Sayaka Ichii

Biography

Sayaka Ichii (市井 紗耶香, Ichii Sayaka; born December 31, 1983) is a Japanese pop singer and former member for Japanese girl group Morning Musume. She is now a TV talent and actress.

Morning Musume and Hello Project

Ichii was born in Funabashi, Chiba, and joined the girl group Morning Musume in 1998. She, along with Mari Yaguchi and Kei Yasuda, formed the second generation of members. While in Morning Musume, Sayaka Ichii was put into the spin-off group, Petitmoni with Maki Goto and Kei Yasuda . Ichii was also part of the Hello Project! Summer Shuffles 2000 group Aoiro 7. She also recorded a folk song album with Yuko Nakazawa.
She left Morning Musume in May to continue her education.

After Morning Musume

Sayaka Ichii graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project after the single "Happy Summer Wedding" in 2000. A year after she left, she formed the group Ichii Sayaka in Cubic-Cross, trio with Taisei (keyboardist from Sharan Q), and wrote two of their songs. In 2003, Cubic-Cross disbanded, and after a solo single.
She retired from the music business at the end of the year.
In February, she joined Ranves Management agency. On August 30, she returned to TV in a TBS show called Sunday Japan.
She also as a politician by the member of Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, she was a member of House of Councillors of Japan on 26 April 2024, but she only served 93 minutes and resigned on the same day.

Personal life

Ichii announced in 2004 that she was pregnant and was to marry the group's guitarist, Naoki Yoshizawa. The couple had two daughters but divorced in 2011. Ichii later remarried to a beautician and gave birth to a son. Her fourth baby was born in 2017.

Albums

Duet with Yuko Nakazawa
Folk Songs (November 29, 2001)
Ichii Sayaka in Cubic-Cross
C:BOX (November 20, 2002)

Singles

Sayaka Ichii in Cubic-Cross
Jinsei Ga Mou Hajimatteru (April 24, 2002)
Shitsuren Love Song (July 17, 2002)
Todoke! Koi no Telepathy (November 9, 2002)
Zutto Zutto (May 1, 2003)
Sayaka Ichii
4U ~Hitasura~ (September 3, 2003)