Sonim
Zainichi Korean actress and musician
Seong Son-im (born March 10, 1983), known mononymously as Sonim (ソニン, Sonin), is a Japanese-born Korean actress and singer associated with Amuse Inc. She debuted in 2000 as the lead singer of the pop duo EE Jump. In 2002, she debuted as a solo singer with "Curry Rice no Onna", which then led to the release of her debut album, Hana, in 2004.
In 2003, Sonim made her first acting appearance in the television drama High School Teacher, where she won Best Newcomer at the 36th The Television Drama Academy Award. Eventually, she left her idol music career to pursue theater.
01Career
2000-2002: Debut with EE Jump
Sonim was inspired by Speed to become a singer and applied to several auditions, one of which happened to be for Morning Musume's 3rd generation in 1999. Despite not making the group, Kaoru Wada, Morning Musume's manager at the time, scouted her to be part of an upcoming group that later became EE Jump. In January 2000, Sonim moved to Tokyo for EE Jump's activities. After training in New York, EE Jump debuted in October 2000 with the song "Love is Energy!" On November 28, 2001, Sonim released her first solo song "Winter (Samui Kisetsu no Monogatari)" as EE Jump's fifth single.
2002-2005: Solo music career
After EE Jump disbanded in April 2002, Sonim debuted as a solo singer with the release of her first single, "Curry Rice no Onna."
In September 2006, Sonim debuted in South Korea, releasing a Korean-language version of "Curry Rice no Onna" under the title "After Love" (후애 (後愛).
In 2007, she became part of the vocal group Tomboy with Akane Osawa, which debuted in November 2007. In 2007-2009, she starred as Kim in Japanese production of the musical Miss Saigon. In 2007-2011, she played the role of Johanna in the Japanese production of Sweeney Todd.
02Personal life
Sonim is a third-generation Korean. She is fluent in Japanese, Korean, and English.
She has said on her personal blog that for years she has been on a vegan diet. In 2009, while preparing for her role in the stage production of Shakespeare's "Henry VI", she began following a macrobiotic diet, which inspired her to become vegetarian. In 2012, she became vegan for respect for all living beings.
03Discography
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak position | Sales | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | ||||
| "Curry Rice no Onna" (カレーライスの女) | 2002 | 8 |
|
Hana |
| "Tsugaru Kaikyō no Onna" (津軽海峡の女) | 9 |
| ||
| "Tokyo Midnight Loneliness" (東京ミッドナイト ロンリネス) | 2003 | 7 |
| |
| "Gōkon Ato no FamiRes Nite" (合コン後のファミレスにて) | 9 |
|
Non-album single | |
| "Honto wa ne" (ほんとはね。) | 2004 | 12 |
|
Non-album single |
| "Jigsaw Puzzle" (ジグソーパズル) | 9 |
|
Non-album single | |
| "Asunaro Ginga" (あすなろ銀河) | 2005 | 18 |
|
Non-album single |
| "Zutto Soba ni Ite ne" (ずっとそばにいてね。) / "Curry Rice no Onna" (カレーライスの女) (2020 Remix) | 2020 | 96 | , N/a | Non-album single |
| ", " denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||
Albums
- 2003-05-14 Hana
DVD
- 2004-03-17 Sonim Collection
Theatre
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007-2011) - Johanna Barker
- Miss Saigon (2008-2009) - Kim
- Henry VI (2009) - Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc)
- Rent - Mimi Márquez (2010), Maureen Johnson (2012-2015)
- The Threepenny Opera (2014) - Polly Peachum
- Mozart! (2014) - Constanze
- Wuthering Heights (2015) - Isabella Linton
- Dance of The Vampires (2015-2016) - Magda
- Kinky Boots (2016-2022) - Lauren
- 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille (2016-2018) - Solene Rigot
- Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (2017-2020) - Cynthia Weil
- The Rocky Horror Show (2017) - Janet Weiss
- Marie Antoinette (2018-2021) - Margrid Arnaud
- Oliver! (2021) - Nancy
- The 39 Steps (2022) - Annabella Schmidt/Pamela/Margaret
- The Factory Girls (2023) - Harriet Farley
- Measure for Measure (2023) - Isabella
- All's Well That Ends Well (2023) - Diana
- L'art Reste (2024) - Kim Hyang-An
- Six (2025) - Catherine of Aragon
- Waitress (2025) - Dawn Pinkett
04Filmography
Film
- Oh! My Zombie Mermaid (2004), Nami Ishizuka
- Snakes and Earrings (2008), Yuri
Television
- Koukou Kyoushi 2003 (2003), Beniko Kudo
- Anpan (2025), Mimi Yamashita
- Shadows of the Ten Ninja (2026), Inbeyama Gozen
Japanese dubbing
- Animation
- Moana 2 (2024), Matangi
05Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 40th Golden Arrow Award | Best New Artist | Herself | Won | |
| 2003 | 36th The Television Drama Academy Award | Best Newcomer | High School Teacher | Won |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sonim”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- April Hunter rope.jpg by April Hunter, CC BY-SA 3.0
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