Japanese lyricist Yoshiko Miura passed away last November 6 due to pneumonia at the age of 74, as confirmed by reports from Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun. A funeral was held in her memory with her close relatives attending the ceremony.
Within the anime fandom, the lyricist is well known for her works featured in anime shows for their theme songs in the 80s. The biggest anime theme song that became a hit is the opening theme song for the first season of “Cat’s Eye,” which was sung by Anri. The song reached the top spot at the Oricon monthly charts from September to October 1983.
Aside from “Cat’s Eye”, there were other 80s anime songs that she has worked on such as “Love Sarigenaku” by Takako Ohta (Magic Angel Creamy Mami 2nd ending theme), “Miracle Girl” by Mariko Nagai (YAWARA! opening theme), “Mizuiro no Kagayaki” by Hiromi Koide (Aura Battler Dunbine 2nd ending theme), “Galient World” by EUROX (Panzer World Galient opening theme), and “Samurai Heart” by Hiroki Moriguchi (Samurai Troopers 2nd opening theme), and “Ai wa Boomerang” by Yuko Matsutani (Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer theme song).
Miura was born in Aomori Prefecture in 1949, and made her debut as a lyricist in 1977 after graduating from Meiji Gakuin University. There are times she is mistakenly credited as “Tokuko Miura” as that is the alternative reading of her name. She was best known for her idol work in the 1980s such as Seiko Matsuda, Yu Hayami, Yoko Oginome, Yoshie Kasiwabara and Shizuka Kudo. In past years, she wrote lyrics for the idols of SMILE-UP (formerly Johnny & Associates) and Hello! Project.
Some anime fans who knew her work took to social media to honor her memory and send their condolences.
And I truly loves the song. The lyrics. It truly suits her, as the one who has crest of hope 💚
So once again, thank you soo much for making this beautiful piece, Yoshiko Miura.
You will be missed. Dearly. pic.twitter.com/7712svatvg— Alisha Kurnia (@Nelvezone) November 15, 2023
RIP, Yoshiko Miura wrote some of the best 80s anime songs lyrics. https://t.co/lz3uj8GzJb
— Anime on Vinyl Lover🎧 (@iloveanimevinyl) November 15, 2023
rest in peace, yoshiko miura 🙁 pic.twitter.com/ZiZjPXlruU
— Purple Town (2023 Lacquer Master Sound Remaster) (@slowmotion82) November 17, 2023
thank you yoshiko miura for writing one of my favorite hello project lyrics of all time, rest in peace ❤️ pic.twitter.com/DG34jigjhJ
— ray =w= (@raemaand) November 14, 2023
Our deepest condolences to her family. Her wonderful contributions in the anime community will never be forgotten.
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