released several classical albums demonstrating her soprano singing voice, including religious works such as Amazing Grace and Ave Maria. She also sang theme songs for several anime programs.
She did not abandon pop music in her adult career; indeed, she became recognized for her vocal improvement in the adult pop genre. Her song "Tsubasa" (Wings) is famous for the "long note" that she holds for 30 seconds.
Her career was cut short by leukemia. After she became ill in late 2004, she served as a celebrity spokesperson for the Live for Life Project, a campaign for the treatment of leukemia. At that time, she also changed her name to add a dot after the end of her name (本田美奈子．in kanji), thus increasing the number of strokes to 31. In Japanese "uranai" (占い) fortune-telling, a person's fate is associated with the number of strokes in the name. Following a severe misfortune, many Japanese change their name to change their fortune. As a result, albums released after 2004 show her name as "本田美奈子．" in kanji and/or "Honda Minako." in romanization.
Since her death, numerous posthumous albums and videos have been released, including some previously-unreleased songs.
Read more about this topic: Minako Honda
Famous quotes containing the word beginnings:
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“These beginnings of commerce on a lake in the wilderness are very interesting,—these larger white birds that come to keep company with the gulls.”
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