川の流れのように {Kawa no nagare no yō ni}
Released on 川の流れのように〜不死鳥パートII {Kawa no nagare no yō ni - Phoenix Part II} (1988)
Covered by
(6 artists)
- Aliases
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美空ひばり
- Real name
- Kazue Katō
- Born
- May 29, 1937
- Died
- June 24, 1989
- Country
- Japan
- Comments
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Legendary enka singer, arguably the most successful Japanese singer of all times. Misora started as a teenage boogie-woogie sensation before converting to (and in fact creating) enka, a genre that can be described as a blend of Eastern music, Western arrangements and melodramatic, nostalgic lyrics. A firm favorite among elder, "conservative" audiences, Misora nevertheless faced and rebuted many scandals that put her career in jeopardy: her beginnings as a lolitesque sex object "corrupted by American modern music", her tumultuous love life, (reportedly confirmed) close relationships with the Yakuza, a maniac who threw acid in her face and an unconfirmed rumor that she was a Zainichi (Japanese-Korean), which, racism aside, if proved true would have ruined the image of her and her music as being "quintessentially Japanese".
Ironically, many musicologists nowadays maintain that enka has its roots in Korea, rather than Japan. - Family
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Tetsuya Kato Brother
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