Kaoru Yamaguchi Reveals Shigeo Nagashima’s Love for Singing and Their Duet of “Kakinokizaka no Ie”

“I’d like you to give me a good stage name,” she asked.

Shigeo Nagashima, known as “Mr. Pro Baseball,” lifetime honorary manager of the Yomiuri Giants and recipient of the People’s Honor Award, passed away from pneumonia on June 3. He was 89.

There was a singer whom Nagashima had taken a liking to — Kaoru Yamaguchi, known for the song Akujo no Lullaby.

Their connection began through a Kyoto businessman named Mr. Y, who closely resembled Nagashima. The two became friends due to their striking resemblance. At Mr. Y’s luxurious mansion near Kyoto’s Kinkaku-ji, there was a famous 6-meter painting by celebrated Western-style painter Koji Kinutani, and it’s said that Nagashima and Mr. Y completed the lower 50 centimeters of the painting together. At one point, Nagashima’s eldest son Kazushige even lived there as a long-term guest.

Through Mr. Y’s introduction, Yamaguchi met Nagashima in late 2003. According to Mr. Y, Nagashima was fond of Yamaguchi’s song Jōnen Kaikyō, and so he arranged the meeting. At the time, Yamaguchi had just left Columbia Records.

During one of their dinners together — this one at a fugu restaurant in Roppongi — Yamaguchi asked Nagashima:

“I’ve left Columbia, and I want to make a fresh start. Would you give me a good stage name?”

Nagashima kindly agreed, but no new name came for some time. Every time they met — in Kyoto, Roppongi, or Ginza — Yamaguchi would wonder:

“I asked him, so what happened to that? Did he forget?”

But she couldn’t bring herself to ask directly:

“What happened to the name?”

She thought to herself:

“It was my fault for asking something like that of a national hero.”

And gradually gave up on it.

Then, a few months later, Nagashima handed her a piece of paper with not one, but two suggested stage names.

“I’ve never shown the other name to anyone. I’ve kept it safe and close.”

she revealed, though she didn’t share what that second name was. It happened to be around the time Nagashima’s son Kazushige’s twin babies were born.

“Wow, that’s a great song. Whose song is it?”

From the names Shigeo Nagashima handed her, she chose the one she liked best: “Kaoru Yamaguchi.”

Though I’ve long worked as an entertainment reporter, I’d never heard of Nagashima giving a stage name to a celebrity before.

“Two years after leaving Columbia, I changed my name to the one Mr. Nagashima gave me, and it gave me the courage to truly start over from scratch. That was 25 years ago. I’ve done my best in my own way ever since,”

said Yamaguchi. The power of a name can be profound.

“I don’t know how many people realize this, but Mr. Nagashima loved singing. When he went to karaoke, he often sang Kakinokizaka no Ie. He adored duets too, and we sang my Jōnen Kaikyō together many times. He even memorized the lyrics. He also often sang Ginza no Koi no Monogatari.”

A deep bond formed between Nagashima and Yamaguchi through their shared love of song.

“Because it was the legendary Mr. Nagashima, I was so nervous when we first met. But after meeting about once a month, I came to realize what a warm, wonderful person he was. He truly liked my songs and would request them so often. And whenever I’d finish singing and come back, he’d say, ‘Wow, that’s a great song. Whose is it?’ — he asked me that so many times,”

she recalled with a fond smile.

“After he became ill, it became harder to see him, but I’m truly grateful to have received the wonderful name ‘Kaoru Yamaguchi’ from such a great person. I wish he could’ve seen me perform on the grand stage of NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen someday with a hit song.”

As she reflected on those memories, Yamaguchi spoke with deep emotion.

Becoming a singer who represents the industry, like Nagashima did for baseball, may be a tall order — but it’s a worthy goal to aim for. To make the name “Kaoru Yamaguchi” shine ever brighter would surely be the greatest way to repay Mr. Nagashima’s kindness. May he rest in peace.