| Native Name: | 緒方 かな子 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Birth Date: | 4 March 1973 |
| Other Names: | Kanako Nakajō |
| Years Active: | 1980s–1996 |
| Children: | 3 (including Yuna Ogata) |
, previously known as, is a Japanese singer and television personality from Naka-ku, Hiroshima. Originally part of the Sakurakko Club, she released a few solo singles and had a career as an actress, gravure idol, and radio personality, before retiring after her marriage to baseball player Koichi Ogata. Afterwards, she became a painter whose work was exhibited nationwide, and she returned as a in her native Hiroshima, being a part of radio's and Hiroshima Television's .
Kanako Ogata, a native of Naka-ku, Hiroshima, was born on 4 March 1973.[1] She was educated at Horikoshi High School.[2]
Her career began when she was seven. She was a member of the Sakurakko Club Sakura-gumi. Debuting under the name Kanako Nakajō,[3] she sang the ending theme song of Sakurakko Club, "Tenshi no Tobira", and Pony Canyon released it as her debut single on 21 June 1991.[4] She sang the ending theme song of the TV Asahi drama (1992–1993), "Kotoba o Sagashite", and Pony Canyon released it as a single on 18 June 1993.[5]
Outside of music, she also worked as an actress, gravure idol, radio personality. She was also known as . In 1993 or 1994, she took a minor career break when she contracted meningitis.[1]
In 1996, she married Koichi Ogata, at the time an outfielder for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp; they had two daughters and a son, including singer and voice actress Yuna Ogata.[6] [7] She subsequently took a career hiatus, during which she took up Nihonga painting and oil painting. By 2013, she had produced at least a hundred paintings.[1] In 1998, she made her first appearance at the .[1] Her self-portrait,, was selected for the 88th Exhibition in 2012.[8] In December 2013, her first solo exhibition took place at Gallery Miyasaka in Ginza.[1] Another oil painting,, was selected for the 93rd Hakujitsu Exhibition in 2017.
Following her career hiatus, she later became a in her native Hiroshima.[1] By 2013, she was part of the radio programme .[1] In April 2017, she become a Tuesday commentator on Hiroshima Television's news programme .[9] She appeared as Yumi in the eighth episode of the TBS drama, broadcast on 11 March 2018; this was her first appearance on a television drama since 1995.[10]
In December 2013, Ogata confirmed in an interview with Zakzak that she had developed arrhythmia and therefore underwent cardiac catheterization.[1] In 2016, she got a pet French bulldog whom she named .[11] [12]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | JPN Hot | |||||
| "Tenshi no Tobira" |
| — | — | |||
| "Kizuna" |
| — | — | [13] | ||
| "Weekday Alice" |
| — | — | [14] | ||
| "Kotoba o Sagashite" |
| — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||||