is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor, best known for being the vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers. Nicknamed because of his self-professed adoration of

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

, he was born in Tsunoi, Iwami (now part of Tottori),

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hirosh ...

, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3. As a singer (often he also worked as a songwriter) and actor, Sawada prospered greatly on

Japanese popular culture Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be ...

in the last three decades of the

Shōwa era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era. The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...

. At the end of the 1960s, he had great success as the lead singer of the band The Tigers. After the breakup of The Tigers and another project Pyg, he began his own solo career.

Music career

Sawada was the lead singer of the best-known J-pop music act of the late 1960s

Group Sounds , often abbreviated as GS, is a genre of Japanese rock music which became popular in the mid to late 1960s and initiated the fusion of Japanese '' kayōkyoku'' music and Western rock music. Their music production techniques were regarded as playi ...

era band The Tigers. A national

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia East Asia possess ...

, his nickname is Julie. Japanese pop stars of that era often adopted nicknames, particularly often English-language girls' names. His nickname is derived from the actress

as he is a fan of hers. The group was signed by Watanabe Productions. In 1968,

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popul ...

of the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

was commissioned to compose two songs for the band in an attempt at international success. One of the songs was a hit in Japan, titled " Smile for Me" and sung by Sawada. In spite of his clear English pronunciation, the record did not make the pop charts in foreign markets as the Watanabe Productions management team had hoped. The band disbanded shortly after its release. In 1970, after The Tigers broke up, Sawada formed the supergroup, Pyg. Kenichi Hagiwara, Sawada's main rival in the Group Sounds era, was a co-lead vocalist. When Pyg disbanded, Sawada went solo, but acting was to be his main form of artistic expression after that. Sawada started to wear trendy clothes and make-up in the 1970s, and became regarded as an influential fashion innovator. In the 1980s he was in Co-Colo with

Hideki Ishima is a Japanese musician, known primarily for his work with Flower Travellin' Band and for creating the sitarla instrument. A guitarist and sitar player for nearly forty years, he now exclusively plays the sitarla, an instrument he invented in 2 ...

. Sawada also plays the

shamisen The , also known as the or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...

. He appeared on the cover of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' in March 1969 (No. 28), and is the only Japanese as a cover person of this magazine other than

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

Film career

Sawada's best-known roles include playing in Paul Schrader's biographical film movie about

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

, ''Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters'' and playing in

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent an ...

's horror-comedy musical ''

The Happiness of the Katakuris is a 2001 Japanese musical comedy horror film directed by Takashi Miike, with screenplay by Kikumi Yamagishi. It is loosely based on the South Korean film '' The Quiet Family''. The film is a surreal horror-comedy in the farce tradition, which ...

''.

Personal life

He married

Emi Ito were a Japanese vocal group consisting of twin sisters Emi (, ''Itō Emi'') and Yumi Itō (, ''Itō Yumi''). They were born in Nagoya, Japan in April, 1 1941. As identical twins they had voices only slightly apart in timbre, which resulted in ...

, a member of the 1960s pop duo

The Peanuts were a Japanese vocal group consisting of twin sisters Emi (, ''Itō Emi'') and Yumi Itō (, ''Itō Yumi''). They were born in Nagoya, Japan in April, 1 1941. As identical twins they had voices only slightly apart in timbre, which resulted in ...

, in 1975, but they divorced in 1987. He has been married to ''

Oshin is a Japanese serialized morning television drama (''asadora''), which originally aired on NHK from 4 April 1983 to 31 March 1984; it is the 31st ''asadora'' overall to be produced. The 297 15-minute episodes follow the life of during the Mei ...

'' star

Yūko Tanaka is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She has won several acting awards during a long career working in both film and television, after she graduated from Meiji University. Life and career Early career At the beginning of her ...

since 1989, whom he met on the set of ''

Tora-san, the Expert is a 1982 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Yūko Tanaka as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san, the Expert'' is the thirtieth entry in the popular, long-running '' ...

''.

Discography

Awards

* 1972, 14th Japan Record Awards, Vocal Award * 1973, 15th Japan Record Awards, Popular prize * 1974, 16th Japan Record Awards, Vocal Award * 1977,

19th Japan Record Awards The 19th Annual Japan Record Awards took place at the Imperial Garden Theater in Chiyoda, Tokyo, on December 31, 1977, starting at 7:00PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS. Winners Japan Record Award *Kenji Sawada – " ...

, Grand Prix * 1978,

20th Japan Record Awards The 20th Annual Japan Record Awards took place at the Imperial Garden Theater in Chiyoda, Tokyo, on December 31, 1978, starting at 7:00PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS. Winners Japan Record Award * Pink Lady – "UFO ...

, Best Award & Gold Award * 1979, 21st Japan Record Awards, Gold Award * 1980, 22nd Japan Record Awards, Gold Award * 1981, 23rd Japan Record Awards, Gold Award * 1982, 24th Japan Record Awards, Gold Award & Planing Award * 1982, 25th Japan Record Awards, Special Gold Award

Partial filmography

Film

* ''Statue in Fire'' (1974) * ''Que C'est Triste Paris'' (1976) * ''

Taiyō o Nusunda Otoko , also known as ''The Man Who Stole the Sun'', is a 1979 Japanese political satire spy film, directed by Hasegawa Kazuhiko and written by Leonard Schrader. Plot Makoto Kido, a high school science and chemistry teacher, has decided to build his o ...

'' (1979) * ''

Samurai Reincarnation is a 1981 Japanese fantasy film written and directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring Sonny Chiba, Kenji Sawada, and Hiroyuki Sanada. It is based on the novel of the same name by Futaro Yamada. The film was nominated for three Awards of the Jap ...

'' (1981),

Amakusa Shirō , also known as , was a Japanese Christian of the Edo period and leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Shogunate. His Christian name was Geronimo and later Francisco. The uprising led by Shirō ...

* ''

'' (1982) * ''

Capone Cries a Lot is a 1985 Japanese comedy directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Kenichi Hagiwara. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Toshiyuki Kajiyama. Plot Umiemon (Kenichi Hagiwara) is a naniwa-bushi singer who travels with his wife to th ...

'' (1985) * '' Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters'' (1985) * ''

Hiruko the Goblin ''Hiruko the Goblin'' () is a 1991 Japanese horror film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto and starring Kenji Sawada. It is based on a manga by Daijiro Morohoshi. Plot Reijiro Hieda is a young and energetic archeologist, albeit a discredited one for ...

'' (1990) * ''

Boku to, bokura no natsu , based on a novel by Yūsuke Higuchi, is a 1990 Japanese film directed by Yutaka Kohira. Cast *Emi Wakui as Asako Sakai *Akira Ōtani as Shun Togawa *Keizō Kanie as Shuzo Togawa *Keiko Saito as Yukiko Muraoka *Shin Takuma as Toshio Kazami *Misa ...

'' (1990) * ''

Yumeji is a 1991 independent Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki. It is a semi-fictional account of poet and painter Takehisa Yumeji. It also forms the final part of Suzuki's Taishō ''Roman Trilogy'', preceded by ''Zigeunerweisen'' (1980) and ''Kage ...

'' (1991,

Yumeji Takehisa was a Japanese poet and painter. He is known foremost for his ''Nihonga'' illustrations of ''bijin'', beautiful women and girls, though he also produced a wide variety of works including book covers, serial newspaper illustrations, ''furoshiki ...

* ''

Osaka Story is a 1999 Japanese drama film directed by Jun Ichikawa and starring Chizuru Ikewaki, Kōsuke Minamino, Kenji Sawada and Yūko Tanaka. It was released on 27 March 1999. Cast *Chizuru Ikewaki * Kōsuke Minamino *Kenji Sawada *Yūko Tanaka Rece ...

'' (1999) * ''

Pistol Opera is a 2001 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Makiko Esumi. Storyline The film's main character, Miyuki Minazuki, ranked number three in The Assassins Guild, is known as the "Stray Cat". A stoic and deadly woman, she is forced ...

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2002) * ''It's a Flickering Life'' (2021), Satonao "Gō" Maruyama * ''The Zen Diary'' (2022), Tsutomu

Television

* ''

Sanga Moyu ''Sanga Moyu'' (山河燃ゆ) is a Japanese television drama based on the 1983 novel ''Futatsu no Sokoku'' (二つの祖国) by Toyoko Yamazaki. It was NHK's taiga drama in 1984. Synopsis The Amo family lives in Los Angeles, California. Two of ...

'' (1984), Charlie Tamiya * ''

Hanekonma ''Hanekonma'' (はね駒) is a 1986 Japanese television serial, the 36th NHK ''asadora'' drama. Written by Koharu Terauchi, it was inspired by the life of Haruko Isomura (1877-1918), a pioneer female newspaper reporter of the Meiji and Taishō ...

'' (1986), Takeshi Matsunami

Japanese dub

* ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'' (1979, TBS dub), Bernardo Nuñez (

George Chakiris George Chakiris (born September 16, 1932) is an American actor. He is best known for his appearance in the 1961 film version of ''West Side Story'' as Bernardo Nunez, the leader of the Sharks gang, for which he won both the Academy Award for Be ...

)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawada, Kenji 1948 births Living people Japanese male film actors Japanese male singers People from Kyoto Actors from Tottori Prefecture Musicians from Tottori Prefecture Musicians from Kyoto Prefecture Japanese idols

Music career

Film career

Personal life

Discography

Awards

Partial filmography

Film

Television

Japanese dub

See also

References

External links