was a Japanese

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

. Born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, she moved with her family to Japan at the age of 5, where they settled in

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of 48 ...

, Hyogo Prefecture. After attending schools in her hometown she entered the English Literature Department of

Kobe College Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, which ...

, and graduated in 1939. She then joined the publishing department of the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japane ...

, where she became acquainted with the future star

Fubuki Koshiji , real name was a Japanese singer and actress. She joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1939. Though she was recognized as a star at Takarazuka, she left in 1951. When she chose to leave the troupe, Koshiji's friend, Tokiko Iwatani, also quit to manag ...

. When Koshiji decided to leave the revue in 1951 to join Tōei and become an actress and singer, Iwatani also quit the company, and moved to Tokyo with Koshiji, whose manager she was for about 30 years, until Koshiji died in 1980. After becoming a full-time independent lyricist in 1963, she wrote the lyrics to or translated over 3000 songs, for singers or groups including

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 t ...

Yūzō Kayama is a Japanese popular musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Life and career Son of mid-twentieth century film star Ken Uehara,and actress Yoko Kozakura, ( ja) Kayama graduated from Keio University. Yuzo Kayama signed with Toho and made his ...

Frank Nagai Frank Nagai (フランク永井; March 18, 1932 – October 27, 2008) was a Japanese singer. Known for his attractive baritone voice. His real name was Kiyoto Nagai (永井清人 ''Nagai Kiyoto''). Life Frank Nagai was born in Matsuyama, Mi ...

Hiromi Go , is a Japanese singer, part of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. His real name is . In the 1970s, he was called the with Goro Noguchi and Hideki Saijo. He belonged to Johnny & Associates, but later left the agency. He also effectively became ...

, and translated the lyrics of, among others,

Hymne à l'amour "" (; French for "Hymn to Love") is a popular French song originally performed by Édith Piaf. Édith Piaf The lyrics were written by Piaf and the music by Marguerite Monnot. It was written to her lover and the love of her life, the French boxer, ...

, Save the Last Dance for Me, Million Roses,

My Way "My Way" is a song popularized in 1969 by Frank Sinatra set to the music of the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed by Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Gilles Thibaut and Claude François and first performed in 1967 by Claude François. Its E ...

, and the musicals ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-s ...

Anne of Green Gables – The Musical ''Anne Of Green Gables: The Musical'' is a musical based on the 1908 novel ''Anne of Green Gables'' by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The book was written by Don Harron exclusively, the music by Norman Campbell and the lyrics in a joint venture by Don Ha ...

, Me and My Girl'', and ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

''. In 2010 she established the Iwatani Tokiko Foundation, which awards the annual ¥3,000,000

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

Iwatani Tokiko Award. She died in October 2013 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Awards

*Kazuo Kikuta Drama Award, Special Prize (1979) *

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

, 4th Class (1993) *Shin Watanabe Award, Special Prize (2006) *

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

, 2009

References

1916 births 2013 deaths Japanese lyricists Takarazuka Revue People from Hyōgo Prefecture 20th-century Japanese musicians 20th-century Japanese translators 20th-century Japanese poets {{Japan-writer-stub