Kiyoshi Hikawa: A new awareness of the “Prince of the Enka World” after his hiatus

《Entertainment Reporter Toshio Ishikawa’s “Behind the Scenes of That Event: ……》

The concert tour of the singer Kiyoshi Hikawa, who announced that he would temporarily suspend his singing career at the end of this year, has started.

He made his debut in the world of music with the song “Hakone Yasato no Hanjiro. He also participated in NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” that year, and until last year’s “Uta ha Waga Watashi (Song is My Life),” he has been performing for 21 consecutive years.

As a true “prince,” he has been a leading figure in the enka and song world since his debut.

Recently, she has been calling herself “kii,” and in November last year, she showed off her beautiful dress as “kina” in an attempt to live a more natural life.

She told her fans, “It’s been 23 years since my debut, and I’ve been running without a break, so I’d appreciate it if you’d let me take a break here and let me make some time for myself.

She reported to her fans. I’d like to take a break and let me have some time to myself. and the fans applauded loudly without any sense of discomfort.

Jun Nagara, the late president of Nagara Music Office, to whom I belonged before my debut, showed me a VTR of Ms. Hikawa singing in a yukata-like kimono.

He told me, “This is the girl to beat this year.

He said, “This is the girl for you this year. He said to me, “This girl is going to be the winner this year.

I said, “She looks like a mosquito dragonfly.

I said.

He said, “I think that’s good.

He said, “That’s good. That year, he turned into a great singer and became a leading enka singer. I felt that I had seen the ability of Mr. Nagara, who had a strong arm.

Later, when Yutaka Yamakawa, Sumi Tagawa, and Mr. Hikawa had a “Three Rivers Party,” I once told Mr. Hikawa about the “mosquito dragonfly.

He laughed at me and said, “What’s that?

But he laughed at me.

Mr. Hikawa has done everything from enka to pop music. The year before last, she sang “Marginal Breakthrough Survivor,” which became the theme song of an anime, at the “Kohaku” event, showing her presence to people other than enka fans.

For that matter, many big-name enka singers, such as Saburo Kitajima, Hiroshi Itsuki, Shinichi Mori, and Joji Yamamoto, have been removed from “Kohaku” in the form of graduation. There used to be a time when 25 of the 56 participating groups were enka singers.

However, after this year’s “Kohaku”, Mr. Hikawa will disappear again for a while. Looking at the current “Kohaku” program, it seems unlikely that another enka singer will be selected just because he is not on the program.

That’s why I can’t help but hope that Mr. Hikawa will come back. That’s how big a part of the enka world he really was.

I can’t help but hope that he will come back as a “singer” who has grown up a notch or two.