Maki Asakawa (Japanese: 浅川マキ, Asakawa Maki; January 27, 1942 – January 17, 2010) was a Japanese jazz and blues singer, lyricist, and occasional actress. Born in Mikawa, Ishikawa Prefecture (now Hakusan), after graduating high school she worked as a civil servant for a short time before moving to Tokyo. Particularly influenced by the styles of Mahalia Jackson and Billie Holiday, Asakawa began her career singing at US Army bases and at various cabarets. She made her debut recording, Tokyo Banka/Amen Jiro with Victor in 1967. After appearing in a series of concerts organized by underground playwright Shuji Terayama in 1968, she signed with Toshiba, presently EMI Music Japan, and released the popular songs, Yo ga Aketara and Kamome in 1969. Her debut album, Asakawa Maki no Sekai, was released in 1970. In addition to writing and composing, she also released cover versions of US traditional folk and blues, translated to Japanese, such as Asahi no ataru ie (朝日のあたる家) (The House of the Rising Sun). She became popular in the 1970s and had made more than 30 releases by the end of the 1990s, after which she was mostly known for performing live. Asakawa collaborated with musicians such as Yosuke Yamashita and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Asakawa continued performing live until the time of her death. Scheduled to perform in Nagoya on January 15-17, 2010, she died before her show on the 17th, at the age of 67, of heart failure. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.