Riho Sayashi on Strength, Pushing Less and Leaving Idol Fame at 17
Japanese artist Riho Sayashi, who walked away from idol stardom at 17 and moved to New York, says she is content with her current pace. She spoke in a Women in Music interview about her avex major-label debut, her acting role and how she protects her songwriting.
Japanese singer and actor Riho Sayashi, who walked away from idol stardom at 17 and moved to New York, said in an interview published November 13, 2026 that she is happy with where her career stands. Her comments reflect a strength-over-pushing approach to a path that has taken her from a girl group to an independent label and now a major one.
Sayashi spoke for the Women in Music interview series, which launched in 2022 to celebrate women who have made significant contributions to music and entertainment. The series is one of the highlights of Japan's Women in Music project.
She joined the long-running girl group Morning Musume at 12 and was called its "ace" by her mid-teens. She left idol life at 17 and went to New York, where, as the interview puts it, no one knew who she was.
After a solo relaunch on her own independent label, she made her major-label debut with avex in 2025. She has since released an EP and gone on a nationwide tour. She now co-stars in the TV drama Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana and performs its ending theme.
"While I’m still going at my own pace, I’ve been blessed with fortunate encounters, ideas and opportunities from so many people around me," she said. "I’m really happy with where things are."
Her major debut came about four years after the indie relaunch. Sayashi said she first needed to work out her direction, so she chose an independent label and built up step by step, starting from the question of whom to contact to put on a live show.
Once her path took shape, she said, she felt ready to move forward with avex. She said more people involved means her options and her ideas for what she wants to express have "multiplied many times over," and she called the partnership well timed.
What she will not compromise
Asked what she refuses to give up as her team grows, Sayashi pointed to the start of each song. Sometimes she writes directly and sometimes she does not. "But I always make sure my soul is in a song at the moment it’s born," she said.
She begins with her own idea of what she wants to express, then asks others to help bring that world to life. A new team forms around each song. Making sure the "moment of (a song’s) birth" is sparked by her is something she says she always values.
Looking back at her Morning Musume years, she said she first savored the joy of standing on the stage she had dreamed of. She called it "almost frightening" that she performed at the Nippon Budokan as a junior high schooler, and then laughed.
As time passed, she said, she became more aware of belonging to a group with a long history. There were moments when she felt she had to lead the other members in some respects.
