Kawai Naoko was born on July 24, 1963 in Osaka, Japan. Idol Okada Yukiko was a big fan of hers. Naoko participated in the renown Star Tanjou program in 1979, and finally debuted in 1980 with her single “Ookina mori no chiisana ouchi” amongst many other idols in that same year such as Tahara Toshihiko, Matsuda Seiko, and Kashiwabara Yoshie. Her singles were shaky at first, then led her to a nice career within the top ten range. Her vocal ability was much above par of the other idols during her time so it comes as a surprise that she managed to hit only one number one single in 1985 with “Debut ~Fly me to love~.” She also recorded songs for the anime Lupin 3rd, the most famous being her song “Manhattan Joke.” In the late 80s she sang songs with Jackie Chan (did you know he could sing, I sure didn’t, and opera at that!), they made “Ai no Serenade” and the cantonese version of that “Ng ye man bit chin.” She has done many commercials and photo books, her signature back then was her snaggle tooth on the right side of her mouth, not many idols could match that, it was really cute; however, in her later career she had orthodontal surgery to correct it. Naoko is rather talented and along with singing, can play piano extremely well, as well as the guitar and mandolin, she has written quite a few songs of her own. She has released a “Do-it-yourself” guide to learning the piano as well. She retired in 1994 to settle down and raise a family. Her more famous singles are “SMILE FOR ME”, “Love Letter”, “Kenka wo yamete”, and “Escalation.”

Personal Favorite Naoko Song: There’s too many really, Lavender Lips, Halfmoon Serenade, Izayoi monogatari
Number ones: 1
Top ten percentage: 21 out of 39 songs = 54%

Singles

#	Song Title	Release Date	Highest Position	My Rating	Picture
1.	Ookina mori no chiisana ouchi	6/1/1980	36	8/10
2.	Young Boy	8/25/1980	13	7/10
3.	Aishitemasu	12/10/1980	14	7/10
4.	17sai	3/10/1981	11	7/10
5.	SMILE FOR ME	6/1/1981	4	8/10
6.	Moonlight Kiss	9/1/1981	11	8/10
7.	Love Letter	12/5/1981	11	9/10
8.	Ai wo kudasai	3/10/1982	7	8/10
9.	Natsu no Heroine	6/10/1982	7	8/10
10.	Kenka wo yamete	9/1/1982	5	8/10
11.	Invitation	12/1/1982	8	8/10
12.	Straw Touch no koi	3/1/1983	9	7/10
13.	Escalation	6/1/1983	3	8/10
14.	UNBalance	9/14/1983	4	9/10
15.	Gimonfu	12/1/1984	4	8/10
16.	Soyokaze no Melody	3/1/1984	7	7/10
17.	Control	6/1/1984	7	7/10
18.	Kuchibiru no Privacy	8/28/1984	4	9/10
19.	Kita eki no Solitude	12/1/1984	6	8/10
20.	Jealous Train	3/5/1985	6	8/10
21.	Debut ~Fly me to love~	6/12/1985	1	10/10
22.	Kimi wa kirei na mama de	8/7/1985	24	8/10
23.	Lavender Lips	10/3/1985	5	9/10
24.	THROUGH THE WINDOW	12/12/1985	7	7/10
25.	Namida no Hollywood	4/1/1986	7	8/10
26.	Setsuna no Natsu	7/24/1986	10	7/10
27.	Halfmoon Serenade	11/28/1986	6	10/10
28.	Omoide no Coney’s Island	3/1/1987	-	-
29.	Izayoi monogatari	7/24/1987	10	10/10
30.	Kanashii hito	3/1/1988	21	8/10
31.	Harbour Light Memories	7/21/1988	18	7/10
32.	Ai no Serenade (w/Jackie Chan)	8/25/1988	24	6/10
33.	Kanashimi no Anniversary	11/10/1989	74	9/10
34.	Mirai	4/10/1990	74	8/10
35.	Nemuru, nemuru, nemuru	9/1/1990	97	-
36.	Golden sunshine day	6/21/1992	-	-
37.	Chotto dake himitsu	12/12/1992	97	7/10
38.	Engage	10/21/1993	-	-
39.	Yume no ato kara	3/21/1994	60	-