is a Japanese singer and composer. As of 1987, he had sold 20 million singles and 4 million

LP album The LP (from long playing or long play) is an analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specificati ...

s. Itsuki is usually regarded as an ''

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, pop ...

'' singer, but he has also released a cover version of

Southern All Stars , also known by the abbreviations and SAS, are a Japanese rock band formed in Kanagawa in 1974. The band is composed of Keisuke Kuwata (lead vocals and guitars), Yuko Hara (vocals and keyboards), Kazuyuki Sekiguchi (bass), (drums) and (pe ...

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

song "

Tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

Career

In 1965, Itsuki debuted under the stage name "Masaru Matsuyama," but did not initially achieve commercial success. Although he changed his stage name to "Eiichi Ichijō" in 1967, and then to "Ken Mitani" in 1969, there was no improvement in his music's commercial sales. In 1971, he changed his name to "Hiroshi Itsuki" and was given the song by Masaaki Hirao. Written by lyricist Yoko Yamaguchi, "Yokohama Tasogare" reached the top of the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

weekly single chart. His 2006 single "Takasebune" debuted at number 9 on the Oricon charts, becoming his first Top 10 single in 22 years, since his 1984 single "Nagaragawa Enka". In 2008, he was featured in

Morning Musume , formerly and commonly known as and colloquially referred to as , is a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most to ...

's '' Cover You'' album. He sang "Izakaya" with

Ai Takahashi (born September 14, 1986) is a Japanese singer and actress formerly associated with the Hello! Project and is best known as the leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project until 2011. She is also a former member of its popular subgroup Mini Mon ...

. Also in 2008, he collaborated with the girl group Cute, letting them record the song "Edo no Temari Uta", which he himself was planning to include in his end-of-year album. Cute's producer

Tsunku , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer, record producer, and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the rock band Sharam Q. As a songwriter, Tsunku is the primary producer for Morning Musume and other Hello! Project acts, such as Co ...

liked the song and thought that if performed by girls the

lyrics will sound like "a modern fairytale". In what was called a collaboration by Tsunku and a rivalry between two performers by

Sankei Sports is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper published by Sankei Shimbun. In 2014, it had a circulation of 1,270,000. The newspaper is known by its nickname . See also * Fujisankei Communications Group , abbreviated FCG, is Japan's largest m ...

, they both released the song as CD singles, Cute on July 30, and Itsuki as his 132nd single on October 22. Cute's version, entitled " Edo no Temari Uta II", was nominated for the main

Japan Record Award is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Established in 1959, the Japan Record Awards are one of the oldest and most prestigious music awards in the count ...

of 2008, which also meant receiving a Gold Award from the

Japan Composer's Association The Japan Composer's Association, or JACOMPA (日本作曲家協会 in Japanese) is an organization of Japanese composers, established in 1959. Among its members are some of Japan's most renowned composers of contemporary classical music Conte ...

Discography

Top 10 singles

Honours

Japan Record Awards *Grand Prize: 2 times *Best Singing Award: 3 times *Singing Award: 5 times *Gold award: 10 times *Composition Award: 1 time *Best Album Award: 1 time *Planning Award: 2 times *Special prize: 2 times *Masao Koga Memorial Award: Once *Misora Hibari Memorial Award: Once Other Awards * Medal with Purple Ribbon (2007) * Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2018)

References

External links

*
Official Website
1948 births Living people Japanese male composers Japanese composers Japanese male pop singers Enka singers Nippon Columbia artists Singers from Fukui Prefecture Tokuma Japan Communications artists Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class Up-Front Group {{Japan-singer-stub