was a Japanese

ryūkōka is a Japanese music genre, musical genre. The term originally denoted any kind of "popular music" in Japanese, and is the East Asian cultural sphere, sinic reading of ''hayariuta'', used for commercial music of Edo period, Edo Period. Therefore, ...

singer from the early

Shōwa era The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...

Life and career

Kita was born in

Tsuruoka is a Cities of Japan, city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 125,389 in 49,024 households, and a population density of 95.74 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Tsuruoka is the biggest city in ...

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

as . He made his debut in 1936 with the song on Taihei Records. In 1937 he moved to

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

where he assumed the professional name ''Rentarō Kita'', a name chosen for its play of sound on the name of composer Rentaro Taki. During this period Kita enjoyed the peak of his fame, but his career abruptly ended with his sudden death from leukemia in 1940 at the age of 20. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kita, Rentaro Singers from Yamagata Prefecture 1920 births 1940 deaths 20th-century Japanese male singers 20th-century Japanese singers Deaths from leukemia in Japan People from Tsuruoka