The reporter saw the signs and the special relationship with the fans.

Kiyo Hikawa, who will be taking a break from singing at the end of this year, finished his winter concert “Kiyoshi-Kono Yoru” which he has been performing for 22 years.

Held on December 14 at the Tokyo International Forum, the concert drew a total of 18,000 people (including the previous day’s audience on December 13), and after two costume changes, Hikawa sang hit songs such as his debut song “Hakone Hachiri no Hanjiro” and “Limit Breaker x Survivor” as if looking back on his history.

In the MC.

I’m Kiina, and I’ve been asked to do the “Kiyoshi Hikawa business.

Kiina greeted her fans with the words, “I’m Kiina. To the fans

Thanks to all of you, I have been able to do what I do for 22 years. Please take care!

She called out to the fans, “Please take care of yourself!

For encore, she appeared in a dress revealing a lot of her breast. The last song she sang was a new song she had written herself, “Maho ni kakera shojo (Magical Girl),” after which she bowed to the three audience members.

Hikawa debuted in 2000 as the “Prince of Enka. With his handsome face, he gained popularity and created a new style in the enka world. However, as he called his “Kiyoji Hikawa business,” it seems that he had been struggling with his career since shortly after his debut.

A sports newspaper reporter who has been covering Kiyoshi Hikawa for more than 15 years said

“At first, I thought, ‘Hey, what is it? I thought, ‘Maybe…’ when I heard Hikawa’s conversation in the waiting room at the event for the release of his new song. She was happily chatting with her makeup artist about her nails, saying things like, “They’re so cute! and “They’re so cute!

Still, when being interviewed by the media, he was a refreshingly good-natured young man. Looking back on it now, I think he must have been enduring a lot.

He was a very nice young man.

In an interview with Shukan Shincho in 1919, he said

In an interview with Shukan Shincho in 2007, he revealed his feelings, saying, “When people ask me to follow the ‘royal road of enka’ and live like a man, it makes me want to commit suicide. …….

He expressed his feelings.

The mass media did not feel that they had to “touch the tumor…” in response to Hikawa’s “troubles. The media did not feel the need to “touch the tumor…” because they saw Hikawa’s singing and behavior and did not need to press the issue at all.

There is an elderly female reporter who always shows up at Hikawa’s interview sites, and she always asks, “How are you? She would always ask, ‘How are you?

When we interviewed her on stage, she even held the hand of an elderly reporter who was having a hard time going up and down the stairs, and helped her up the stairs. Everyone sees that kindness in her.

The “relationship” with fans is also wonderful.

Elderly women in the audience swaying fans and penlights. What do they think of Hikawa, who has transformed from the “Prince of Enka” to “Kiina”?

We are rooting for him all the way. I was upset for a moment when I learned that he was struggling, but I immediately wanted to be there for him. We want him to follow the path he believes in. We are rooting for him just as he is.

A fan and the person who understands him the most. This “relationship” is partly why Hikawa was able to choose to take a break.

From now on, she will perform at the TBS “Shining! Japan Record Awards” on TBS on March 30 and NHK’s “73rd Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve. There are only a few days left until the end of his career as Kiyoshi Hikawa. What kind of performance will he give for the last time? We cannot take our eyes off him.