is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and actor. Although Tokunaga failed to pass the test of ''

Star Tanjō! is a Japanese talent show from Nippon Television that ran from 1971 to 1983. On October 24, 1982, the series was retitled to reflect its switch from monaural to stereo broadcasting. On April 3, 1983, it was again retitled to . The show was cre ...

'' in 1982, he debuted as a recording singer in 1986. After he released hit songs such as " Yume o Shinjite" (the first ending theme of the

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series '' Dragon Quest'') and "Kowarekake no Radio" in 1990, his single "Wednesday Moon" reached No. 1 on

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 ...

weekly charts in 1991. He was also known for ''Vocalist'' album series, comprising his covers of female songs. ''Vocalist'', ''Vocalist 2'', ''Vocalist 3'' and ''Vocalist 4'' were released in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 respectively. Tokunaga is the first male artist to have at least one album to reach the number-one position on the Japanese

weekly charts for four decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s). Tokunaga also composed other singers' songs such as

KinKi Kids is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Johnny & Associates. KinKi Kids was formed in 1993 and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 million physical copies sold, they are one of ...

' "Eien Ni" (from their 2007 album ''

Phi Phi (; uppercase Φ, lowercase φ or ϕ; grc, ϕεῖ ''pheî'' ; Modern Greek: ''fi'' ) is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet. In Archaic and Classical Greek (c. 9th century BC to 4th century BC), it represented an aspirated voicele ...

''). Tokunaga gained high popularity in Hong Kong due to huge number of songs covered in Cantonese version by superstars such as

Alan Tam Alan Tam Wing-lun MH (; born 23 August 1950) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He played a major role in developing the Cantopop scene in the 1980s as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. From 1983 to 1987, Alan Tam ...

Leslie Cheung Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actor. Throughout a 26-year career from 1977 until his death, Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films. He was one of the most prominent ...

, Jackie Cheung, and

Leon Lai Leon Lai Ming SBS BBS MH (born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the " Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", whi ...

Career

Tokunaga took part in the Japanese television program ''

'' in 1982. The program produced many Japanese stars such as

Momoe Yamaguchi , known by her maiden name , is a Japanese former singer, actress, and idol whose career lasted from 1972 to 1980. Often simply referred to by her given name "Momoe," Yamaguchi is one of the most successful singers in Japanese music, releasing 32 ...

, Pink Lady and

Akina Nakamori is a Japanese singer and actress. She is one of the most popular and best-selling artists in Japan. Akina achieved national recognition after winning the 1981 season of the talent show ''Star Tanjō!''. Her debut single "Slow Motion" was relea ...

. However,

Akiko Matsumoto is a Japanese TV personality and actress. Films * (1996), cashier * ''Udon'' (2006) * (2007), Saeko Hasegawa
Retrieved on 26 February 2009 < ...

passed the test at that time, while Tokunaga and

Minako Honda , better known as , later changed to , was a Japanese idol and musical singer. In 1985, she made her debut with the single "Satsui no Vacane". She was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia on January 5, 2005. At 4:38 A.M. on November 6, 200 ...

were rejected. On January 21, 1986, Tokunaga debuted with the album ''Girl'' and the single "Rainy Blue". In 1987, his third studio album ''Birds'' reached the number-one position on the Japanese

charts. ''Revolution'' from 1991 had been his last number-one album until 2007. In the early 1990s, the song from Tokunaga's 1989 album ''Realize'' became well-known in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, when it was covered by Ted Ito as "Ikaw Pa Rin",

Keempee de Leon Joseph Joachim Tugas de Leon (born January 8, 1973), better known as Keempee de Leon, is a Filipino actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and TV host. He is the son of Joey de Leon and Daria Ramirez. Career Keempee de Leon started his career in ...

as "My One and Only", Maso as "Kailanman", and as an instrumental by saxophonist Jake Concepcion. Tokunaga began to release the ''Vocalist'' album series, in which he covered many Japanese songs of female singers. On September 14, 2005, he released the album ''Vocalist'', the first work of the series. The album includes his cover versions of

Miyuki Nakajima (born February 23, 1952, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and radio personality. She has released 43 studio albums, 46 singles, 6 live albums and multiple compilations as of January 2020. Her sales have been estimated ...

's 1975 song " Jidai" and

's 1977 song "Cosmos". ''Vocalist'' was certified Million by RIAJ for shipment of 1,000,000 copies. On August 30, 2006, Tokunaga released ''Vocalist 2''. The album includes his cover versions of Akina Nakamori's 1982 song "Second Love" and

Mika Nakashima is a Japanese singer and actress. Five of her studio albums, one of her mini-albums and one of her compilation albums have reached number one in Japan's Oricon album chart. She also embarked on an acting career, most notably as Nana Osaki in the ...

's 2003 song "

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". ''Vocalist 2'' was certified Triple Platinum by RIAJ for shipment of 750,000 copies. On August 15, 2007, Tokunaga released ''Vocalist 3'', which includes his cover versions of Akiko Kobayashi's 1985 song "Koi ni Ochite -Fall in Love-" and Every Little Thing's 1998 song " Time Goes By". His cover version of

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

's 1997 song "

Can You Celebrate? "Can You Celebrate?" is Namie Amuro's seventh solo single under the Avex Trax label. Released on February 19, 1997, "Can You Celebrate" is the best-selling single by a solo female artist in Japanese music history, with sales of 2,296,200 copies. ...

" was the final track of the album, but there was also a first press limited edition which included a bonus track, his cover version of

Naomi Chiaki is a Japanese singer and actress who worked from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Chiaki made her debut as a singer in 1969, and released her breakthrough single "Yottsu no Onegai" in the following year. "Kassai", a song which has been common ...

's 1972 song "Kassai". ''Vocalist 3'' reached the number-one position on the Oricon weekly album charts, making it his first number-one album in 15 years 10 months. ''Vocalist 3'' topped the Oricon weekly album charts for two weeks. The album was certified Million by RIAJ for shipment of 1,000,000 copies. On November 1, 2007, Tokunaga also covered Noriko Awaya's "Wakare no Blues" at the

Tokyo International Forum The is a multi-purpose exhibition center in Tokyo, Japan. The complex is generally considered to be in the Yūrakuchō business district, being adjacent to Yūrakuchō Station, but it is administratively in the Marunouchi district. Tokyo Int ...

as a part of Ryoichi Hattori's 100th Anniversary Concert. On May 6, 2009, Tokunaga released his studio album ''We All''. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly album charts. With the album, he became the first solo male artist who debuted in 1980s to have at least one studio album to top the Oricon weekly charts for three decades (1980s, 1990s and 2000s). Tokunaga released the single "Toki no Nagare ni Mi wo Makase" on March 31, 2010. It was his cover version of

Teresa Teng Teng Li-Chun (; 29 January 1953 – 8 May 1995), commonly known as Teresa Teng, was a Taiwanese singer, actress, musician and philanthropist. Referred to by some as " Asia's eternal queen of pop," Teng became a cultural icon for her contributio ...

's 1986 song and its B-sides were his cover versions of

Seiko Matsuda , known professionally as , is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, win ...

's 1982 song "Akai Sweet Pea" and Juju's 2009 song "Yasashisa de Afureru Yō ni." Those songs were included by the album ''Vocalist 4'', released on April 20, 2010. The album included his cover version of Hikaru Utada's 1999 song "

First Love First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

." ''Vocalist 4'' debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly charts. Because of the album, he became the first male artist to have at least one album to top the Oricon weekly charts for four decades.

Health issues

In May 2001, Tokunaga cancelled his concert tour after being diagnosed with

moyamoya disease Moyamoya disease is a disease in which certain arteries in the brain are constricted. Blood flow is blocked by constriction and blood clots (thrombosis). A collateral circulation develops around the blocked vessels to compensate for the blockage, ...

. He returned to performing live shows in November 2002 after one and a half years of treatment and recovery. On February 22, 2016, Tokunaga underwent bypass surgery to prevent

cerebral infarction A cerebral infarction is the pathologic process that results in an area of necrotic tissue in the brain (cerebral infarct). It is caused by disrupted blood supply ( ischemia) and restricted oxygen supply ( hypoxia), most commonly due to thromboemb ...

. On July 15, Tokunaga was forced to postpone several dates on his 30th anniversary concert tour when he was diagnosed with acute laryngo

pharyngitis Pharyngitis is inflammation of the back of the throat, known as the pharynx. It typically results in a sore throat and fever. Other symptoms may include a Rhinorrhea, runny nose, cough, headache, difficulty swallowing, swollen lymph nodes, and a ...

after experiencing a sore throat following a show in Kobe. On September 4, 2018, Tokunaga was hospitalized after experiencing dizzy spells while talking to his staff at his office. He was diagnosed with a light stroke caused by dehydration and was confined for a week, resulting in the postponement of four concerts in his schedule.

Discography

Studio albums *''Girl'' (1986) *''Radio'' (1986) *''Birds'' (1987) *''Dear'' (1988) *'' Realize'' (1989) *''Justice'' (1990) *''Revolution'' (1991) *''Nostalgia'' (1993) *''Taiyō no Shōnen'' (1995) *''Bless'' (1997) *''Honesto'' (1999) *''Remind'' (2000) *''Ai wo Kudasai'' (2003) *''My Life'' (2004) *''Vocalist'' (2005) *''Vocalist 2'' (2006) *''Vocalist 3'' (2007) *''We All'' (2009) *''Vocalist 4'' (2010) *''Vocalist Vintage'' (2012) *''Statement'' (2013) *''Vocalist 6'' (2015) *''Baton'' (2017) *''Love Person'' (2021)

Videography

VHS

* ''Live Special Vol. 1: Dear'' (1988) * ''Live Special Vol. 2: Sound Shower Sincerely'' (1988) * ''Myself Vol. 1'' (1989) * ''Myself Vol. 2'' (1989) * ''Revolution on Film'' (1992) * ''Kaikisen'' (1992) * ''The End of A'' (1994)

DVD/Blu-ray

* ''Live and Clip Track'' (2000) * ''2001 to 2003: Bokura no Yume wa Ima Hajimatta Bakari'' (2003) * ''Vocalist Tracks'' (2005) * ''Beautiful Clips'' (2006) * ''Beautiful Lives'' (2007) * ''Tabi no Okurimono 0:00 Hatsu'' (2007) * ''Yakushiji Live'' (2008) * ''Vocalist & Songs ~ 1000th Memorial Live'' (2008) * ''Concert Tour '08-'09 Singles Best'' (2009) * ''A Day of Red Sun VII'' (2010) * ''Concert Tour 2009'' (2010) * ''2009 Live Special Edition'' (2010) * ''Perfect Clips -Vocalist & Songs-'' (2011) * ''Concert Tour 2010: Vocalist & Songs 2'' (2011) * ''25th Anniversary Concert Tour 2011: Vocalist & Ballade Best Final erfect Edition' (2012) * ''Concert Tour 2012: Vocalist Vintage & Songs'' (2013) * ''Concert Tour 2013: Statement'' (2014) * ''Concert Tour 2015: Vocalist & Songs 3'' (2016) * ''Perfect Clips ~1986-2016~'' (2016) * ''30th Anniversary Concert Tour 2016: All Time Best Presence'' (2017) * ''Concert Tour 2017: Baton'' (2018) * ''Concert Tour 2018: Eien no Hate ni'' (2019)

References

External links

*
Official website at Universal Music
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tokunaga, Hideaki 1961 births Living people Japanese male actors Japanese male pop singers Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese singer-songwriters People from Yanagawa, Fukuoka Actors from Fukuoka Prefecture Musicians from Fukuoka Prefecture Writers from Fukuoka Prefecture 20th-century Japanese musicians 21st-century Japanese musicians 20th-century Japanese male singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese male singers 21st-century Japanese singers English-language singers from Japan Universal Music Japan artists