Keiko Fuji
Junko Utada (5 July 1951 – 22 August 2013), known primarily by the stage name Keiko Fuji was a Japanese enka singer and actress. She had success in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s with her ballad-type songs. She was married on-and-off with Teruzane Utada, and was the mother of Japanese pop singer Hikaru Utada.
Also recorded as Ra Junko Utada · Junko Utada
Keiko Fuji
- Name
- Keiko Fuji
- Birth Name
- Junko Abe
- Birthplace
- Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan
- Born
- 5 July 1951
- Died
- 22 August 2013
- Place of death
- Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Occupation
- * Singer
- Full name
- 阿部 純子.
- Nationality
- Japan.
- Fields
- enka.
- Honours
- Golden Arrow Award.
- Languages
- Japanese.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Junko Utada (5 July 1951 – 22 August 2013), known primarily by the stage name Keiko Fuji was a Japanese enka singer and actress. She had success in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s with her ballad-type songs. She was married on-and-off with Teruzane Utada, and was the mother of Japanese pop singer Hikaru Utada.
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Note VALÉORINE
Keiko Fuji (1951–2013) was an actor, actress and musician, among other activities, of Japanese nationality. The actor was born 阿部 純子 in Ichinoseki and died in Tokyo. Keiko Fuji was also known as Ra U and 藤 圭似子. Keiko Fuji was a member of U³.
The work spans enka. Languages used include Japanese. Honours include Golden Arrow Award.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q3276543 · wikipedia · Keiko Fuji
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Keiko Fuji • Native Name — 藤 圭子 • Birth Name — Junko Abe • Birthplace — Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan • Born — 5 July 1951 • Died — 22 August 2013 • Place of death — Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan • Occupation — * Singer • actress • Children — Hikaru Utada
Life and career
Life and career
Fuji (sometimes credited as Keiko Fujita) was born in Iwate Prefecture, where her father was a rōkyoku singer. Her mother was a rōkyoku shamisen player. As a child, Fuji sometimes accompanied her parents and sang with them when they were on tour. Her song "Keiko no Yume wa Yoru Hiraku" (Keiko's version of "Yume wa Yoru Hiraku") won the Mass Popularity Award at the Japan Record Awards in 1970. She also performed this song in the 21st Kōhaku Uta Gassen New Year's Eve TV special. Her debut album, Shinjuku no Onna/Enka no Hoshi Fuji Keiko no Subete, released 5 March 1970, topped the Oricon album chart for 20 consecutive weeks, and her next album Onna no Blues, released 5 July 1970, continued topping that chart for 17 consecutive weeks. She topped the Oricon album chart for a 37 consecutive weeks, an incredible record in Japan's music history. Her debut album's number-one record of 20 consecutive weeks remains the longest consecutive number-one record in Oricon history. She married the ja-Latn singer Kiyoshi Maekawa and retired from singing in 1979, announcing her retirement during a TV show on 30 December of that year. The marriage ended in divorce, after which she emigrated to the United States, where she became active in music again by 1981. There, she married Teruzane Utada, a record producer. Their only child, Hikaru Utada, was born in 1983 in New York City (and later became a record-setting pop star in Japan by their late teens). The couple married and divorced seven times.
2006 confiscation of money by the DEA
2006 confiscation of money by the DEA
On 3 March 2006, U.S. DEA officials confiscated more than $420,000 in American, Canadian, and Australian currencies from Keiko Fuji's carry-on luggage at JFK Airport, New York, as she waited to board a flight to Las Vegas. Keiko denied any wrongdoing, and was not charged with any crime. However, the government initiated forfeiture proceedings, seeking to seize the money, which it alleged represented proceeds of drug sales or was intended to be used to buy drugs. Keiko disputed the government's claim. In August 2008, the matter remained pending in Federal District Court in New York. On 27 January 2009, the Federal District Court in New York ordered the confiscated money returned to her, citing lack of evidence.
Death
Death
Keiko Fuji died on 22 August 2013 after jumping from the thirteenth floor of a condominium building in Shinjuku, Tokyo. No foul play was suspected. Her body was found on the grounds of her apartment building. Police said that her slippers were found at the end of her balcony, with no suicide note found. However, her daughter Hikaru Utada claims there was a suicide note.
Like U3
Like U3
For U3 discography see Hikaru Utada discography
LPs
LPs
• Shinjuku no Onna / "Enka no Hoshi" Fuji Keiko no Subete – 5 March 1970 • Onna no Blues – 5 July 1970 • Utaitsugarete 25-nen Fuji Keiko Enka o Utau – 5 December 1970 • Saihate no Onna – 5 March 1971 • Keiko no Jinsei Gekijō – 5 July 1971 • Fuji Keiko Recital – 5 October 1971 • Keiko no Warabeuta – 25 December 1971 • Shiranai Machi de – 25 December 1971 • Fuji Keiko On Stage – 25 May 1972 • Wakare no Tabi – 25 June 1972 • Original Golden Hits Collection – 5 August 1972 • Tōkuheikitai / "Enka no Tabi" – 5 December 1972
CDs
CDs
• Fuji Keiko Densetsu no Meikyoku – 21 October 1999 • Kiite Kudasai Watashi no Jinsei: Fuji Keiko Collection – 20 December 2000 • Fuji Keiko Complete Single Collection: 15-nen no Kiseki – 21 September 2005 • Golden Best Fuji Keiko – 26 October 2005 • Super Best – 11 December 2005 • Golden Best Fuji Keiko Hit & Cover Collection Enka(艶歌) to Enka(縁歌) – 8 December 2010
Singles
Singles
• "Shinjuku no Onna" (25 September 1969) • "Onna no Blues" (5 February 1970, Oricon number 1) • "Keiko no Yume wa Yoru Hiraku" (25 April 1970, cover of "Yume wa Yoru Hiraku" by En Mari, Oricon number 1) • "Inochi Azukemasu" (25 July 1970) • "Onna wa Koi ni Ikiteiku" (25 October 1970) • "Sai Hate no Onna" (5 February 1971) • "Koi Jingi" (5 May 1971) • "Michinoku Kouta" (5 June 1971) • "Ai no Junrei " (5 July 1971) • "Shiranai Machi de " (25 October 1971) • "Kyōto kara Hakata made" (25 January 1972) • "Wakare no Tabi" (25 May 1972) • "Hana wa Nagarete" (25 September 1972) • "Kanashimi no Machi" (5 December 1972) • "Ashita kara Watashi wa" (25 March 1973) • "Hana Kouta" (July 1973) • "Henreki " (25 August 1973) • "Koi no Yuki wa Risō " (5 November 1973) • "Kyoto Blues" (5 April 1974) • "Hi no kuni Kouta" (June 1974) • "Watashi wa Kyōto e Kaerimasu" (5 July 1974) • "Inochi Bi" (25 August 1974) • "Anata no Uwasa " (January 1975) • "Ikiteru dake no Onna" (25 April 1975) • "Sasurai" (September 1975) • "Hashigo zake" (5 November 1975) • "Onna dakara" (25 April 1976) • "Kiite Kudasai Watashi no Jinsei" (25 August 1976) • "Aishū Sakaba " (5 February 1977) • "Anata Hitosuji" (25 June 1977) • "Omokage Heiya" (5 November 1977) • "Ginza Nagare-uta" (May 1978) • "Yoi-yoi Sakaba" (October 1978) • "Kita no Minatomati" (March 1979) • "Kawaii Onna " (October 1979) • "Hotaru Bi" (October 1981) • "Aitsu ga Warui " (1984) • "Chōyo Hanayo to" (October 1984) • "Tokyo Meiro" (June 1986) • "Shinjuku Banka" (25 February 1987) • "Tabiji" (1988) • "Shinchi no Ame" feat. Katsurasanshi (February 1989) • "Sake ni You hodo" (April 1994) • "Tengoku" (August 1996) • "Tsumetai Tsuki – Nakanaide" with Cubic U (September 1996) • "Sennen no Kagaribi" (October 1996) • "Otoko to Onna" (October 1997) • "Oya Ko Bune" (13 February 2014)
Movies
Movies
• Eiga Sakariba Nagashi-uta Shinjuku no Onna (1970, Nikkatsu) • Zubekō Banchō Yume wa Yoru Hiraku (1970, Toei Company) • Namida no Nagashi-uta Inochi Azukemasu (1970, Shochiku) • Joshi Gakuen Yabai Sotsugyō (1970, Nikkatsu) • Fuji Keiko waga Uta no aru Kagiri (1971, Shochiku)
Television
Television
• Gozonji Kinsan Torimonochō "Shibai no Inochi Hi" (Episode 16, 1974, Nihon Educational Television/NET) • Furimuku na Tsurukichi "Kantsubaki" (Episode 16, second part, 1975, NHK) • Ikiteru dake no Kyōaku (Chapter 41-story license the second series of ruthless, NET, 1975) • Hyōteki (Ryōko Ogura, 1979, KTV) • Shin-kaikyō Monogatari (1981, TV Asahi) • Nichiyō Emi Gekijō "Sabushiro no The Hatarake Kōgyō" (1986/1987, ABC)
Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances
Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances
• Year||#||Song||No.||VS||Remarks • 1970 (Showa 45)/21st — 1 — Keiko No Yumewayoruhiraku (圭子の夢は夜ひらく) — 13/24 — Teruhiko Saigō • 1971 (Showa 46)/22nd — 2 — Michinoku Kouta (みちのく小唄)+Minato No Wakareuta (港の別れ唄*) — 9/25 — Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five (original schedule) Kazuo Funaki — *Replacing husband Kiyoshi Maekawa that fall ill. • 1972 (Showa 47)/23rd — 3 — Kyoto Kara Hakatamade (京都から博多まで) — 13/23 — Kenichi Mikawa • 1975 (Showa 50)/26th — 4 — Sasurai (さすらい) — 3/24 — Masaaki Sakai — Returned after 3 years • 1976 (Showa 51)/27th — 5 — Hashigo Sake (はしご酒) — 15/24 — Tonosama Kings
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Ichinoseki.
Birth place
Tokyo.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Keiko Fuji”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3276543: Keiko Fuji
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.宇多田、藤圭子さん"遺書"明かす「母らしい、非常に率直な遺言書」. 5 November 2014.
- 2.Nikkei Business Publications. NikkeiBP.co.jp. March 5, 1999.
- 3.Asahi Shimbun. 19 September 2007.
- 4."Divorce for Hikki ... and Parents!". Japan Zone. 5 March 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- 5.Japanese Pop Queen's Mom in Fight With DEA. Hikaru Utada's parents seek return of $421k in seized "drug money".
- 6.Sankei Shimbun. 28 January 2009.
- 7.NHK News. 歌手の藤圭子さん自殺か. 22 August 2013.
- 8.Ex-singer Keiko Fuji plunges to death in alleged suicide. Kyodo News.
- 9.Mainichi.jp. Pop star Hikaru Utada's mother dies in suspected suicide- 毎日jp(毎日新聞). 8 February 2013.
- 10.Japan Today. Former singer Keiko Fuji, mother of Hikaru Utada, falls to death. 22 August 2013.
- 11.The Japan News. Singer Keiko Fuji dies in apparent suicide.
- 12.UtadaNet.com. Hikaru's Mother, Keiko Fuji has passed away.
- 13.Oricon News. 宇多田、藤圭子さん"遺書"明かす「母らしい、非常に率直な遺言書」. 5 September 2013.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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