Former idol singer Sakai Noriko (32) has launched her own fashion brand. It is targeted at the so-called “young missus” market. “Noripi” has been popular in much of Asia since her heyday in the late 80s/early 90s. The brand name “PP Rikorino” is a mishmash of her name, nickname, ‘p’ for ‘produce’ and ‘pino’, meaning ‘cute’ in Italian. It is backed by Itochu, one of Japan’s biggest trading companies.