is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor from

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

. He debuted in 1990 with the single "Tsuioku no Ame no Naka". Fukuyama is represented by the agency

Amuse, Inc. is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services. The artists include idols, musicians, and so on. Amuse produces TV and radio programs, commercial films, and movies. Other interests are in publication, music software ...

Career

While he can also be seen in

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thrill ...

s, Fukuyama is best known for his singing career. His 1992 breakout single "Good night" gained a wide audience because of its tie-in with the TV drama ''Ai wo Douda''. In 1993, he made his first appearance in ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

'', on which only successful

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

and ''

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, ...

'' artists are invited to perform. Propelled by the success of '' Hitotsu Yane no Shita'', in which he played Chinichan, the second older brother in the Kashiwagi family, he had his first million-selling single, " It's Only Love/Sorry Baby", in 1994. His 1995 single "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...

" became the second highest selling single that year. He took a hiatus in 1996, stopping all his entertainment activities except his radio shows. He returned to the entertainment scene in 1998, and his first single after two years hiatus, "

Heart/You "Heart/You" is the twelfth single by Japanese artist 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. ...

", landed at number 3 on Oricon chart and sold 569,000 copies in total. Encouraged by this success, he began his Daikanshasai (Thanksgiving) series of concerts, to show his appreciation from the support he obtained from his fans. " Sakura Zaka" and "Niji" are among Masaharu's popular songs. His 2000 single "Sakura Zaka" sold more than 751,000 copies in its first week and remained at the top of the Japanese

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 ...

chart for 3 consecutive weeks; it sold about 2,299,000 copies on the Oricon charts overall. "Niji" was a theme song for the Japanese drama '' Water Boys''. His triple A-side single " Niji/Himawari/Sore ga Subete sa", released on August 26, 2003, debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon single charts and topped them for five consecutive weeks. His has cemented his status as the best-selling male solo artist in Japan, having sold 21.27 million copies so far. In 2007, after a four-years absence from drama, Fukuyama returned to television, starring as the brilliant but eccentric physics associate professor, Manabu Yukawa, in the television drama '' Galileo''. He won "Best Actor" at the 55th Television Drama Academy Awards for the role. He also formed a band, KOH+, with his co-star in the drama

Kou Shibasaki is a Japanese actress and singer who has performed in television shows, movies, and commercials. She is managed by Stardust Promotion. Biography Acting career Shibasaki debuted in 2000, when she portrayed Mitsuko Souma in '' Battle Royale.'' S ...

. In 2008,

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 ...

selected Fukuyama to portray

Sakamoto Ryōma was a Japanese ''samurai'', a '' shishi'' and influential figure of the ''Bakumatsu'' and establishment of the Empire of Japan in the late Edo period. He was a low-ranking ''samurai'' from the Tosa Domain on Shikoku and became an active oppo ...

, the title character, in the 2010 year-long prime-time television '' Taiga drama'' ''

Ryōmaden is the 49th NHK Taiga drama. It was shown on NHK from January 3 to November 28, 2010, spanning 48 episodes. The story centers on the life of 19th-century Japanese historical figures Iwasaki Yatarō and Sakamoto Ryōma. It has been announced tha ...

''. In 2009, he held his 20th anniversary national arena tour which covered 36 performances in 12 cities over four consecutive months (June to September) with a total audience count of 500,000. Two weeks before the tour started, he held four shows at the Nippon Budokan (May 28, 29 and June 4, 5) his first ever solo concerts there, as part of his almost yearly thanksgiving concert ritual. While the Tour was still ongoing, on August 29 and 30, he went back to his hometown Nagasaki and held two open-air concerts at the

Mount Inasa is a hill to the west of Nagasaki which rises to a height of . The Nagasaki Ropeway allows visitors to travel to the top from Nagasaki. A short walk from the cable car station are several buildings that house transmitters for TV and radio stati ...

Park outdoor stage, with simultaneous public viewing free of charge for 50,000 Nagasaki citizens at the nearby

Nagasaki Baseball Stadium is a baseball stadium in the city of Nagasaki, Japan. The stadium was built in 1997 and has an all-seated capacity of 25,000.

(commonly known as the Big N to locals). Official figures announced a final audience count of 80,000 for the Mount Inasa concerts and Big N public viewing, in just over the two days alone. The master ringtone (''Chaku Uta'') download of his song " Hatsukoi" began on November 6, 2009. It sold about 150,000 downloads in five days, and, on November 13, 2009, it was announced that the song would be released as a physical CD single on December 16, 2009. The single debuted at number 1 on the Oricon weekly charts, with sales of around 151,000 copies in the first week of the release. He performed "Hatsukoi" at the

60th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen The , referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku", was aired on December 31, 2009 from NHK Hall in Japan. Performers The singers, announced on November 23, 2009, are ordered below according to the gojūon. Names in bold letters did not perform in the pre ...

on New Year's Eve 2009, his first appearance at the event since 1993 and joined John Woo's upcoming film ''Manhut''

Personal life

Fukuyama married Japanese actress

Kazue Fukiishi is a Japanese actress and former gravure idol. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 28th Yokohama Film Festival for '' What the Snow Brings'', ''Tegami'', and ''Memories of Tomorrow''. Career Fukiishi starred in Takuji Suzuki's ' ...

on September 28, 2015, the same day as her birthday. Their first child was born on December 22, 2016.

Discography

*1990: ''Dengon'' *1991: ''Lion'' *1991: ''Bros.'' *1992: ''Boots'' *1993: ''Calling'' *1994: ''On and On'' *1998: ''Sing a Song'' *2001: '' F'' *2006: '' 5 Nen Mono'' *2009: '' Zankyō'' *2014: ''Human'' *2015: ''Tama Riku''

Filmography

Films

TV dramas

Television shows

*''Fukuyama Engineering'', as the factory chief (TV Asahi, 2002) *''NHK Special: Hot Spots Saigo no Rakuen'', as narrator (NHK, 2011) *'' Doraemon 3-hour SP'', as Masaaki Fukuyama (voice) (TV Asahi, 2011)

Guitar collection

Acoustic guitars *Gibson J-50 (1959) ''- recording, songwriting, Hatsukoi PV'' *Gibson J-45 (1947) *Gibson J-45 (1968) *Gibson J-200 (1959) ''- bought this on first trip to the US'' *Gibson LG-1 (1968) *Gibson B-45-12 (1962) *Gibson Hummingbird (1969) ''- recording, songwriting etc'' *Martin OOO-28 (1968) ''- Hotaru PV'' *Martin D-28 (1979) *Martin D-45 (1979) *Martin Cowboy III (2001) *Martin OO-18DBCY Signature Edition (Yoshikawa Chuei model)(2002) *Martin GPCPA-1 *Martin The Backpacker Guitar *Don Musser 1994 ''- very limited numbers produced'' *George Lowden Model 038 *Gretsch 6022 Rancher (1955) ''- Hello PV'' *Alhambra W-2 *Larry Pogreba Resonator Guitar *Jose Ramirez (model unknown) *K.Yairi 一五一会 (2009.02.06) ''- (40th) birthday present from Begin, with "M.FUKUYAMA" printed'' Electric bass *Fender Jazz Bass (1965) *Sugi Original Custom *Hōfner Vintage63 Violin Bass *Greco VB-90 SB *Music Man Sting Ray-4 BCR/RM (2005) Electric guitars *Gibson Les Paul Gold Top (1956) *Gibson Les Paul (1959) *Gibson Les Paul Custom SG (1962) ''- KOH+ Saiai PV'' *Gibson Les Paul Custom (1970) ''- Sou ~new love new world~ PV'' *Gibson Custom Shop Duane Allman Signature Les Paul "Pilot Run" (2004) *Gibson Custom Shop Jimi Hendrix Psychedelic Flying V ''- Keshin PV'' *Gibson Custom Shop 50th Anniversary Korina Explorer AGED ''- REDxBLUE live'' *Gibson Les Paul Special (1989) *Gibson Les Paul Junior-TV (1960) *Gibson Eric Clapton Crossroad ES-335 *Gibson Custom Shop John Lennon Les Paul Junior ''- ON AND ON live, Michishirube tour'' *Fender Stratocaster (1956) *Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster ''- recording and live performances'' *Fender Custom Shop The Eric Clapton Blackie Stratocaster ''- recording and live performances'' *Fender Custom Shop 58 Stratocaster Closet Classic ''- (40th) Birthday Present from Kuwata Keisuke'' *Fender Telecaster Pink Paisley (1968) ''- inspiration for "phantom" came from this guitar's sound'' *Fender Telecaster ''- Revolution//Evolution live'' *Fender Jazz Master (1962) *Fender Jazz Master (1965) ''- 99 live'' *Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body (1959) *Gretsch 6122 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman (1966) *Gretsch G6129T-1957 Silver Jet ''- Asahi Super Dry CM'' *Gretsch 6186 Clipper (1966) *Paul Reed Smith Modern Eagle (20th Anniversary) *Paul Reed Smith Private Stock #1728 Custom 24 *Paul Reed Smith Private Stock #2751 Custom 24 *Rickenbacker 350 JG (1989) ''- Kokoro colour ~a song for a wonderful year~ PV'' *Aria-Pro II PE-R100 (1981) ''- his first guitar purchased in high school'' *James Tyler Studio Elite Chameleon *ESP Angel Classic V ''- the 'wings" that Takamizawa-san (THE ALFEE) gave him after Shin Domoto Kyoudai''

References

External links

Fukuyama Masaharu's official website (Universal Music)

Fukuyama Masaharu's official website

Fukuyama Masaharu AllNightNippon Saturday Special

Fukuyama Masaharu Suzuki Talking F.M.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fukuyama, Masaharu 1969 births Living people Musicians from Nagasaki Prefecture Actors from Nagasaki Prefecture Universal Music Japan artists Amuse Inc. talents Taiga drama lead actors Lead guitarists Rhythm guitarists 20th-century Japanese male singers 20th-century Japanese singers 20th-century Japanese guitarists 20th-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male singers 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese male actors Japanese male pop singers Japanese male rock singers Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese rock guitarists Japanese record producers Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors Japanese radio personalities Japanese photographers