What is "rikki"

, professionally known as , is a Japanese folk singer.

Born in Amami Ōshima, Japan, she began to sing traditional Japanese music when she was four years old. Later, at the age of 15, Rikki was the youngest winner ever to win the "Grand Prix" of the Japanese traditional folk music awards (known as All Japan Minyo awards). She first performed in Tokyo, Japan, at the prestigious Festival Konda Lota in 1992. She released her first single "Maten no Hoshi" (which means "Sky Full of Stars") in December 1993, originally released in the Kyūshū region of Japan. Shortly thereafter, she produced debut album, Kaze no Koe.

In 1998, Rikki was chosen to participate at the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Paralympics in Nagano, Japan, sing the Paralympics theme song "Tabidachi no Toki".

Rikki is widely known by gamers as the singer of the Final Fantasy X main theme, " Suteki da ne", released as a single on July 18, 2001. Other songs on the single include the Instrumental version of Suteki Da Ne, "Pure Heart" (a vocal arrangement of Aeris' Theme from Final Fantasy VII), and a new song entitled "Tsukisama" (which means "The Moon"). One reason why Nobuo Uematsu and Kazushige Nojima chose her to perform "Suteki Da Ne" (translated into English as "Isn't It Wonderful?") is that she is very famous in Japan as a traditional folk singer and he believed that her voice is rather nice and gentle and that it has a higher pitch than the voices of mainstream Japanese singers. Rikki was 26 years old at the time of Final Fantasy X's release. Many professional and amateur singers were inspired by her singing voice and ability to make combinations and mixtures of pop and rock music.

In 2001, she produced a picture album alongside Joe Hisaishi for the motion picture Spirited Away (directed by Hayao Miyazaki).

In 2006, Rikki joined the band Sound Horizon for the release of 5th Story CD: Roman. She was involved in Sound Horizon's releases until 2008, when she gave birth to twins and returned to Amami Ōshima, as she said in her blog. She returned to Sound Horizon in 2009 for their Triumph III live tour.

Rikki is a given name. Notable people with the name include:

• Rikki (singer) (born 1975), Japanese folk singer
• Rikki Bains (born 1988), English footballer
• Rikki Beadle-Blair (born 1961), British actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright
• Rikki Bingham (born 1983), British compound archer
• Rikki Chamberlain (born 1973), British actor
• Rikki Clarke (born 1981), English cricketer
• Rikki Ducornet (born 1943), American writer, poet, and artist
• Rikki Ferguson (born 1956), Scottish professional footballer
• Rikki Fifton (born 1985), British sprinter
• Rikki Fleming (born 1946), Scottish footballer
• Rikki Fulton (1924–2004), Scottish comedian and actor
• Rikki Jai, Trinidadian chutney-soca artiste
• Rikki Mathay, broadcast journalist from the Philippines
• Rikki Klieman (born 1948), American criminal defense lawyer and television personality
• Rikki Rockett (born 1961), American glam metal drummer
• Rikki Six (born 1990), American pornographic actress
• Rikki Sheriffe (born 1984) English rugby league player
• Rikki Wemega-Kwawu Ghanaian artist