is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 vocalist, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, lyricist

Lyricist

A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...

, and keyboardist

Keyboardist

A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...

 who made her debut in 1972.

Her first studio album entitled Shoujo was recorded in Los Angeles, produced by GRAMMY Award winner John Fischbach, with distinguished musicians such as David Campbell, Carole King

Carole King

Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...

 and Charles Larkey who was King's husband at that time. Owing to her introspective compositions, Itsuwa was often nicknamed "Japanese Carole King", along with other Japanese singer-songwriters like Yumi Matsutoya

Yumi Matsutoya

', nicknamed , is an influential Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. She is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice, and live performances, and is an important figure in Japanese popular music....

 (who had worked under her birth name "Yumi Arai" during the mid 1970s) and Minako Yoshida.

Itsuwa has gained moderate success on the Japanese albums chart in her early career, and received massive popularity and acclaim through a single "Koibito yo" released in 1980. A song topped the Japan's Oricon chart for three consecutive weeks, and won the 22nd Japan Record Award

Japan Record Award

for outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association, is major music awards show held annually in Japan.- Categories :The Japan Record Award are four awards which are not restricted by genre....

 for "Gold Prize" in a same year. It was covered by the country's legendary singers including Hibari Misora

Hibari Misora

was an award-winning Japanese enka singer and actress. and was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, which was awarded posthumously for her notable contributions to the music industry. Misora recorded 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand...

 and Noriko Awaya

Noriko Awaya

was a Japanese female Soprano chanson and popular music singer. She has been dubbed the "Queen of Blues" in Japan.- Life and career :...

 in later years, and became a signature song

Signature song

A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...

 for Itsuwa.

After "Koibito yo" became a hit, Itsuwa gained popularity also in non-Japanese Asian countries during the 1980s.

In Indonesia,"Kokoro No Tomo" and "Amayadori" become the most popular songs ever released by her. In 2006, Mayumi Itsuwa and Delon Thamrin recorded an Indonesian and Japanese version of the song. This was later included on the 2006 compilation album "Duet Love Songs".

Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
		JP Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
1972		6
1973		14
1974		9
		25
1975		9
		37
1977		34
		50
1978		9
		17
1979		17
1980		1
1981		9
	Collection (cassette only, compilation)	17
	Marionette	5
1982	Collection '82 (compilation)	64
		6
1983	Live '83	32
		15
1984		15
1985	Best (compilation, cassette only)	33
		31
1986	Best Collection (compilation, compact disc only)	64
		12
	Best Selection (compilation, cassette only)	36
1987	Wind and Roses	31
	Singles (compilation)	67
1988	Nostalgie	29
1989	New Best Selection (compilation)	64
1990		47
1991	Anniversary Eve	82
1992	The Memorial Album	70