is a Japanese singer and voice actress 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 ...

, Japan. Shishido debuted as an idol singer with

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the la ...

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 fantasy magical girl anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It focuses on a group of elementary school girls, led by Doremi Harukaze, who become wit ...

'', Rosemary Applefield from '' Ashita no Nadja'', Viper from '' Reborn!'', 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 (series), Xeno'' metaseries, ''Xenosaga'' is set in a science fiction universe and follows a group of ch ...

'' series, Diana and Luna from the '' Jewelpet'' 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 The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

family; her grandfather was a buddhist monk. When Shishido was two years old, she moved to

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

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 the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington.

Career

Musical career

Citing Etsuko Ichihara 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 "Cosmic Rendezvous", was released in 1990. Known by her idol nickname , Shishido also joined the members of Lip's and Rakutenshi 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 (born March 9, 1969), also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author and journalist. His book ''The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', describes his experiences in the seducti ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' compared her "ripe, melodic voice" to

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album ''Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album), Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The a ...

and

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

. 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 isrefreshing, 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 the IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest office ...

. 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 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'' - 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 Japanese film actresses Japanese idols Japanese video game actresses Singers from Fukuoka Prefecture 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