known professionally as is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

male

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 and composer, who also sings

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and pop music. He has sold more than 90 million records, making him one of the best selling Japanese musicians. Mori has been married and divorced twice, first to

Reiko Ohara was a Japanese people, Japanese actress. Her life story was adapted into the TV Tokyo program '. Biography Ohara was born in Tokyo in 1946 to a family that sold Japanese confectionery in the Hongo area. Upon graduating from high school, she mad ...

and then to Masako Mori. His sons,

Takahiro Moriuchi , known professionally as Taka, is a Japanese singer and musician who is the lead vocalist of the Japanese rock band One Ok Rock. Moriuchi is the band's main lyricist and composer. In 2017, ''Kerrang!'' magazine placed him at number 27 on their li ...

and

Hiroki Moriuchi (born January 25, 1994, in Tokyo), better known as his stage name Hiro, is a Japanese singer and the lead vocalist of the Japanese rock band My First Story. Personal life Hiro was born on January 25, 1994, the youngest son of Japanese singer ...

are vocalist of the rock bands

One Ok Rock (stylized in all caps as ONE OK ROCK) is a Japanese rock band, formed in Tokyo, Japan, in 2005. Originally five members, the band currently consists of vocalist Takahiro Moriuchi, guitarist and bandleader Toru Yamashita, bassist Ryota Kohama, a ...

and

My First Story My First Story (stylized as MY FIRST STORY) is a Japanese rock band from Shibuya, Tokyo. Formed in 2011, the band currently consists of vocalist Hiroki Moriuchi, guitarist Teruki Nishizawa, bassist Nobuaki Katō, and drummer Shōhei Sasaki. The ...

, respectively.

Career

In the beginning, Mori won a competition at

Fuji Television Network JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Syst ...

in 1965. He debuted with the successful song "Onna no Tameiki" of the famous composer Inomata Kōshō in 1966. His debut at ''

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 ...

'' was in 1968, singing "Hana To Chō". His 1974

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 "Erimo Misaki" was composed by

Takuro Yoshida is a Japanese male singer-songwriter. He was born on April 5, 1946 in Okuchi, Kagoshima and raised in Hiroshima. He made his debut with the single "Imeji no Uta / Mark II" on June 1, 1970. His 1972 recording of "Tabi no Yado" sold over one m ...

. His 1982 song "Fuyu no Riviera" was composed by

Eiichi Ohtaki Eiichi Ohtaki (July 28, 1948 – December 30, 2013) was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. ...

, former member of Happy End. His song "Ofukuro san" was covered by

Sharam Q was a Japanese rock band composed of lead singer , on guitar, on drums and on keyboards. Biography They debuted with in 1992. They were not an instant hit initially, but their fourth single broke the top 50 of the Oricon charts. Even ...

in their 1997 album ''Sharam Q no Enka no Hanamichi''. His 2003 song "Ōkami Tachi no Tōboe" was written and composed by

Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, poet, and human-rights advocate, who is a prominent figure in Japanese popular music. He has sold more than 20 million records worldwide and has appeared in movies and television dramas. His wife Etsuk ...

. His 2004 song "Saraba Seishun no Kageyo" was written by

Izumi Sakai , known professionally as , was a female Japanese pop singer, songwriter, and member of the group Zard. As Sakai was the only member who stayed in the group while others joined and left regularly, Zard and Sakai may be referred to interchangeably. ...

. In 2007, his musical godfather

Kōhan Kawauchi (February 26, 1920 – April 6, 2008), also known as Yasunori Kawauchi, was a Japanese screenwriter who created various tokusatsu series, including the first, ''Moonlight Mask'', in 1958. He was originally from Hakodate, Hokkaido. His series ''W ...

became his enemy, because Mori added other lyrics into the original lyrics of "Ofukuro San" at the

57th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen The , referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku," aired on December 31, 2006. This event was filmed and aired from NHK Hall in Japan. Air time was from 19:20 to 23:45 (with an interruption from 21:25 to 21:30 for news). All times are JST. Viewership ra ...

. Shinichi's long career as an enka singer is well-known and he has many appearances in ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen''. He has taken part in the ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' since his debut at 19th ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen''. In October 2008, his single "Hatoba" debuted at number 27 on Japan's

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 Nov ...

charts. The song was composed by himself. By the song "Hatoba", he became the first artist to have one hundred of Top 100 singles in Japan's Oricon charts history.

Discography

* : 1966 * : 1968 * : 1969 * : 1969 * : 1970 * : 1971 * : 1973 * : 1974 * : 1975 * : 1976 * : 1977 * : 1979 * : 1980 * : 1982 * : 1984 * : 1986 * : 1987 * : 1989 * : 1990 * : 1991 * : 1993 * : 1994 * : 1996 * : 1998 * : 1999 * : 2000 * : 2001 * : 2002 * : 2002 * : 2003 * : 2004 * : 2005 * : 2006 * : 2007 * : 2008 * : 2008 * : 2009

Kohaku Uta Gassen

Honours

* Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2021)

References

External links