Agnes Chan or Agnes Miling Kaneko Chan ( ) is a pop singer, a television personality (Gaijin tarento), a Doctor of Education, a professor at Japanese universities, an essayist, a novelist. Since 1988 Chan is the ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF, a Japanese private corporation supporting UNICEF.

Career

Agnes Chan began singing and playing guitar in her junior high years in Hong Kong, as volunteer work for fundraising events. She had a chance to record a cover of Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game" with her elder sister, actress Irene Chan, and it became a hit song in Hong Kong. She became famous throughout southeast Asia through several of Chang Cheh's movies, including Young People and The Generation Gap.

Chan was brought to Japan by Japanese singer/songwriter Masaaki Hirao. In 1972 she recorded her first Japanese pop hit, "Poppy Flower (ひなげしの花)." Her clear voice, pretty looks, and imperfect Japanese made her a teenage idol. In 1973, Chan's third single, "Splendor in the Grass (草原の輝き)," earned her the Japan Record Grand Prix "Rookie of the Year" award.

Chan enrolled in Tokyo's Sophia University and studied for two years, after which she decided to take a break from the entertainment business and study social child psychology at the University of Toronto in Canada.

After graduating in 1978, Chan returned to Japan to resume her singing career. Her first Cantonese album was released in Hong Kong in 1979. She won a prize for her peace thesis for International Youth Year, 1984. Her first concert in China, a benefit for Soong Ching-ling's child fund, was held in 1985 at Beijing's capital gym for an audience of 54,000.

Chan's 1984 visit to Ethiopia during a drastic drought and food shortage was covered for the Nippon Television Network's annual "24-Hour TV" charity special. Through these events, she began volunteer work once again, aside from continuing her entertainment career.

In 1986, Chan married her former manager, Tsutomu Kaneko, and gave birth to her eldest son in Canada. After returning to Japan the following year, she began bringing her infant son to the workplace. This was seen as highly controversial ("Agnes" became something of a buzzword in Japan) and raised the question of a mother's place in the working world.

In 1989, Chan began studying with Stanford University's department of education. During her stay in the United States, she gave birth to her second son. With Myra H. Strober, Chan investigated the situations of ten graduates from Tokyo University and Stanford ten years after their graduation. This showed significant differences between the men and women of Japan and the U.S., and earned Chan her Ph.D. Chan returned to Japan as a lecturer, essayist, and university professor. In 1998, Chan was appointed the first ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF, which is a Japanese private corporation unaffiliated with the UNICEF.

Chan's education had a profound impact on her singing career - by the year 2000, her recordings had taken a darker, moodier tone.

In 2002, Chan began her work as a novelist with Perfect Couple and Bullet Ring.

Chan released her first self-cover single, "Splendor in the Grass 2005 (草原の輝き2005)," in 2005, and it was used as a TV commercial song for a herbal tea by Asahi beverage. Chan's latest single is "Flower of Happiness (しあわせの花)". She won the 14th Pestalozzi Education Award presented by Hiroshima University on October.

Her new English-language album Forget Yourself, including a duet with the legendary Chinese performer, Jackie Chan, was released in the United States in February 2006.

Chan is planning to release 3 Japanese new singles on the peace during 2007 and making an album. She's also planning to perform 35th anniversary concerts in about 100 of Japanese cities and Beijing, China in 2007 and 2008.

In October, 2007 it was reported that Chan had undergone surgery for breast cancer in a Tokyo Hospital, and is expected to make a full recovery.

Present Main Regular Programs

Television

• TV Tokyo - Kitajima Wink Heart (Ended by Sep., 2007)
• Chiba TV - Agnes' Music Salon (Ended by Jan., 2006)

Radio

• Radio Nippon(RF) - Agnes' Sunny Side Up
• RTHK - City Snapshot (September 2005 - March 2006)

Discography

• 1971 Will the circle game be unbroken
• 1972 ORIGINAL(1), Poppy flower, With Love from Agnes
• 1973 As Stars, As Flowers, Splendor In The Grass, Flower Concert
• 1974 Agnes's small diary and The Concert for Your and Me, Fly of Swallows
• 1975 The Story of Small Love, Family concert, Hello To Youth, Say Thank You To You, Loving Songs, I Am In Love
• 1976 Mei Mei - Dream all the time, See You Again Some Day, Where shall I go to look for my lover, Agnes Chan, Memorial of Love
• 1977 How are you? and My lover, With love from Canada
• 1978 Happy Again, Ready, Go!
• 1979 Agnes in Wonderland, ABC AGNES, Carnation in the rain , Beautiful days
• 1980 Message, Morning Star, Love robber, Wonderer, Swallow has came back
• 1981 Love Me Little Love Me Long, Mystic words for love, Absorbed in love, Anxiety-forgetting grass
• 1982 Song of Lijiang River, Half Time, Christmas Song Medley
• 1983 Small question, Girl Friends, Wish you to being mellow
• 1985 Loving Harmony, Love will be found - City romance
• 1990 Dear Agnes - Carpenters collection
• 1992 World nursery rhyme and baby-sitter song complete volume I-V
• 1997 Agnes Chan Cantonese selection
• 1999 Famous baby-sitter song and nursery rhymes in the world
• 2000 Happy kids songs by Agnes, English songs by Agnes, Melancholy, Love, Peace & Freedom
• 2001 Private novel - My Love Story
• 2002 Now and Then, Agnes Chan CD BOX
• 2005 Lost & Found -Come to Me-
• 2006 Forget Yourself (Audio CD with DVD)
• 2008 Peaceful World

Written Works

• 1983 My Chinese dishes by Agnes
• 1984 Be peaceful with songs
• 1984 We all are the people who live on the earth
• 1993 Neo Woman
• 1994 Mama You Don't Need to be a Doctor
• 1996 We all are the people who live on the earth Part2
• 1997 Hong Kong Guide by Agnes
• 1999 The Road Winds Uphill All The Way (collaboration with Myra H. Strober), We all are the people who live for the future
• 2001 Positive child care by Agnes
• 2002 Perfection couple, Ring of bullet
• 2003 This road leads to the hill (Japanese translation)
• 2004 Cheers to the world!, Japan, where I love, Messages from little lives
• 2005 The Right Track -To people who live for the future-, What the Marriage Life is ?(collaboration with Yoko Kitajima)
• 2006 Agnes' Style Aging - Chinese Herbal Detoxification, Flowers , Colors and Birthday Messages (collaboration)
• 2007 We all are the people who live on the earth Part3, 26 words of love for finding happiness by Mother Teresa

References

1. starbulletin.com | Features | /2006/04/11/
2. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/japan_31778.html
3. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/japan.html
4. The Standard - Hong Kong's First FREE English Newspaper

External links

• Agnes Chan's Official Homepage
• History of Agnes Chan
• Agnes Chan's Charity Work
• Pop Star with a PhD
• Agnes Chan's U.S. Debut