Photo: Ricardo 清介 八木 / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Public records list Yoko Takahashi as a singer, recording artist and radio personality. Born on August 28, 1966, Yoko Takahashi is from Tokyo, Japan. That works out to 59 years old in 2026. Education on record includes Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. The listed height is 167 cm.
My Take
Yoko Takahashi holds a strange kind of record. "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", released in 1995 as the opening theme to Neon Genesis Evangelion, has stayed near the top of Japanese karaoke charts for roughly three decades. Songs do not normally do that. Her other signature piece, "Tamashii no Refrain", comes from the same franchise. Born in Tokyo in 1966 and trained at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, she is not simply a vocalist who caught one enormous wave: she writes lyrics, composes, and works as a radio personality, and her career runs across the whole of the 1990s anime boom. I think what makes that song survive is the collision of two things at full intensity, a series that was unusually raw about its own anxieties and a voice with no hedging in it at all. She still performs, and at anime events overseas audiences sing the Japanese lyrics back at her without needing a translation. If you want one clean demonstration of how far Japanese music travelled through animation, it is standing right there on that stage.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Yoko Takahashi
- Name (Japanese)
- 高橋洋子
- Reading
- たかはし ようこ
- Born
- August 28, 1966 (age 59)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Horse
- Origin
- Tokyo, Japan
- Height
- 167 cm
- Occupation
- singer / recording artist / radio personality / lyricist / composer
2. Background
- University
- Senzoku Gakuen College of Music
3. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | A Cruel Angel's Thesis | — | |
| Notable work | Tamashii no Refrain | — |
4. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.geneon-ent.co.jp/rondorobe/music/takahashi/
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/yoko_takahashi_official/
- Xhttps://x.com/yokotakahashi_s
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko%20Takahashi
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E6%A9%8B%E6%B4%8B%E5%AD%90%20(%E6%AD%8C%E6%89%8B)
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q679797
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-08-07
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Yoko Takahashi born?
Born August 28, 1966 (age 59).
Where is Yoko Takahashi from?
Yoko Takahashi is from Tokyo, Japan.
What does Yoko Takahashi do?
Yoko Takahashi works as singer, recording artist, radio personality, lyricist, composer.
How tall is Yoko Takahashi?
Yoko Takahashi is 167 cm.
What is Yoko Takahashi known for?
Notable works include A Cruel Angel's Thesis, Tamashii no Refrain.
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