Japanese enka singer Yōko Nagayama was born in Tokyo on January 13, 1968. She
was introduced to Japanese folk music by her father, who gave her a shamisen at
the age of 10. Even though she always aspired to become an enka singer, she
began her career as a J-pop artist, releasing her debut single "Haru wa SA-RA
SA-RA" in 1984. The track failed to make a splash upon its release, but she
would later achieve mainstream success in 1986 with a cover of Shocking Blues'
"Venus," which was turned into a hit by British dance-pop group Bananarama
earlier that year. All of her subsequent sin...