Ayako Sawada (born Motomi Sawada on January 1, 1949, in Kitami, Hokkaido) is a Japanese singer, actress, and television personality. She left the vocal department of Kunitachi College of Music after one year and began performing piano and vocals at a hotel nightclub in Tokyo. Her career in entertainment began when she was scouted while performing, leading to her debut as a singer in 1973 with the single “Azami no Hana,” which featured lyrics by Yoshiko Okada. That same year, she released her first album Azami no Hana / Tokubetsu na Tomodachi. Sawada gained national attention in 1979 as a host of the daytime television show Look Look Konnichiwa. From the mid-1980s onward, she focused primarily on acting, appearing in TV dramas like Kekkon no Shikaku, Geinou Shakai, and Gaman Dekinai!, and the film Sensei. She became a familiar face in the long-running crime series Tuesday Suspense Theater.She continues to perform occasionally and has shared the stage with her daughter, singer-songwriter Kaori Sawada. In recent years, she returned to music with releases such as the heartfelt ballad “Chiisai Hana”(2024).