(born ) is a Japanese singer and
tarento
Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as " ...
.
He is best known as the first lead vocalist of
Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five, which was formed in 1967 and debuted in 1969 with the
Japan Record Award
is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...
-winning song "Nagasaki wa Kyō mo Ame Datta". As a frontman of the band, he spawned multiple hit singles such as "Awazu ni Aishite", "Uwasa no Onna","Soshite, Kōbe", "Nakanoshima Blues" and "Tokyo Sabaku" during the 1970s. In 1982, he released his first solo single "Yuki Ressha" composed and produced by
Grammy-winning musician
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...
, and left the group five years later.
During his solo career, he released only one top-20 hit "Himawari" in 2002, a ballad contributed by
Masaharu Fukuyama
is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor from Nagasaki. He debuted in 1990 with the single "Tsuioku no Ame no Naka".
Fukuyama is represented by the agency Amuse, Inc.
Career
While he can also be seen in Japanese television dramas, Fukuyama ...
.
Aside from the recording career, Maekawa has also built up popularity as a TV star, appearing on some television shows hosted by comedians such as
Kinichi Hagimoto
is a Japanese comedian.
He is active as a stage performer, emcee, and manager of the amateur Ibaraki Golden Golds (''ibaraki goruden gōruzu'') of the Japanese Baseball Association (''nippon yakyuu renmei'').
Born in the Taitō ward of Tōky ...
and
The Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in ...
, airing around the latter half of 1970s and the 1980s.
Personal life
He is also known as a former spouse of the singer,
Keiko Fuji
(5 July 1951 – 22 August 2013), known primarily by the stage name was a Japanese singer and actress. She had success in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s with her ballad-type songs. She was married on-and-off with Utada Teruzane, and was the ...
, who later married
and had a daughter
Hikaru
is a Japanese unisex given name meaning "light" or "radiance".
Possible writings
Hikaru can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
* 光, "light"
* 輝, "radiance"
The name can also be written in hiragana or katakana. It is m ...
.
Notable singles
* ""(1987)
* "" (1988)
* "" (1988)
* "" (1989, remake of Cool Five hit) – No. 87
* "" (1991) – No. 61
* "" (1992) – No. 71
* "" (1992) – No. 78
* "" (1994) – No. 95
* "" (1994) – No. 69
* "" (1996) – No. 96
* "" (1996) – No. 70
* "" (1997) – No. 97
* "" (1998) – No. 93
* "" (2000) – No. 93
* "" (2001) – No. 92
* "" (2001) – No. 88
* "" (2002) – No. 13
* "" (2003) – No. 74
* "" (2003) – No. 69
* "" (2006) – No. 62
Notes
# Chart positions provided by the
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 ...
, and sources are from the archives on its official site (not available before 1988).
Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances
Filmography
Film
* ''
Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy'' (1974)
* ''
Have a Song on Your Lips
is a 2015 Japanese film directed by Takahiro Miki and based on the manga by Taishi Mori which is itself based on the novel by Eiichi Nakata. It was released on February 28, 2015.
Plot
Yuri Kashiwagi, a beautiful and talented pianist suddenly r ...
'' (2015)
* ''The Bucket List'' (2019)
Television
* ''
Tokyo Megure Keishi'' (1978) (1 episode; episode 1)
* ''
Shinzanmono
is a detective Japanese television drama, part of the Spring 2010 season of the Japanese TBS Network. It is based on the same-name novel in the "Kyōichirō Kaga" series by mystery author Keigo Higashino and is set and filmed in the Ningyo-cho a ...
'' (2010)
* ''
Mito Kōmon
is a Japanese ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was on prime-time television from 1969 to 2011, making it the longest-running ''jidaigeki'' in Japanese television history. The title character is the historic Tokugawa Mitsukuni, former vice-''sh ...
'' (2010)
* ''
Maiagare!
is a Japanese television drama series and the 107th Asadora series, following '' Chimudondon''. It premiered on October 3, 2022. Haruka Fukuhara was cast in the lead role of Mai Iwakura after an audition of 2545 women.
Plot
Cast
Iwaku ...
'' (2022)
References
External links
* (in Japanese language)
1948 births
Enka singers
Japanese male singers
Japanese Roman Catholics
Japanese male television actors
Japanese racehorse owners and breeders
Living people
People from Sasebo
Singers from Nagasaki Prefecture
Tokuma Japan Communications artists
{{Japan-singer-stub