was a Japanese songwriter and jazz pianist.

Biography

Hachidai Nakamura was born in

Tsingtao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, to Japanese parents, before moving to

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town of Kitano (from ...

at a young age, where he attended high school. He graduated from

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

with a degree in literature. Nakamura extensively played piano during his high school days, where he was invited to perform with local dance band "Yasuhiko Taniguchi and Premier Swing", and "The Red Hat Boys", a student jazz combo. After Nakamura entered Waseda University, he formed a jazz band named "Big Four" along with

Hidehiko Matsumoto Hidehiko "Sleepy" Matsumoto (松本英彦) (October 12, 1926, Okayama – February 29, 2000, Tokyo) was a Japanese jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Matsumoto played bebop in Japan in the late 1940s with the group CB Nine, then joined The Six Jos� ...

, Joji "George" Kawaguchi, and Mitsuru Ono in 1953, but the band was soon disbanded. As a composer, Nakamura later wrote many songs for various Japanese singers such as

Kyu Sakamoto was a Japanese singer and actor. He was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as " Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached numbe ...

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

Saburō Kitajima is a Japanese enka singer, lyricist, actor and composer. Background He was born Minoru Ōno (大野穣), in Shiriuchi, Hokkaidō, to a fisherman. He was very poor due to the effects of World War II, and was forced to work while he studied. ...

, and

Johnny & Associates is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as . History 1962–1989 In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency rente ...

' first group

Johnnys was a Japanese boy band created by Johnny Kitagawa before the formation of the Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates. The group was formed in April 1962 and lasted until November 20, 1967. They are considered one of the first of Japan's J ...

. He worked closely with lyricist Rokusuke Ei and many of his songs were popularized by singer Kyu Sakamoto. He wrote the music of the popular Japanese song "

Ue o muite arukō , alternatively titled "Sukiyaki", is a song by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto, first released in Japan in 1961. The song topped the charts in a number of countries, including the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1963. The song grew to become one o ...

," released in 1961 in Japan. The song was released in the United States under the name "Sukiyaki" in 1963, peaking at the number-one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He and Ei also worked on the productions of Johnnys' 1964 debut single "Wakai Namida" and Saburō Kitajima's 1965 single "Kaerokana."

Compositions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gkG6DFaDd4&list=RD2gkG6DFaDd4

Kyu Sakamoto

* ''

'' (上を向いて歩こう) * '' Ashita ga aru sa'' (明日があるさ) * ''Hitoribotchi no futari'' (一人ぼっちの二人) * ''Sayonara sayonara'' (さよならさよなら) * ''Sekai no kuni kara konnichiwa'' (世界の国からこんにちは) * ''Soshite omoide'' (そして想い出) * ''Kuchibue dake ga'' (口笛だけが) * ''Ikite ite yokatta'' (生きていてよかった)

Johnnys

* ''Wakai Namida'' (若い涙)

Saburō Kitajima

* ''Kaerokana'' (帰ろかな)

References

1931 births 1992 deaths Musicians from Qingdao People from Kurume Waseda University alumni Japanese songwriters Japanese jazz pianists 20th-century pianists 20th-century Japanese musicians {{pianist-stub