Akihiro Miwa

Akihiro Miwa (1940s)

Akihiro Miwa ( Japanese 美 輪 明 宏 , Miwa Akihiro , officially: Akihiro Maruyama ( 丸山 明 宏 , Maruyama Akihiro ); born May 15, 1935 in Nagasaki , Nagasaki Prefecture ) is a Japanese singer , composer , actor , theater director and writer . In public he appears as a drag queen .

Life

Miwa was born on May 15, 1935, the son of a cafe owner in Nagasaki. At the age of 10, he survived the atomic bombing on Nagasaki , during which he was 4 km from ground zero . In 1952 he moved to Tokyo and worked in Ginza under his original name "Akihiro Maruyama" as a chanson singer, mainly interpreting Édith Piaf , Marie Dubas and Yvette Guilbert . His talent was discovered by intellectuals such as Yukio Mishima , Junnosuke Yoshiyuki , Akiyuki Nosaka and Kenzaburō Ōe , and Maruyama gained wide attention for the first time in 1957 with the Japanese translation of the play "Méqué méqué" by Gilbert Bécaud . In the same year he appeared in the film "Danryū" by the director Masumura Yasuzō . After he then published his homosexuality , his popularity recorded a decline and he continued to devote himself to composition.

In 1964, Maruyama first performed the "Song of the Yoitomake" ( ヨ イ ト マ ケ の 唄 , Yoitomake no Uta ), which is about a mother who works as a construction worker and her child who are exposed to discrimination. Yoitomake is a swear word for the working class in the building trade at the time . The song was published in July 1965 and sold 400,000 times, before it was used after a short time by the Nihon Minkan Hōsō Renmei ( 日本 民間 放送 連 盟 , about "Association of Japanese Commercial Broadcasters", eng. "The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association") the term "Yoitomake" has been banned. However, Maruyama's popularity increased significantly with the song. In 1968 he played in the successful film Kurotokage ( 黒 蜥蝪 , about "black lizard"; Eng. "Black Lizard"), which is based on a play by Yukio Mishima, the lead role. In the following years he played male and female roles in numerous films and programs and appeared from 1971 under his stage name "Akihiro Miwa".

As a singer he gave international concerts in Paris in 1984 and in Paris, Madrid and Stuttgart in 1987 , but was mainly active in Japan. In the 1990s, his fame continued to increase, primarily through his plays. From 1997 he also worked as a voice actor when he spoke the wolf goddess "Moro" in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Princess Mononoke . In 2012 he sang the "Song of the Yoitomake" again in public at Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time since the song was banned.

Discography (selection)

Studio albums

• Yoitomake no Uta (1966)
• Maruyama Akihiro Deluxe (1969)
• Nihon Shinjū Kayō Reki (1973)
• Byakuju (1975, 2000, 2006, 2011)
• Wakare no Blues - Onna to Ai o utau
• Brava Diva Miwa (2013)

Concept albums

• Maruyama Akihiro "Miwaku no Inishie Mero" o utau (1971)
• Natsukashi no Ōshū Hit Kyokushū - Chanson to Tango (1973)
• Europa Hit o utau (1992)
• Shōwa no Meika o utau (1995)
• Nihon no Kokoro o utau (1999)
• "Ai" o utau (2001)
• Inishie Melody o utau (2002)
• Nihon no Uta o utau (2006)
• Méqué méqué (2014)
• Ai no Sanka - Édith Piaf ni yosete (2014)

Live albums

• Miwaku no Concert (1977)
• Rōjoyū ha sariyuku - Miwa Akihito no subete (1978)
• Kassai - Gin Paris live (1981)
• Jean-Jean live '94 (1994)

Singles

• Méqué méqué / Gelsomina (1957)
• Joli Chapeau / Me o tojite (1957)
• Ari no Machi Chanson / Yubiotoko (1959)
• Yoitomake no Uta / Furusato no Sora no shita de (1965)
• Taiyō ga daisuki / Kyōdai
• Yudōfu no Uta / Tony no Uta (1966)
• Yukiguni no Onnagokoro / Kanashimi no Naka kara (1967)
• Kurotokage no Uta / Musuko yo (1968)
• Murasaki Kōta / Ōedo Shusse Kōta (1970)
• Tōkyō Musume / Jinsei no Namikimachi (1971)
• Yoitomake no Uta / Méqué méqué (1973)
• Hiromero Jinsei / Sabaku no Seishun (1983)
• Ai no Sanka / Gunshū (2014)

Filmography (selection)

As an actor

• Nagasugita Haru (1957)
• Kairyu (1957)
• Onna de aru koto (1958)
• Taiatari Suresure Musume (1959)
• Soku berenme Geisha (1960)
• Sennin Buraku (1961)
• Ginza taikutsu Musume (1960)
• Ryōjin Nikki (1964)
• Kurotokage (1968)
• Kurobara no Yakata (1969)
• Sho o suteyo Machi e Deyō (1971)
• Nihonjin no Heso (1977)
• Takeshis' (2005)

Speaking roles

• Princess Mononoke (1997) - as the wolf goddess "Moro"
• Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - as a "witch from no man's land"
• Pokémon 12 - Arceus and the Jewel of Life (2009) - as "Arceus"
• Hanako to Anne (2014) - as a narrator
• Documentary “Tsuioku” (2016) - as narrator

Fonts (selection)

• Maruyama Akihiro "Murasaki no Rirekisho" (1968)
• "Shin Murasaki no Rirekisho" Omoshiro Hanbun (1976)
• Shishi no Zabuton - Reikan Jinseisōdan (1983)
• Ikirutte Kantan (1987)
• Jinsei Note (1998)
• Tensei Bigo (2000)
• Ai no Hanashi - Kofuku no Hanashi (2002)
• Jigoku o Gokuraku ni suru hōhō (2003)
• Jinsei Gakkō Toranomaki (2005)
• Sensō to Heiwa - Ai no Message (2005)
• Otome no Kyōshitsu (2008)
• Hanakotoba (2010)
• Akarui Ashita o (2012)
• Raku ni ikiru tame no Jinseisōdan (2015)
• Kokoro no Arashi o Aozora ni (2016)
• Odayaka ni nikiru tame no Jinseisōdan (2019)

Trivia

• Miwa's books are mostly related to extrasensory perception , of which he is the representative.
• Politically, Miwa sees herself as pacifist and strongly criticized Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party for their reinterpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution . He also prefers a well-developed welfare state and is close to the politician Mizuho Fukushima from the Social Democratic Party . Apart from that, Miwa calls for the reintroduction of Japanese values ​​from the Kojiki and Nihonshoki such as B. the Bushidō and Yamato-damashii , which were lost after the end of the Second World War.

Web links

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Akihiro Miwa in the Internet Movie Database (English)