, real name Akiyo Masuda (増田明代 ''Masuda Akiyo'') (born Akiyo Hashimoto (橋本明代 ''Hashimoto Akiyo'') on August 29, 1950), is a Japanese

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, p ...

singer and painter. Her stage name "Yashiro" is adopted from her hometown, "Yatsushiro" (八代).

History

Yashiro originally sang jazz standards in

hostess clubs A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan. They employ primarily female staff and cater to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. The modern host club is a similar type of establishment where primarily male staff atte ...

, but made her debut as an enka singer in 1971, with the single "Ai wa Shindemo (愛は死んでも)", under the label of

Teichiku Records is a Japanese record label, run by , that specializes in enka, kayōkyoku, and similar music. Teichiku is an abbreviation for , the former name of the company. Teichiku Entertainment also runs the record labels Imperial Records, Takumi Note, ...

. Seeing the single's lack of success, she appeared on the YTV's Zen Nihon Kayō Senshuken ( 全日本歌謡選手権) audition, winning it for 10 consecutive weeks. In 1973, her single and album "Namida Koi" ( なみだ恋) sold up to 1.2 million copies. Since then, her songs like "Shinobigoi" (しのび恋), "Ai Hitosuji" (愛ひとすじ), "Onna no Yume" (おんなの夢), "Mō Ichidō Aitai" (もう一度逢いたい), "Onna Minatomachi" (おんな港町), and "Ai no Shūchakueki" (愛の終着駅) also became great hits at the time, in which the songs portrayed a woman's emotion. In 1979, her single "Funauta" ( 舟唄) also made a great hit, followed by "Ame no Bojō ( 雨の慕情)" in 1980. "Ame no Bojō" won the 22nd

Japan Record Award is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...

of the year. She continued collaborating with Teichiku until 1981, before turning to Century Records, where she released singles like "Umineko" (海猫), "Nihonkai" (日本海), and "Koisegawa" (恋瀬川), until 1986. Currently, she is recording under the

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

label since 1986. Yashiro was the first female enka singer to have seven top 10 singles on the main

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

chart, as well as being listed as the fourth enka singer behind male singers

Kiyoshi Hikawa is a Japanese enka singer who was born on September 6, 1977 in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.Hikawa Kiyoshi: Pro ...

Hiroshi Itsuki is a Japanese singer and composer. As of 1987, he had sold 20 million singles and 4 million LP albums. Itsuki is usually regarded as an ''enka'' singer, but he has also released a cover version of Southern All Stars' J-pop song "Tsunami". Care ...

and

Shinichi Mori known professionally as is a Japanese male enka singer and composer, who also sings folk and pop music. He has sold more than 90 million records, making him one of the best selling Japanese musicians. Mori has been married and divorced twi ...

. She also achieved top 10 on the Oricon album charts for three consecutive years (1974–1976).

Appearances at Kōhaku Uta Gassen

Yashiro has performed 23 times in the

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

. She performed consecutively for 15 years (1973–1987), but was not invited to perform in 1988. She was qualified again in 1989. Thereafter, she performed for the next consecutive 5 years (until 1993) and lost the qualification again in 1994, and return to participate again for 3 consecutive years since 1999. She last performed in the prestigious annual show in 2001. She was invited but declined to perform in 2005 with the popularity poll "Sukiuta" (スキウタ). She has 3 singles which have been sung more than once, which are "Namida Koi" (2 times (in 1973 & 2000)), "Mō Ichidō Aitai" (2 times (1976 & 1993)), and "Funauta" (3 times (1979, 1991, and 1999)).

Discography

Collaborations

* ''Unagitani (鰻谷)'' - Eigo Kawashima * ''Sayonara Anta (さよならあんた)'' - Eigo Kawashima * ''Tsuki no Hanamatsuri (月の花まつり)'' - Eigo Kawashima

References

External links

Official website
* Wikipedia Japan Article {{DEFAULTSORT:Yashiro, Aki 1950 births Enka singers Japanese painters Living people People from Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Japanese women jazz singers Musicians from Kumamoto Prefecture 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers