In Memoriam: How Aki Yatsushiro Rushed to Community FM Even Though She was Paid Nothing

Toshio Ishikawa reports on the entertainment world: “The other side of the story”

I’m shocked. 

Aki Yashiro was found to have died on December 30 last year while taking a rest due to collagen disease. She was only 73 years old. I had known about her illness since it was announced last August, but I never expected it.

 

In a word, Ms. Yashiro was a truly open and honest person.

She had a life of her own, and she went into show business to provide for her parents.

“I enjoy being able to sing as various characters. I can feel the feelings of the people I am singing about.”

 

Fourteen or fifteen years ago, when a friend of mine started a program titled “Jikkuri Enka Ouendancho” on Rainbow Town FM, a community FM station in Koto-ku, Tokyo, of which she is the president, Ms. Yashiro appeared as the first guest on the program.

Everyone on the show, including myself and Ms. Yashiro, was paid nothing. Even so, they valued our “friendship” and gladly came to the show.

 

Since then, many singers, including Kaori Mizumori, Yukino Ichikawa, and Joji Yamamoto, have cooperated with us, but having Ms. Yashiro on the show was a big deal, and she really raised the value of the program. Although the form of the program has changed slightly, I believe that Ms. Yashiro’s presence was a major factor behind the program’s continuation to this day.