Before Utada Hikaru, Hayami Yu was perhaps the most famous 帰国子女 "kikokusei" (Japanese Returnee) J-Pop singer. Born Takeno Kazumi, she moved to Guam as a child with her father (Jazz Singer Inouye Yoshi) after seperating from her mother. They stayed there for a little while before settling in Hawaii where she was scouted at a local department store by a Japanese talent agent. While she had the nickname "Kathy" in Hawaii, she was given the stage name Hayami Yu when she debuted in 1981. She started her career singing typical idol love songs but soon gravitated toward more rock/pop oriented dance songs (similar to Oginome Yoko and Nakayama Miho). Most of these songs made use of her native English proficiency.
While there were a couple of Japanese-American and "half" (hapa/mixed) singers in the 70s (notably Linda Yamamoto, Ann Lewis and the girls of Golden Half: Eva Marie, Maria Elizabeth, Takamura Luna, Kobayashi Yumi, Ishiyama Eri) Hayami Yu was perhaps the first one to really make it big. She had a string of hits including "Passion", "Heart Wa Modorenai" and "Get Up" among others. She didn't star in as many hit movies as Yakushimaru Hiroko and Harada Tomoyo but did get some exposure both in TV J-Doramas and smaller movies. Of course she was featured in a lot of CMs in the 80s including those for Coca Cola, Bourbon and KDDI.
Hayami completed her High School studies from the "American School" in Japan and then went on to university at "Sophia University/Jochi Gakuen" (fellow returnee/idol singer Nishida Hikaru from California also did the same). She continued her idol career until the early 90s and then branched out to theater and acting.
She definitely paved the way for fellow returnee singers like Ito Yuna and Angela Aki (both also from Hawaii).
This is a live performance of her hit single from 1987 on "The Best Ten" music show.
Discography
1. AND I LOVE YOU（1982.6.21）
2. Image（1982.11.21）
3. LANAI（1983.5.1）
4. DEAR（1983.8.21）
5. COLORFUL BOX（1983.11.21）
6. リーセス（1984.3.1）
7. シンシアリー（1984.9.2）
8. ミュージック（1984.12.1）
9. WOW!（1985.5.1）
10. キッズ（1985.8.31）
11. ツイン（1985.11.30）
12. YŪ（1986.2.1）
13. バーニングイリュージョン（1986.5.22）
14. YŪ'S GOODS（1986.7.31）
15. シャドゥズ・オブ・ザ・ナイト（1986.11.29）
16. GET DOWN!（1987.8.5）
17. YŪ's BEAT（1987.11.28）
18. WHO'S GONNA COME?（1988.3.25）
19. MOMENTS（1988.12.4）
Tags: 早見優 Hayami Yu ハートは戻らない
