You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Japanese. (September 2014)Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:研ナオコ]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|ja|研ナオコ}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

Naoko Ken（研 ナオコ, Ken Naoko, born July 7, 1953）is a Japanese singer and actress. She is well known for her comedy roles featuringidiosyncratic looks, and a string of successfultorch songs that gained popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1971, Ken debuted as an enka-oriented singer with a single "Daitokai no Yasagure On'na". In 1975, after the release of several charted singles, she gained the first outstanding commercial success with a song "Guzu", which was written byRyudo Uzaki and his wifeYoko Aki. "Abayo", a song written byMiyuki Nakajima became the most successful single for Ken, selling more than 600,000 copies. In 1976, the prize-winning song reached number-one spot on the Oricon, Japan's most eminent chart. In addition to the success as a musician, she also obtained popularity as atarento in the mid 1970s, through her comical acts on multiple TV shows includingKakkurakin Daihousou!!.

After a temporary hiatus in 1977 owing to her arrest on suspicion of possession ofmarijuana,^[2] she returned to the Japanese entertainment industry with the hit tune "Kamome wa Kamome". The melancholic ballad written by Nakajima became known as one of hersignature songs, finally sold in excess of 300,000 units. In 1982, she gained huge commercial success as a singer again with a cover version of theSouthern All Stars' song "Natsu wo Akiramete", winning several Japanese music prizes. The song is her last top-ten hit solo single so far.

Due to her songs’ popularity, Ken was selected for the annual Red and White Song festival every year from 1976 to 1986 except 1977, the year that she went hiatus due to her drug case, and made another return to the prestigious programme on 1993 for her 11th and last appearance so far.

Through her long-term career as a comedic TV personality, she has released several novelty singles with other performers such asKen Shimura. The song "Natsuzakari Ho no Ji Gumi" recorded with an idol singerToshihiko Tahara in 1985 is the last top-40 hit single for Ken on the Japanese record charts. To date, her last single was released in 1985.

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(August 2008)

• Official site (Japanese)
• Naoko Ken atIMDb
• JMDb Profile (in Japanese)

• 1953 births
• Living people
• Japanese women singers
• Japanese actresses
• Singers from Shizuoka Prefecture

• CS1 uses Japanese-language script (ja)
• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from December 2019
• Biography articles needing translation from Japanese Wikipedia
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Articles with hCards
• Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts
• Pages using infobox YouTube personality with unknown parameters
• Incomplete lists from August 2008