is the last single recorded by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

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

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 posth ...

, as she died soon after its release in 1989. It was composed by

Akira Mitake Akira Mitake (見岳章; born November 11, 1956) is a Japanese composer from Tokyo. Mitake composed , ''Like the Flow of the River'', a song recorded by Japanese enka singer Hibari Misora was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural icon. Sh ...

, with lyrics by

Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, maki ...

. It was voted the greatest Japanese song of all time during a national poll in 1997 by

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

, with more than 10 million votes. It is often the song of choice for artists performing live tributes to Misora.

External links

* Enka songs Japanese songs Japanese-language songs 1989 singles Songs about rivers Songs with lyrics by Yasushi Akimoto 1989 songs {{1980s-single-stub