松村和子

Kazuko Matsumura (born 1962) March 23 - ) is a Japanese enka singer. Born in Enbetsu-cho, Teshio-gun, Hokkaido, raised in Tomakomai. She is known for her debut song, "Come Back." She graduated from Tomakomai Municipal Midori Elementary School and Wako Junior High School. Her father is Ichiro Matsumura, a singer and president of Hokkai Entertainment Production. Her mother was a folk singer and ran a folk song tea house called "Jongara". She's the middle child of three siblings. Inspired by Goro Noguchi, she aspired to become a singer and began taking singing lessons from her mother while in high school. She had never sung in front of an audience until high school. On April 21, 1980, she debuted with Victor Music Industries with a unique style for an enka singer, sporting long hair and playing the Tsugaru shamisen like a guitar. Her catchphrase was "The return of the female enka singer." Her debut song, "Kaette Koi yo" (Come Back), became a hit, and she won the New Artist Award at the 22nd Japan Record Awards that same year. The following year, in 1981, she appeared on NHK's "Kohaku Uta Gassen" (Red and White Song Contest). After that, she released singles such as "Okayo-chan," "Nanohana Saiteta," "Konna Otoko ni Horete Miro," "Kaeri no Minato," and "Ten." In "Kaze no Tsugaru," released in 2008, she showcased her style of playing the shamisen for the first time in a long time. From around 1997, she became a regular on Fuji TV's "Monomane Oza Ketteisen" (Impressionist King Championship). She also appeared as part of a unit with the Kudo Brothers and Madoka Oishi. She won the competition on her second appearance. On October 10, 2000, she married the man who had been playing trumpet in her concert backing band since her debut. On November 20, 2014, her husband died of liver failure at the age of 62. He had previously suffered from cirrhosis, and on the way back from picking Matsumura up at the airport in his car, she noticed something was wrong and they had planned to go to the hospital the next day, but he became so ill that he could not get up and was rushed to the hospital. He briefly regained consciousness after being given medication, and doctors said he could be discharged the next day, but the following day he lost consciousness and passed away. After her husband's death, her manager became concerned about her significant weight loss, and she went to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She revealed this for the first time on the July 2, 2025 broadcast of Tetsuko's Room. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.