Emiko Shiratori

Emiko Shiratori (白鳥 英美子 Shiratori Emiko; born March 16, 1950) is a Japanese singer and songwriter.

In 1969, Emiko was paired up with Sumio Akutagawa by Toshibi EMI (now EMI Music Japan) record label. The two formed the folk group Toi et Moi. They achieved a great success in Japan, and from 1969 to 1973 released an average of two albums and four singles a year. In 1973, Emiko released her first solo album and continued as a solo artist throughout the 1970s. She performed at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics and the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

As a vocalist for the video game Final Fantasy IX, she performed the main theme "Melodies of Life" in both the Japanese and English versions. Due to the popularity of the English version of the song, a special single was released separately from the original, "FINAL FANTASY IX" Original Soundtrack. In 2006, she was asked by Nobuo Uematsu to perform a "defining version" of the song at the Final Fantasy Voices Concert. She performed a version in which she combined both the Japanese and English lyrics.

She also performed a vocal arrangement of "Epona's Song" for the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Re-Arranged Album, and narrated, as well as performed the opening and ending themes, to the 1990-1992 Moomin anime TV series. She also performed "Do-Re-Mi-Fa Lullaby", the ending theme to the second Unico movie, Unico in the Island of Magic, although the song was changed to an instrumental in the English version of the film.

Emiko has had at least one song appear on the NHK program Minna no Uta.

She is the wife of composer and music producer Sumio Shiratori, and mother of singer Maika Shiratori.

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