Ken'ichi Mikawa

Ken'ichi Mikawa ( Japanese 美 川 憲 一 Mikawa Ken'ichi ; born May 15, 1946 in Suwa , Nagano Prefecture in Japan as 百 瀬 由 一 Momose Yoshikazu ) is an enka singer who was invited 26 times to Kōhaku Uta Gassen . He made his debut in 1965 and made a comeback as a transvestite artist in 1980 after two scandals . He continues this image to this day.

Career

Career before the scandals

The artist name Mikawa is a tribute to the three rivers Kiso , Ibi and Nagara in Gifu Prefecture , which according to perception of Kenichi Mikawa beautiful rivers. Mikawa never lived in Gifu, he moved to Tokyo when he was two , but when he made his debut in 1965 the producer was from Gifu. So he decided to use a name that is associated with the prefecture. The Kanji 美 and 川 alone mean beautiful, pretty, excellent and flow , the name translates as beautiful flow , but there is a deeper meaning behind it: breathing as long as a river, and a good-looking singer forever (「川 のよ う に 息 が 長 く 、 美 し い 歌手 で あ る よ う に Kawa no yō ni iki ga nagaku, utsukushii kashu de aru yō ni」).

In 1965 he made his debut with the song Dakedo dakedo dakedo , his 1966 single Yanagise Blues was a success and sold over a million times. His song Niigata Blues , released in 1967 , did not sell many CDs, but for a long time it was number 1 in demand in karaoke bars. In 1968 he had another hit with Kushiro no Yoru and he was invited to Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time, he was invited annually until 1974. In 1970 he brought out three new singles: Mirenmachi , Osaka no Yoru and Onna no Asa , all of which became hits and were just as successful as Yanagise Blues , Niigata Blues and Kushiro no Yoru . Even if Onna no Asa was in a negative light at the time, as it was played in the entertainment districts of Japan and so the NHK refused to broadcast the song on the grounds that the song text is too radical . The song has recovered from this negative touch today and it has been sold over 300,000 times.

In the same year, Mikawa wins the special prize of the "3rd Japanese Radio Prize" with Yanagise Blues . One year later, in 1971, with Onna no Asa he received the "4th Japanese Broadcasting Award " in the categories Special Award and Star Award . NHK also refused to broadcast its new song Okane wo chōdai , although it was widely praised for its originality and was a topic of conversation for a long time. In 1972 he wrote his most famous and popular song Sasori-za no Onna , which appeared at the same time as a horoscope boom in Japan and exceeded sales of Yanagise Blues . In the years 1975 to 1990 he received no invitation to the Kōhaku Uta streets. In 1977 he released the single Eki , which was used as a closing credits song for a drama and had good potential to become a hit, which was reflected in the demand in karaoke bars, but that didn't happen because Mikawa came in October of that year for cannabis -Possession was convicted. In 1985 he was caught the second time with cannabis and sentenced to one and a half years in prison. After the scandal, things calmed down around Mikawa, he was no longer invited to TV shows, he no longer appeared in public and his public image was destroyed, including a renaming from 美 川 憲 一 to 美 川 け ん 一 (both are pronounced as Mikawa Ken'ichi ) brought nothing.

The comeback

Towards the end of the 1980s, the population's interest in monomaniacs grew more and more and thanks to the monomaniac talent Korokke , who frequently parodied Mikawa, he came back into the public interest of the population. 1989 was their first public appearance together on a monomaniac television show, where Korokke parodied the song Sasori-za no Onna . This joint appearance of the two created a real boom around the person of Mikawa and in 1990 he appeared in a commercial alongside Naomi Chiaki . In 1991 he was invited back to Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time after 17 years, where he sang the song Sasori-za no Onna in a duet with Korokke . Due to the great public interest in his person, he became a permanent guest on many television programs , appeared in entertainment restaurants and gave many concerts . Most of his admirers had been middle-aged women, partly because of his music, but also because he was now performing as a transvestite artist.

With Korokke, who is still a good friend of his, he has since organized regular mini concerts all over Japan. According to his own statement, Mikawa feels deeply indebted to him for getting him out of “this deep hole” .

「ど ん 底 か ら 自 分 を 復活 さ せ て く れ た コ ロ ッ ケ ケ は 感謝 ​​感謝 し て い る」

" Donzoko kara jibun o fukkatsu sasete kureta Korokke ni wa kansha shiteiru "

"I'm Korokke, who got me out of it when I was at the lowest point in my life, grateful"

- Kenichi Mikawa

From 1998 to 1999 he presented together with Norio Minorikawa a variety show called Aisuru futari wakareru futari , in which he got into an argument with the television celebrity Dewi Sukarno and the broadcast was canceled . Although there was open hostility between the two as of that event, they appeared on television shows in 2002 and 2005. Further joint public appearances such as attending a fur design show and other appearances led to a reconciliation between the two and the relationship to each other normalized.

Since 1999 he has given a chanson concert every year and publishes albums with chanson music. His friend, the famous chanson soprano Noriko Awaya , who has supported him since his debut in 1965 , said:

「美 川 の 声 は こ ぶ し が な く 一 本 調子 だ か ら シ ャ ン ソ ン に 合 っ て い る」

" Mikawa no koe wa kobushi ga naku ippon jōshi dakara shanson ni atte iru "

"Since Mikawa's voice is so monotonous, it is perfect for chanson singing"

- Noriko Awaya

Among other things because of this statement and the fact that Mikawa likes chanson music, he slowly developed more and more into a chanson singer from his mid-20s.

Discography

→ Main article : Ken'ichi Mikawa / Discography

Trivia

• the expression he uttered odamari ( お だ „ り ," shut up, shut up ") in a television program became a buzzword .
• Since changing his image in 1991, he competed with Sachiko Kobayashi for the most magnificent costume every year at Kōhaku Uta Gassen , even though he was listed as a man.
• regarding the moderation of Norio Minorikawa of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen 2005 he is said to have only said The Lord talks too much to me
• Sachiko Kobayashi and Kenichi Mikawa are also linked by a rivalry in the art of singing that began in the 1950s.
• His numerous friends include the actress and fashion designer Uno Kanda , the actress Mariko Kaga , the singer Naoko Ken and the entertainer Korokke.

Web links

• Official Homepage (Japanese)
• Discography (japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Official website of the Kōhaku Uta alleys ( Memento from December 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Monomane Korrokes by Sasori-za no Onna on YouTube
3. ↑ Commercial with Naomi Chiaki on YouTube
4. ↑ Video of the performance of the two on Youkou