Yasuda Akiko, who sometimes takes the stage name Saori Yuki, is a Japanese TV personality and singer who began her career in 1965 with the hit single 'Hitchhike Musume' on King Records under her birth name. Her first hit single however came in 1969 with 'Yoake No Scat' which sold two million copies in her home country in two months. As well as recording children's songs with her sister Sachiko Yasuda, Soari Yuki is best known for her renditions in the Japanese Kayokyoku style; this precursors J-pop and refers to the period from 1926 to 1989, enveloping many Japanese and Western standard songs. Her style is therefore less emotional than J-pop, as Kayokyoku calls for the singer to refrain from expressing emotion while singing. Yuki, however, has also recorded and released music into the West specifically with the classical/jazz quartet, Pink Martini.
