Gwinko Kanagushiku (; born on June 4, 1973) is a Japanese singer who is currently a member of the duo Kina & Gwinko Worldchamploo.
Biography Gwinko was born in Okinawa. She was one of the first batch of students from the Okinawa Actors School. In 1986, she passed an audition hosted by CBS Sony and moved to Tokyo, becoming Okinawa Actors School's first graduate. Gwinko released her debut album Yesterday Today Forever and single "Star Ship (I'm Going High)" in 1987. She became known for her style of singing R&B with digital sound in the foreground with slightly husky and relaxed vocals, as well as her dance choreography reminiscent of that of Janet Jackson.
In 1988, Gwinko participated at CBS Sony's 20th anniversary event "New Blood 88–89". Later that year, she performed at Epic/Sony's 10th anniversary concert "Dance to Christmas". In the summer of 1989, Gwinko participated in the live tour "New Bloods Presents Funk a Hips Live Show" as a member of New Bloods. In October of that year, she became the co-host of the music program Hit Studio R&N alongside Ichiro Furutachi. On the October 13 episode, Gwinko and Furutachi were witnesses to an incident when rock band The Timers played an unscheduled performance of a song protesting FM Tokyo censorship policies.
In 1991, Gwinko released the single "Downtown Game", which was used as the opening theme of the anime series City Hunter '91. Shortly after the release of her album Tokyo Ukiuki Girl, she moved back to Okinawa. In 1994, Gwinko signed with Media Remoras and released her sixth album Princess Moon.
In 2020, Gwinko re-emerged from retirement and joined Shoukichi Kina to form Kina & Gwinko Worldchamploo.
Discography Studio albums YearInformationOricon weeklypeak positionSalesRIAJ certification1987Yesterday Today Forever Released: September 21, 1987 Label: CBS Sony Formats: LP, CD, cassette— 1988Teenage Beat Released: June 1, 1988 Label: CBS Sony Formats: LP, CD, cassette—1989Every Girl Released: June 21, 1989 Label: CBS Sony Formats: CD, cassette—1990I'm In Released: July 21, 1990 Label: CBS Sony Formats: CD, cassette—1991Tokyo Ukiuki Girl Released: May 22, 1991 Label: Sony Records Formats: CD, cassette—1994Princess Moon Released: September 21, 1994 Label: Media Remoras Formats: CD, cassette— "—" denotes a release that did not chart.
Singles + List of singles, with selected chart positions Title Date Peak chart positions Sales (JPN) RIAJcertification AlbumJPNOricon"Star Ship (I'm Going High)" September 2, 1987 — "Gwinko's Christmas Carol (Sweet Heart Version)" November 21, 1987 — Yesterday Today Forever "Get On" April 2, 1988 — Teenage Beat "Us" January 21, 1990 — "Yokubari na Weekend" August 1, 1990 — I'm In "Downtown Game" April 25, 1991 — Tokyo Ukiuki Girl "Bougainvillea wo Daite Waratte" July 21, 1994 — Princess Moon "—" denotes a release that did not chart.
Other recordings Release dateWorkSongNotesSeptember 29, 1994Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture"Daisuki to iu uso o tsuita"Anime TV special ending theme.
Filmography TV Hit Studio R&N (1989–1990)
Film Tanpenshū Step Out (1990) Heartbreaker: Dangan yori Ai wo Komete (1992)
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