were a Japanese

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

group, originally with five members, with lead vocalist Izumi Sakai as its only constant member. Zard's work was sold under the record label B-Gram Records, Inc. Their most popular and successful songs are , , and " My Friend" (1996). As of 2014, Zard had sold over 38 million records, making them one of the best-selling music artists in Japan.

Career

Zard began when the former CEO of Being Corporation, Daikō Nagato, recruited a 24-year-old model named Sachiko Kamachi. Changing her name to Izumi Sakai in an attempt to cut off her past, she created a group called Zard. Zard made a breakthrough with the release of their debut single February 10, 1991 '' Good-bye My Loneliness'', which was a theme song for the Fuji TV drama "Ideals and Reality of Marriage" featuring

Misako Tanaka , née , is a Japanese actress from Oki District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. In 1995, she married comedian Kuniyuki Fukasawa. Filmography Film * ダイアモンドは傷つかない (''Daiamondo wa kizutsukanai'') (1982) * 丑三つの村 ( ...

. The song was very successful, reaching No. 9 in the

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 and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...

rankings. Zard's next two singles did not sell as well. The fourth, took a slightly different approach. The group's rock style had morphed to popular while the seemingly dark music videos turned to a relatively brighter image. In fact, half of Zard's official appearances on TV were related to performing this song, which sold 440,000 copies. At that time, Music Station host Kazuyoshi Morita (aka Tamori) asked Sakai what had taken Zard so long to be on stage. Sakai's reply was that they had wanted to make sure Zard would be an economically viable project and hence did not want to go public prematurely. The major breakthrough for the group came with their sixth single in 1993, "

Makenaide is the 6th single by Zard released on 27 January 1993 under B-Gram Records label. Background According to the song's composer Tetsurō Oda, Izumi Sakai was singing "strangely," but it proved to be good. The single reached #1 rank first week. It ...

", which became No. 1 in the Oricon charts and went on to sell over 1.8 million copies. Zard went on to release two more songs that reached No. 1, " Yureru Omoi" and "

Kitto Wasurenai "" is the 10th single by Zard and released 3 November 1993 under B-Gram Records label. It was released two months after previous single "Mō Sukoshi, Ato Sukoshi...". The single debuted at #1 rank first week. It charted for 15 weeks and sold over 8 ...

" in the same year. An album titled "Yureru Omoi" featuring both "Makenaide" and "Yureru Omoi" sold two million copies, the first million milestone for the group in album sales. In fact, Being was so successful in the early 1990s that it was called Being Boom. No one sold more CDs than Zard in this year. In 1996, Zard had one more million-selling hit, " My Friend". Although their sales fluctuated among six digits in sales for the remainder of the twentieth century, nine of twenty-one singles reached No. 1 and six reached No. 2. Only two could not break the top four mark. Since they also had three hits selling one million and one other hitting two million copies. On August 31, 1999, Zard held their first concert aboard

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

Pacific Venus, where six hundred people were randomly selected out of a million applicants. The DVD for this concert, released on January 26, 2000, had a limited production of 300,000 copies. Besides being the driving force of Zard (and so much so that the name was sometimes used to refer to her alone), Izumi Sakai was a very prolific

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

. She wrote 150 songs during her 17-year career (numerous songs for other artists as well as all of the Zard songs except for two, and from their first album, '' Good-bye My Loneliness'', which was written by Daria Kawashima,) and she released several books of poetry as well. An editorial in the ''Asahi Shimbun'' claimed that the secret to Zard's success was that while the trend in Japan showed a decrease in the number of music programs on television, Sakai used late night commercials to air her voice and so advertise her works. She also wrote songs for other artists, most notably for the

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

groups that shared her management company:

Field of View The field of view (FoV) is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. In the case of optical instruments or sensors it is a solid angle through which a detector is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation. Human ...

Wands A wand is a thin, straight, hand-held stick of wood, ivory, or metal. Wand or magic wand may also refer to: People * Günter Wand, a German orchestra conductor and composer * Hart Wand, an early white American blues musician and composer from Ok ...

and

Deen Deen may refer to: People * Deen (singer), singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina * Deen Castronovo, American musician * James Deen, American pornographic actor * Paula Deen, American chef and TV personality Other uses * Dīn (also ''Deen''), an Arabi ...

, and the late mainland

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

ese singer Teresa Teng. She also wrote the lyrics for and participated in the collaboration for the single featuring J-pop groups Zard,

Zyyg Zyyg is a Japanese rock band under B-Gram Records label. Their management office was Seas Music Factory. On April 1, 2019, it was announced their activities would resume after more than two decades. Members First period (1993-1994) *Seiki Taka ...

, Rev &

. The single also featured famed Japanese

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

hero

Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ( ...

. Some of her singles were used in

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

, such as ''

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

'', ''

Dragon Ball GT is a 1996–1997 Japanese anime television series based on Akira Toriyama's ''Dragon Ball'' manga. Produced by Toei Animation, the series premiered in Japan on Fuji TV and ran for 64 episodes from February 1996 to November 1997. Unlike the ...

'' and ''

Detective Conan ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994, with its cha ...

''. The lyrics of by

, the opening theme song of ''Dragon Ball GT'', is by Izumi Sakai. Afterward, Zard covered this song in ''

Today Is Another Day ''Today Is Another Day'' is the 7th album of Zard and was released on July 8, 1996 under B-Gram Records label. Izumi Sakai produced the next four albums. Charting performance The album reached #1 rank first week. It charted for 40 weeks and sold ...

'' album. Zard's most successful single, has been used as a theme song for

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed ...

program 24-hour TV, an annual Japanese television program in which a celebrity host is on screen continually for a whole day. Sakai said that she was honored at the song's being chosen and looked forward to watching the show. She also said that since ''Makenaide'' was widely appreciated by the public, she often felt as if that song was not hers to keep. Sakai was also known for being mysterious. This is partly because her record label did not release much personal information on their artists, but also because she did not make very many personal appearances. She rarely appeared on any live TV music programs (e.g.

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...

's Music Station), which had been the main public relations tool for the record industry in Japan since 1993, or make any public appearances. Her first concert was in 1999, this being held on a

for a mere 600 members of her fan club (300 entries x2 among 2 million concert ticket requests). Her first and only concert tour, "What A Beautiful Moment Tour", was held in 2004, 13 years after her debut. Almost every concert was sold out at the time. The tour ended up having 10 concerts spanning 4 months from March to July 2004, with the final concert held in the famed

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

. Although Zard began as a group, Sakai's dominance within it has led to the name "Zard" often being used in Japan to refer to her alone, as a solo female singer. She used to hold a female record in Japan for most single sales until

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

released "

No Way to Say "No Way to Say" is the thirty-first single released by Ayumi Hamasaki and her eighteenth number-one single. It came out November 6, 2003. The video won the award for "Best Pop Video" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, and the single won the ...

". According to the

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ...

, as of August 2007, Zard was No. 8 for overall total in Japan. She has had 12 singles reach the No. 1 spot on the

Singles Charts, and 9 albums reach the No. 1 spot on the Oricon Album Charts. 43 of her singles reached top 10 in the Oricon rankings. Zard has released a total of 45 singles and 17 albums. Zard was also featured in Tak Matsumoto's Ihoujin (August 27, 2003). This single was later included in the cover album '' The Hit Parade'' produced by Tak Matsumoto. On a trivial note, Zard's album "

Oh My Love "Oh My Love" is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono that appeared on Lennon's '' Imagine'' album in 1971. Information The song was originally written with different lyrics and demoed in 1968 after sessions for the album ''The Beatles''. Th ...

" released in 1994 reached No. 1 for the 500th edition of the Oricon Rankings since it began in 1970. She has had 12 singles reach the No. 1 spot on the

Post-Izumi Sakai Zard

On January 23, 2008, an album based on fan requests was released, titled Zard Request Best: Beautiful Memory. NTV Morning News program, Zoom In Super's December 28, 2007 reports that over 500,000 entries were mailed to Being. Surprisingly, Makenaide and Yureru Omoi were not in the top 3, though they did make the top 10. The three songs garnering most votes were 1) Ano Hohoemi o Wasurenaide, 2) Shoujo no Koro ni Modotta Mitai ni, 3) Kakegae no Naimono. When this album hit number one in the Oricon charts, it marked the eleventh time Zard/Sakai had done so, matching the record held by Dreams Come True for the most number ones by female vocal groups.

Sakai's death

Founding member Izumi Sakai died on May 27, 2007, at the age of 40 in

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowment ...

Hospital. She had entered the hospital in June 2006 after discovering she had

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...

and had the tumor removed. In April 2007, however, the cancer had spread to her lungs, resulting in her re-admittance to hospital. According to the hospital, she took daily walks every morning. During her walk on May 26, she accidentally fell from the stairs and was discovered at around 5:40 a.m. and taken to the ICU. Never regaining consciousness, she died at 3:10 p.m. the following day. An agency spokesman said: Sakai had planned to release a new album in the fall, as well as make her first live tour in three years to show her fans that she was fighting strongly against her illnesses. A

memorial service A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

for fans was held on June 27 in a

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

Aoyama, Tokyo is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Tokyo, located in the northwest portion of Minato Ward. The area is well known for its international fashion houses, cafes and restaurants. or "North Aoyama" refers to the area on the north side of A ...

. On the previous day, a memorial service for the people concerned was held and

Maki Ohguro is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter from Sapporo, Hokkaido under B-Gram Records label. Biography In 1989, she passed Being Inc.'s singers audition, the "3rd BAD". In 1992, she debuted with the single "Stop Motion" released under B-Gram ...

and Tetsuro Oda and others were in attendance. At the same time,

Tak Matsumoto is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist and main composer of the Rock music, rock duo B'z, the List of best-selling music artists in Japan, best-selling music act in their native Japan. He also ...

and

Koshi Inaba (born September 23, 1964 in Tsuyama, Okayama) is a Japanese vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is best known as the singer and lyricist of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan. He has also had a su ...

B'z are a Japanese rock duo, consisting of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba, 佐伯明『B'z ウルトラクロニクル』ソニー・マガジンズ、2003年。新型光�B'zはな� ...

Mai Kuraki (born October 28, 1982) is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. After releasing her US debut single " Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single " Love, Day After Tomorro ...

and

made announcements in her remembrance. Two compilation albums were planned for release on August 15, one including a selection of Sakai's personal favorite songs, and the other including favorites chosen by her staff. A fan-selected compilation album was also planned for the fall. Two tribute concerts were held—one on September 7 at

Osaka Festival Hall is a concert hall located in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is run by the Asahi Building Co., Ltd., a Japanese real estate company controlling properties of the Asahi Shimbun Company, and is housed in the Festival Tower, a skyscraper. The opening cerem ...

, and the other on September 14 at

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. These two places were chosen because they were the first and last stops respectively of the ''What a beautiful moment Tour'' in 2004—the only tour that band had gone on. The new tour was called "What a Beautiful Memory". In September 2007, an audience of 13,000 participated in a memorial Budokan concert. Nine screens were set up to show previously unseen footage of Izumi Sakai, and a first single after she died called ''

Glorious Mind "Glorious Mind" is Zard's 43rd and first posthumous single by Japanese band Zard. It was released single on December 12, 2007 through B-Gram Records label. Background The song was the last song recorded by Izumi Sakai before she died. Althoug ...

'' was played. This was a song that Sakai had recorded before her hospitalization, and was used as the opening theme song of the anime series ''

Case Closed ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994, with its cha ...

''. It was not complete at the time of Sakai's death, but the chorus footage was complete. Extra minutes where she was singing in English were incorporated from a previously unrelated and unreleased song as well.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Good-Bye My Loneliness'' (1991) *'' Mō Sagasanai'' (1991) *'' Hold Me'' (1992) *''

Yureru Omoi "Yureru Omoi" is the 8th single by Zard and released 19 May 1993 under B-Gram Records label. The single debuted at #1 rank two weeks. It charted for 20 weeks and sold over 1,396,000 copies and became second highest-selling single in her career. Whe ...

'' (1993) *''

'' (1994) *''

Forever You ''Forever You'' is the 6th album of Zard and was released on March 10, 1995, under B-Gram Records label. Background The album consist of three previously released tracks. For first time ZARD self-covered song ''Hitomi ni Sorasanaide'' which was ...

'' (1995) *''

'' (1996) *''

Eien was a after '' Kanna'' and before '' Eiso.'' This period spanned the years from April 987 through August 988. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * January 2, 987 : The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The ...

'' (1999) *''

Toki no Tsubasa is the 9th album of Zard and was released on February 15, 2001 under B-Gram Records label. Background Album was released for 10th anniversary of ZARD's debut. The album consist of five previously released singles between years 1999-2000. Two f ...

'' (2001) *''

Tomatteita Tokei ga Ima Ugokidashita is the 10th album of Zard and was released on January 28, 2004 under B-Gram Records label. Chart performance The album reached #2 rank first week. It charted for 20 weeks and sold more than 200,000 copies. The album was certified platinum in 201 ...

'' (2004) *'' Kimi to no Distance'' (2005)

Live

Zard Cruising & Live

*08/31/1999 Pacific Venus, Tokyo Harbor, Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture

What a Beautiful Moment Concert Tour 2004

*03/02/2004

Festival Hall, Osaka is a concert hall located in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is run by the Asahi Building Co., Ltd., a Japanese real estate company controlling properties of the Asahi Shimbun Company, and is housed in the Festival Tower, a skyscraper. The opening cerem ...

, Osaka Prefecture *03/06/2004

Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Tokyo I ...

, Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture *03/09/2004 Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture *04/05/2004

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whi ...

International House, Hyogo Prefecture *04/08/2004

Pacifico Yokohama Pacifico Yokohama (パシフィコ横浜, ''Pashifiko Yokohama''), officially known as , is a convention and exhibition center in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The center located in the western tip of waterfront Minato Mirai 21 district ...

, Kanagawa Prefecture *04/30/2004 Festival Hall, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture *05/08/2004 Aomori City Cultural Hall, Aomori Prefecture *05/10/2004

Sendai Sunplaza is a hotel in Miyagino-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The hotel is adjacent to the JR East underground Tsutsujigaoka Station. The twelve-story structure includes a large three-story circular hall with seating for up to 2710 people, which is use ...

Hall, Sendai Prefecture *06/02/2004

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

Century Hall, Aichi Prefecture *06/11/2004 Fukuoka Sun Palace,

Fukuoka Prefecture is a 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 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, K ...

*07/23/2004

, Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture

What a Beautiful Memory Concert Tour 2007-2009

* 09/06/2007 Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka Prefecture * 09/07/2007 Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka Prefecture * 09/14/2007 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture * 01/19/2008 Kobe International Forum (International Hall), Hyogo Prefecture * 02/02/2008 Pacifico Yokohama (Prefectural University Hall), Kanagawa Prefecture * 02/10/2008 Izumi City, Prefecture * 02/24/2008 Sapporo City Education & Cultural Forum, Hokkaido Prefecture * 03/08/2008 Ishikawa Health & Pension Forum, Ishikawa Prefecture * 03/15/2008 Aichi Health & Pension Forum, Aichi Prefecture * 03/22/2008 Niigata Prefecture People's Forum, Niigata Prefecture * 04/05/2008 Sunport Hall Takamatsu (Large Hall), Kagawa Prefecture * 04/28/2008 Fukuoka Citizens' Forum, Fukuoka Prefecture * 05/03/2008 Hiroshima Estelle Plaza, Hiroshima Prefecture * 05/04/2008 Ehime Prefecture Citizen Cultural Forum (Subhall), Ehime Prefecture * 05/23/2008 Doshima River Forum, Osaka Prefecture * 05/24/2008 Doshima River Forum, Osaka Prefecture * 05/25/2008 Doshima River Forum, Osaka Prefecture * 05/27/2008 National Yoyogi Athletic Field (First Gymnasium), Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture * 05/15/2009 Doshima River Forum, Osaka Prefecture * 05/16/2009 Doshima River Forum, Osaka Prefecture * 05/27/2009 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture

What a Beautiful Memory ~Forever You~

* 05/27/2011 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture * 05/29/2011

Grand Cube Osaka , also known as , is a convention center in the city of Osaka, Japan. Located adjacent to the convention center is underground Nakanoshima Station (Osaka), Nakanoshima Station served by Keihan Electric Railway Keihan Nakanoshima Line, Nakanoshim ...

, Osaka Prefecture

What a Beautiful Memory ~25th Anniversary~

*05/21/2016 Orix Theater, Osaka Prefecture *05/26/2016

Tokyo Dome City Hall The Tokyo Dome City Hall (TDC Hall) is a facility for sports, fashion shows, circuses, and live music, located inside Tokyo Dome City in Tokyo, Japan. It is on the opposite corner of the Tokyo Dome, and hosts a variety of events at any given t ...