Kaoru Yamaguchi, godmother of Shigeo Nagashima, reveals her love of singing… Her favorite song is “Kakinokizaka no ie” and she also sings a duet

She asked him to give her a good stage name.

Shigeo Nagashima, “Mr. Professional Baseball,” honorary manager for life of the Yomiuri Giants and winner of the National Medal of Honor, died of pneumonia on June 3 at the age of 89.

There was a singer who was a favorite of Mr. Nagashima. Kaoru Yamaguchi, who sang “Lullaby of a Bad Girl.

They first met when a Kyoto businessman named Mr. Y, who looked just like Mr. Nagashima. Mr. Y and Ms. Nagashima became friends through their resemblance. There is an episode in which Mr. Nagashima and Mr. Y completed the bottom 50 cm or so of a painting by Koji Kinutani, a very famous Western-style painter, hanging at the entrance of his mansion near Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto. It seems that their eldest son, Kazushige, had been staying at the house for a long time.

It was through Mr. Y’s introduction that Mr. Yamaguchi met Mr. Nagashima. At the end of 2003, I introduced Mr. Yamaguchi to Mr. Nagashima, who, according to Mr. Y, was fond of his song “Emotion Strait. This was around the time when Mr. Yamaguchi had just left Columbia.

It was the first of several dinners I was to have with Mr. Nagashima. At a blowfish restaurant in Roppongi, Tokyo, Mr. Yamaguchi told Mr. Nagashima

I have left Columbia, and I want to make a fresh start, so please give me a good stage name.

Please give me a good stage name. Mr. Nagashima readily agreed, but a new stage name did not come easily. Every time I met him in Kyoto, Roppongi, and Ginza,

I wondered what had happened to him after I had asked him to give me a new stage name. Did he forget?

I wondered if he had forgotten about me. But he never asked himself

What happened?

I asked him, “What happened to the national hero?

I thought, “It was my fault for asking such a thing of a national hero.

I gave up, thinking that it was my fault for asking such a favor of a national hero. A few months later, Mr. Nagashima came up with two new stage names for me.

I have not shown the other one to anyone. I have kept it in a safe place.

It was around the time when his eldest son, Kazushige, had twins.

‘Oh no, that’s a great song. Whose song is it?”

Among the “stage names” that Mr. Nagashima handed her, she chose “Kaoru Yamaguchi,” which she liked.

In my long career as an entertainment reporter, I have never heard of Mr. Nagashima being a godfather to a celebrity.

Two years after I left Columbia, I changed my stage name to the one given to me by Ms. Nagashima, and it really gave me the courage to start from scratch and do my best once again,” she said. Twenty-five years have passed since then. I am doing my best in my own way.

says Yamaguchi. The power of a stage name is great.

I don’t know if you know this, but Mr. Nagashima loved to sing and often sang “Kakinokizaka no ie (The House of Kakizaka)” when we went to karaoke. He also loved duets, and we sang together many times my “Emotion Strait. He remembered the lyrics well. We also used to sing “Ginza no Koi no Monogatari (A Tale of Love in Ginza)” together.

Mr. Nagashima, who loves to sing, was there. It was truly a connection between Mr. Nagashima and Mr. Yamaguchi through singing.

I was very nervous when I first met Mr. Nagashima. But after meeting him once a month or so, I learned that he is a really friendly and nice person. He likes my songs and requests them many times, so when I come back after singing, he says, ‘Oh no, that’s a great song. Whose song is it?’ I was asked many times. I have not been able to see him since he became ill, but I am truly grateful to have been given the wonderful name “Kaoru Yamaguchi” by such a great person. I wish that Mr. Nagashima could have seen me on the big stage at the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Singing Contest) with a hit song.

Mr. Yamaguchi recalls his memories of Mr. Nagashima.

It is very difficult to become a singer who represents the industry like Mr. Nagashima. However, it is possible to set a goal. The best way to repay Mr. Nagashima is to expand the name “Kaoru Yamaguchi,” which he gave me.