Hiroshi Itsuki Japanese Singer Born 1948 in Mikata district

Early life

Hiroshi Itsuki was born on 14 March 1948 in the Mikata district. He is a Japanese singer and composer who works mainly in the enka genre, the style of sentimental ballad singing associated with Japanese popular music.

Career

He made his debut in 1965 under the stage name Masaru Matsuyama, but the early records did not sell well. He changed his name to Eiichi Ichijō in 1967 and again to Ken Mitani in 1969, and neither change improved his sales. In 1971 he took the name Hiroshi Itsuki, and the composer Masaaki Hirao gave him the song "Yokohama Tasogare", with lyrics by Yoko Yamaguchi. It reached the top of the weekly singles chart compiled by Oricon and established him as a recording artist. By 1987 his career total stood at 20 million singles and 4 million LP albums.

Among the singles catalogued under his name from the 1970s are "Anata no Tomoshibi" (1972), "Hiroshi no Sakura Ondo" (1975) and "Omae to Futari" (1979). His records have been issued through Tokuma Shoten, and guitar is listed as his instrument. His single "Nagaragawa Enka" in 1984 was a top-ten hit, and it was followed by a long gap in the highest chart positions. His 2006 single "Takasebune" entered the Oricon chart at number nine, his first top-ten single in 22 years.

Although Itsuki is usually regarded as an enka singer, he has also recorded a cover of "Tsunami", a pop song by Southern All Stars. In 2008 he took part in the Morning Musume album Cover You, singing "Izakaya" together with Ai Takahashi.

Later that year came an unusual collaboration with the girl group Cute. Itsuki had planned to include the song "Edo no Temari Uta" on his year-end album, but he let Cute record it instead. The producer Tsunku liked the song and thought that enka lyrics sung by young women would take on the quality of a modern fairytale. The newspaper Sankei Sports presented the release as both a collaboration and a rivalry between the two acts, since both versions came out as CD singles: Cute's on 30 July, and Itsuki's own as his 132nd single on 22 October. Cute's version, titled "Edo no Temari Uta II", was nominated for the main Japan Record Award of 2008, which also brought it a Gold Award from the Japan Composers' Association.

Recognition

Itsuki has collected a large number of prizes from the Japan Record Awards. They include the Grand Prize twice, the Best Singing Award three times, the Singing Award five times and the Gold Award ten times. He has also won the Composition Award, the Best Album Award, the Planning Award twice and a Special Prize twice, along with the Masao Koga Memorial Award and the Misora Hibari Memorial Award, one time each. He has received the Golden Arrow Award as well.

On the state side, he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2007. In 2018 he received the Order of the Rising Sun, fourth class, Gold Rays with Rosette.

Personal life

Itsuki has been married to Yūko Kazu since 1989.