Sachiko Kobayashi

Sachiko Kobayashi (小林 幸子, Kobayashi Sachiko, born December 5, 1953) is a female Japanese enka singer and occasional voice actress and voice provider of VOCALOID 4 Sachiko developed by YAMAHA co. She previously worked alongside the Pokémon Company, under the alias "Garura Kobayashi". When Kobayashi was 9 years old in 1963, she became a champion in the TBS-produced "Uta Mane Tokuhon" (歌まね読本) music variety show and was scouted by famous Japanese composer and guitarist Masao Koga. Although Kobayashi was only a grade four student, her voice was said to be exactly like well-known Japanese enka singer Hibari Misora.

One year later, Kobayashi and her family left their hometown, Niigata, Niigata and headed to Tokyo where she released her debut song, "Usotsuki Kamome" (ウソツキ鴎).

In 1968, she acted as the heroine in "Aoi Taiyou" (青い太陽), a TV drama produced by TV Asahi. The drama's ending song was also credited to her. However, after 1968, Kobayashi's level of celebrity dropped, thus causing her to get fewer TV appearances and other opportunities.

In 1979, her song "Omoide Sake" (おもいで酒) became the best seller of the year, winning the 21st Japan Record Awards, and causing her to be popular again. As a result, she was asked to take part in the illustrious annual end-of-year music show "Kōhaku Uta Gassen". After 1979, Kobayashi was considered one of the most famous enka singers in Japan until now. Her more recent activity has intersected with Japanese otaku culture.In July 2015, a Vocaloid called "Sachiko" was released by Yamaha based upon her voice for the Vocaloid 4 engine.In April 2018, coinciding with the launch of her official YouTube channel, Kobayashi debuted her Virtual Youtuber persona, Virtual Grandmother Sachiko Kobayashi. At Nico Nico Chōkaigi, she collaborated with fellow Vtuber Kizuna AI on a cover of Vocaloid Hatsune Miku's song "Senbonzakura". Kobayashi also had a recurring "Virtual Grandmother" segment in 2019 Vtuber sketch comedy show, "VIRTUAL-SAN - LOOKING".