Mai Mizuki (Mayuko Hosoe) -- Hanataba（花束 ）

Found another one of those singers that has been under the radar all these years.

Mayuko Hosoe*（細江真由子）hails from Shiga Prefecture and from a young age, she was taking singing and Japanese dancing lessons while also learning kendo. She has made her trade as an enka singer all these years but when she debuted in 1992, it was as an aidoru just before her 18th birthday.

However, her debut single, "Hanataba" (Bouquet) from February 1992, doesn't sound anything like an aidoru tune or a typical enka song. I would say that it probably fit more into the Mood Kayo mold with some urban contemporary influences...a brand of Japanese sophisticated pop. Even back then, the singer's voice didn't really come across as anything teenybopper. In the J-Wiki profile, it's said that Hosoe soon made the transition into a category called Adult Music which is a hybrid genre of enka and pop music, so perhaps "Hanataba" is an example of this. The song itself was created by lyricist Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）and composer Kisaburo Suzuki（鈴木キサブロー）.

I also found out that even before "Hanataba", there had been a prior release of a single under the name Mayuko Mine（峰真由子）. However, under her real name of Mayuko Hosoe, a total of 7 singles were released up to 2000. Three years later, though, she made a comeback under the new stage name of Mai Mizuki（みずき舞）and was releasing singles up to 2014.

*The kanji for her family name「細江」 has a couple of readings. There is Hosoe but it can also be read Sasae. Again, if anyone knows the correct reading, please let me know as confirmation.