Momoko Kikuchi

Born in Tokyo Kikuchi Momoko was discovered in the city in 1982 and began working first on television and then as a singer in the following years. Her aunt ran a retail food business in Aoyama, Tokyo and had a photo of her by the register. A music company employee noticed the photograph and inquired about the girl. Her father accepted her foray into the entertainment business, but insisted on her maintaining her studies. She was said to be interested in such a career to actually meet celebrities she idolized. She had actually dreamt of becoming an archaeologist. Her first role was in the serial A Hole In The Knickers in 1983. She was in the movie of the same name the year after. She played a student. That year her photo was the number one selling among all the Idols. She released her first J-pop single at the age of fifteen and had seven number one consecutive hits on the Japanese charts. These were her fourth to tenth singles. She had given a concert at Budokan in Tokyo in 1985. She was, at the time, the youngest headliner at the venue and had more in attendance than the Beatles. She won the Rookie Of The Year Award at the Japan Record Awards. She attempted to diversify into rock music as a member of a band called RAMU late in that decade, but with that attempt producing rocky results she shifted her focus on her acting career. Kikuchi married professional golfer Nishikawa Tetsu in 1995 (was engaged in 1994) and gave birth to a boy in 1996 and a girl in 2001. Her daughter is paralysed on her left side due to a cerebral infarction in her brain. Earlier a child was stillborn. She had gone into hiatus, but returned in 2007. It was announced that she is divorced in 2012. She also announced she has Sjoergen Syndrome in the same year. She received a master's degree in Employment Studies from Tokyo's urban Hosei University in 2012 and has been a visiting professor at Toita Women's College, which was her alma mater. She did release a self-cover version album in 2014 featuring re-recordings of her hits. Kikuchi began working at the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science And Technology as of 2016. She was interested in this vocation due to her child's disability. She loves animals, in general, and dogs in particular. She also loves reading and handicraft. She is represented by the Parfit agency.