Rumi Shishido

Rumi Shishido (宍戸留美 Shishido Rumi, born November 6, 1973) is a Japanese voice actress, independent recording artist, cameraman, illustrator, and media personality from Hiroshima, Japan. She was formerly a mainstream idol signed onto Sony Records before she left her management in 1992. Many fans call her Run Run (るんるん Run Run) for short.

Shishido's first voice acting role was Mikako Kouda in Gokinjo Monogatari. She returned to the role in Paradise Kiss, and also voiced Mikako's daugther, Alice Yamaguchi. Ai Yazawa is a big fan of Shishido and promoted her album, Set Me Free in a sider bar of Gokinjo. Yazawa later designed the cover of Shishido's sixth studio album, Rumi Roll and promoted it in Nana.

Early life
Shishido was born in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan as the only daughter of an old Samurai family; her grandfather was a buddhist monk. When she was two, she moved to Hiroshima and grew up there. She was a cheerleader at school.

Career
In 1989, Shishido was selected as the winner of a contest hosted by Lotte's and appeared on their television commercial the following year. Her first single, titled "Cosmic Rendezvous" was released in 1990. She also joined the members of Lip's and Rakutenshi to form the short-lived idol group Nanatsuboshi, although it did not interfere with her own solo work.

In 1992, Shishido, then 18 years old, terminated her idol contract and became an independent singer. Since then, she has also branched out into the voice acting industry. Despite this, Shishido's vocals remain popular for their bright yet mature nature. Neil Strauss of The New York Times compared her "ripe, melodic voice" from her first indies album, Set Me Free, to Debbie Gibson and Liz Phair.

Since meeting guitarist Kohei Shigihara, most of Shishido's music has been composed by him. The first song produced by the two was titled "Lion to Kyūka" in 2006, which Shishido describes as the song "[seeming] to have been [her] image" and that "[t]hough [she is] refreshing, [she sings] the sense of the vanity of life of the man and woman."

On May 9, 2010, Shishido celebrated her 20th year anniversary in the music industry with a commemorative performance that was streamed live on Ustream. Her performance set a record of having the most people view her video on the entire history of the website.

Discography
Studio albums
 * Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Shi-Do-Shi-Shi-Do-Ru-Mi (1990)
 * Punsuka (1992)
 * Set Me Free (1995)
 * Shinya Haikai (1997)
 * Bambi Garden (1999)
 * Rumi Roll (2003)
 * Cherbourgh → Brighton (2010)
 * Onna (2012)

Compilation albums
 * Gokinjo Monogatari Tsushin: Part 1 (1995)
 * Gokinjo Monogatari Tsushin: Part 2 (1996)
 * Gokinjo Monogatari Tsushin: Part 3 (1996)
 * Uki Uki Vocal Bazaar! (1996)
 * Afternoon Break (1996)