Mari Amachi

Mari Amachi (天地 真理^?, Amachi Mari, born November 5, 1951) is a Japanese female singer and actress, who was famous in 1970s' Japan. On October 1, 1971, she debuted with the single "Mizuiro no Koi." She was born as Mari Saito in Omiya, Saitama Prefecture. She got five Oricon No.1 songs, a record as a female singer which was later broken by Seiko Matsuda. She started the era of Japanese idols in the 1970s and 1980s. Mari Amachi was the top female vocalist of Sony Music Entertainment in Japan.

Mari Amachi debuted in 1971 with the single "Mizuiro No Koi". She was promoted alongside Rumiko Koyanagi and Saori Minami, and they were dubbed the "San-Nin Musume" (Three young girls). Before them, Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri and Izumi Yukimura were promoted in the same fashion. In 1973, Amachi, Koyanagi and Minami were followed by Momoe Yamaguchi, Junko Sakurada and Masako Mori, who were known as "Hana No Chu 3 Trio" (The Trio of Third-Year Junior High School Students).

Mari Amachi proved to be a huge success in Japan. She was one of the first Japanese singers to be deemed an "idol". Her single "Chiisana Koi" was the first of five number 1 hits on the Oricon chart list. No other female Japanese entertainer had achieved this, yet her record was broken by Pink Lady in the late 70s and their record was subsequently broken by Seiko Matsuda in the 80s.

...
Wikipedia