Japanese singer, composer, and keyboardist Mayumi Itsuwa is a pop vocalist known for her sweeping torch songs and stirring vibrato. Debuting in 1972 with her first album Shojo, she became a popular presence throughout Asia in the next decade, scoring a crossover smash with the chart-topping hit "Koibito yo" from the 1980 album of the same name. Maintaining a chart presence well into the '90s, she has since become a beloved figure in Japanese popular music.

Born in 1951, the Tokyo-bred artist recorded her 1972 debut in Los Angeles alongside producer John Fischbach and contributors David Campbell, Carole King, and Charles Larkey. Shojo rose to number six on the Japanese charts, where her early works were a Top 40 mainstay throughout the decade. Her first number one arrived in 1980 in the form of Koibito yo. Boosted by the title track single, the song and album were hits outside of her native Japan and marked her highest-ever placement on the charts. In addition to staying at the top of the Japanese charts for three consecutive weeks, the album also scored a "Gold Prize" at the 1980 Japan Record Awards. Subsequent efforts such as Shunshu, Marionette, and Shiosai kept Itsuwa in the Top Ten, as numerous compilations filled the gaps between studio albums.

Itsuwa continued to release new music into the '90s and the new millennium, rising to the upper reaches of the Japanese charts in 2007 with Welcome and again in 2013 with Mayumi Itsuwa 40th Anniversary Best Album [Lovers & Friends]. In 2022, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her debut, she issued Mayumi Itsuwa Premium Best HISTORY. ~ Neil Z. Yeung