Midori Karashima -- Egao wo Sagashite （笑顔を探して）

I may have mentioned on my first article for singer-songwriter Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）, "Silent Eve", that it was the only song I really knew by her. Well, I think I was a bit mistaken and ungenerous there. There was actually another song (and considering I have a couple of her albums somewhere in the annals of my collection, I should slap myself and re-listen to them) that I had come across.

And "Egao wo Sagashite" (Find Your Smiling Face) was actually the immediately preceding 8th single to "Silent Eve", her biggest hit. Released in September 1990, it was also one of the theme songs used for the popular judo anime "Yawara" on NTV which I did watch with some regularity. Through this Monday night anime, Karashima joined Mariko Nagai（永井真理子） and Miki Imai（今井美樹） in contributing songs to the show, but unlike the other two, "Egao wo Sagashite" is one of her trademark ballads, characterized by that slightly quavering and clear-as-a-bell voice of hers.

The song managed to get as high as No. 60 on Oricon. By the way, the video below is the ending credits to "Yawara" with the Karashima ending theme.