is a Japanese popular musician, singer-songwriter and actor.

Life and career

Naoaki Ikehata and Shinsuke Suematsu 20211104

Son of mid-twentieth century film star

Ken Uehara was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1990. He starred in '' Entotsu no mieru basho'', which was entered in the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. His son is the singer and actor Yūzō Kayama. Sel ...

,and actress Yoko Kozakura, ( ja) Kayama graduated from Keio University. Yuzo Kayama signed with

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

and made his film debut with ''Otoko tai Otoko'' directed by

Senkichi Taniguchi (February 19, 1912 – October 29, 2007) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Born in Tokyo, Japan, he attended Waseda University but left before graduating due to his involvement in a left-wing theater troupe. He joined P.C.L. ...

in 1960. He was cast in the leading role in the 1960 film ''Dokuritsu Gurentai Nishie'' directed by

Kihachi Okamoto was a Japanese film director who worked in several different genres. Career Born in Yonago, Okamoto attended Meiji University, but was drafted into the Air Force 1943 and entered World War II, an experience that had a profound effect on his l ...

. Kayama rose to stardom in the 1960s in the '' Wakadaishō'' ("Young Guy") film series. He showed his ability for drama when

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

cast him for his films ''

Sanjuro is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's 1961 ''Yojimbo''. Originally an adaptation of the Shūgorō Yamamoto novel ''Hibi Heian'', the script ...

'' and ''

Red Beard is a 1965 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, in his last collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune. Based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's 1959 short story collection, '' Akahige Shinryōtan'', the film takes p ...

''. In the 1970s, he starred such television dramas as ''

Edo no Kaze was a Japanese jidaigeki (period drama) broadcast on prime-time television that ran from 1975 to 1981. Its lead star was Yūzō Kayama. The series was based on Kazuo Shimada's novel of the same title. It became a popular broadcast, leading to the ...

'' and '' Daitsuiseki''. As a guitarist, he took inspiration from the American instrumental group

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

, and performed a form of psychedelic

surf music Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...

in the 1960s with his

Mosrite Mosrite is an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists. Mosrite guitars wer ...

guitar. One of his best-known instrumentals is "Black Sand Beach". "Kimi to Itsumademo" ("Love Forever"), another of his compositions, sold over two million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in 1965. At that point it was the biggest selling disc in the Japanese recording industry's history. In March 2016, Kayama made a special art piece to commemorate 2,500,000 million downloads for the mobile game Terra Battle, that is featured as the background for the game's title screen. He announced that, by the end of 2022, he would be retiring from concert activities. One of the last activities involves the song "Sarai" ( ja), which he had written together with singer-songwriter

Shinji Tanimura is a Japanese singer-songwriter. Career Tanimura set up the musical group Alice together with Takao Horiuchi in 1971 and released his first extended play musical album in the following year. Alice produced its first album two years later. Du ...

. The song was made as theme for the

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

charity program ''24-Hr TV'', and Kayama announced that 2022's edition of the program would be his last live performance of the song.

Filmography

Films

Television

Family tree

Honours

* Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2014) * Person of Cultural Merit (2021)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayama, Yuzo Japanese male film actors Japanese male singers Japanese guitarists 1937 births Living people Keio University alumni Musicians from Kanagawa Prefecture People from Chigasaki, Kanagawa Dreamusic artists Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class Persons of Cultural Merit