Career
While he can also be seen in Japanese television dramas, 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'', on which only successful J-pop and ''enka'' artists are invited to perform. Propelled by the success of ''Under One Roof (1993 TV series), 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 (Masaharu Fukuyama song), Hello" 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", 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 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 (TV series), 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 (Japanese 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. In 2008, NHK selected Fukuyama to portray Sakamoto Ryōma, the title character, in the 2010 year-long prime-time television ''Taiga drama'' ''Ryōmaden''. 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 Park outdoor stage, with simultaneous public viewing free of charge for 50,000 Nagasaki citizens at the nearby Nagasaki Baseball Stadium (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 (Masaharu Fukuyama 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 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 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 (album), 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, 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''See also
* List of best-selling music artists in JapanReferences
External links