is a Japanese singer and

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

from

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

, Japan. Shishido debuted as an

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

singer with Sony Records in 1990 with the single "Cosmic Rendezvous." In 1992, she left her management and began releasing music independently. Around the same time Shishido left her management, she also debuted as a voice actress, with her breakthrough role being Mikako Koda from '' Neighborhood Story''. Other notable roles she has played include Onpu Segawa from ''

Ojamajo Doremi , alternatively titled ''Magical DoReMi'' in English, is a Japanese magical girl anime television series created by Toei Animation. It focuses on a group of elementary school girls, led by Doremi Harukaze, who become witch apprent ...

'', Rosemary Applefield from '' Ashita no Nadja'', Viper from ''

Reborn! ''Reborn!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Amano. It follows Tsunayoshi Sawada, a young boy who discovers that he is next in line to become boss of the Vongola family, a powerful Mafia organ ...

'', M.O.M.O. from the ''

Xenosaga ''Xenosaga'' is a role-playing video game series developed by Monolith Soft and primarily published by Namco. Forming part of the wider '' Xeno'' metaseries, ''Xenosaga'' is set in a science fiction universe and follows a group of characters as t ...

'' series, Diana and Luna from the ''

Jewelpet is a Japanese media franchise and toy line created in 2008 as a joint venture between Sanrio and Sega Toys, produced by the third character designer of Hello Kitty, Yuko Yamaguchi and illustrated by the character designer of Cinnamoroll, Miyu ...

'' series, and June Amou from '' Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live'' and '' King of Prism''.

Early life

Shishido was born in

, Japan as the only daughter of an old

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

family; her grandfather was a buddhist monk. When Shishido was two years old, she moved to Hiroshima with her mother after her parents divorced. She was a cheerleader at school. Prior to being scouted, she was studying abroad in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington.

Career

Musical career

Citing

Etsuko Ichihara was a Japanese actress. She appeared in over 100 films. Biography She graduated from Waseda University School of Letters and Art and Sciences with B.A. degree. Ichihara was a member of the Haiyuza theater troupe from 1957 to 1971. She won an ...

as her inspiration, in 1989, Shishido decided to audition for a contest hosted by Lotte through the encouragement of her mother. At the age of 16, Shishido was selected as the winner out of 85,000 contestants and appeared on their television commercial in the following year. Shishido's debut single, titled , was released in 1990. Known by her idol nickname , Shishido also joined the members of

Lip's Lip's was a Japanese idol group formed in 1990 through the 1989 UCC Can Coffee "Miss Contest Grand Prix". Lip's consisted of Takako Katō, Natsue Yoshimura, and Kyoko Yamamoto. The group disbanded in 1993. After being signed to CBS Sony, the g ...

and

Rakutenshi is an actress and a former J-pop singer. The younger sister of singer and actress Miho Nakayama, she released her first single on 2 November 1988; her final release as a J-pop artist was on 1 March 1991. Nakayama was also a member of the short-li ...

to form the project group Nanatsuboshi. During her time as an idol, she faced strict regulations during public appearances and was not allowed to speak out of turn, nor was she allowed to befriend other idols from rival managements. In 1992, Shishido terminated her contract, citing interest in other career paths such as acting and film. Shishido continued her singing career as an independent singer. Her first indie album, ''Set Me Free'', released in 1995 and had cost to produce. Shishido's album was positively received, and

Neil Strauss Neil Darrow Strauss, also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author, journalist and ghostwriter. He is best known for his book '' The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', in which he describes his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' compared her "ripe, melodic voice" to

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...

and

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

. Since meeting guitarist Kohei Shigihara, most of Shishido's music has been composed by him. The first song produced by the two was titled in 2006, which Shishido describes as the song " eemingto have been erimage" and that " ough

he is He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

refreshing, he singsthe sense of the vanity of life of the man and woman". On May 9, 2010, Shishido celebrated her 20th anniversary in the music industry with a commemorative performance that was streamed live on

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. ...

. Shishido's performance set a record of having the most people view her video on the entire history of the website.

Voice acting career

Shishido's first start at a voice acting career was in 1992, when she voiced Uni Charm Password from the

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

series of '' KO Beast''. In 1995, she broke through with her first leading role as Mikako Koda from '' Neighborhood Story'' and was encouraged to audition after producer Hiromi Seki had heard her speaking voice through her album, ''Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do-Shi-Shi-Do-Ru-Mi''. Shishido auditioned for the role of Doremi in ''

'' but did not get the part. Despite that, she was later cast as Onpu, a role that boosted her popularity as a voice actress.

Filmography

Film

Television

OVA

Original Net Animation

Video games

CD Drama

*'' Digimon Drama CD Natsu e No Tobira'' as Natsu-chan

Live-action films

Dubbing

*''

Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater ''Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater'' is an animated series based on the Japanese character Hello Kitty, produced by DIC Enterprises and animated by Toei Animation. The series involves Hello Kitty and her friends (and occasionally family) doing t ...

'' - Fangora

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do-Shi-Shi-Do-Ru-Mi'' (1990) * ''Punsuka'' (1992) * ''Set Me Free'' (1995) * ''Shinya Haikai'' (1997) * ''Bambi Garden'' (1999) * ''Rumi Roll'' (2003) * ''Cherbourgh → Brighton'' (2010) * ''Onna'' (2012) * ''Luminescence'' (2013) * ''Eight'' (2017)

Compilation albums

* ''Idol Miracle Bible Series: Rumi Shishido'' (2005)

Singles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shishido, Rumi 1973 births Living people Voice actresses from Hiroshima Actors from Hiroshima Japanese film actresses Japanese idols Japanese video game actresses Japanese voice actresses Musicians from Fukuoka Prefecture Voice actresses from Fukuoka Prefecture Voice actors from Fukuoka 20th-century Japanese actresses 20th-century Japanese singers 20th-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers