, real name , was a Japanese ''

ryūkōka is a Japanese music genre, musical genre. The term originally denoted any kind of "popular music" in Japanese, and is the East Asian cultural sphere, sinic reading of ''hayariuta'', used for commercial music of Edo period, Edo Period. Therefore, ...

'' singer. He studied music as an enka-shi or a street musician. At that time, he was encouraged by

Taro Shoji was a popular Japanese ryūkōka singer. He also used the aliases , , and in his early recording career. Early life Shōji was born in Akita, Akita Prefecture. His father was an employee of the South Manchuria Railway, and his parents moved to ...

Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

. He signed with King Records in 1938. He debuted with song "Kokkyō no Haru" (国境の春, lit. "Spring at the Border") in 1939. He married Kiyoko Okuda in 1940. In 1944, during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, he was dispatched to

Ambon Island Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south and various districts ('' ...

, but soon returned due to sickness. After the war, his popularity grew, and he starred in ''

Akogare no Hawaii kōro is a 1950 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Torajiro Saito. Cast * Haruo Oka * Hibari Misora * Sanae Ijita (柴田早苗) * Mitsuko Yoshikawa * Tamae Kiyokawa (清川玉枝) * Achako Hanabishi ( 花菱アチャコ) * Shintarō Kido * Rob ...

'' with

Hibari Misora was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural icon. She received a Medal of Honor for her contributions to music and for improving the welfare of the public, and was the first woman to receive the People's Honour Award, which was conferred posthu ...

. However, he never performed at the Kohaku Uta Gassen partly because he attached importance to

live performances ''Live Performance'' is a live album by Jake Thackray. Recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 1970, it was released on LP by EMI in 1971 and reissued in 1976. An expanded version was released on CD in 2006. Thackray was uncomforta ...

Discography

* : 1939 * : 1939 * : 1940 * : 1940 * : 1940 * : 1946 * : 1946 * : 1947 * : 1948 * : 1955

References

1916 births 1970 deaths People from Kisarazu Musicians from Chiba Prefecture Japanese male actors 20th-century Japanese male singers 20th-century Japanese singers Japanese people of World War II {{Japan-singer-stub