灰田勝彦

Katsuhiko Haida (1911–1982) was a Japanese-American film actor and music composer. He played an important role in the 1951 film Tokyo File 212. He also appeared in The Burning Sky, and Escapade From Japan. His brother is Yukihiko Haida, and they formed the Nihon Ukulele Association together. Minoru Haida (later known as Katsuhiko) was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the third son of Katsugoro Haida, a physician who emigrated from Hiroshima (present-day Minami Ward, Hiroshima City) to Hawaii as part of the Meiji government's immigration policy. In 1920, his father, a philanthropist beloved by the local Japanese, died suddenly from overwork due to his medical work. In 1922, at the age of 12, he returned to Japan with his mother and his older brother, Yoshikatsu (later Haruhiko), who was two years his senior, to inter his father's ashes. He erected a tomb for his father in Hiroshima, his father's hometown. However, in 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck, and he decided to return to Hawaii with his family. Just as they had packed their belongings and prepared their tickets, all their possessions were stolen in the chaos of the earthquake, and the family was forced to stay in Japan. The Haida brothers, in order to carry on their father's legacy, enrolled in Dokkyo Junior High School in 1924 (Kakatsu) and in 1925 (Minoru) with the aim of becoming doctors. However, during his time there, Minoru became engrossed in soccer. As a result, his grades were not good, and he gave up on going to medical school, instead enrolling in the preparatory course at Rikkyo University in 1930. While at university, he was engrossed in baseball, and in 1931, while still a student, he joined the Moana Glee Club, Japan's first Hawaiian band, founded by Kakatsu, and was active as a vocalist and ukulele player. Around 1933, Kakatsu began to use the name Haruhiko, and Minoru began to use the name Katsuhiko. This band, which was the first to introduce the sound of the steel guitar to Japan, gradually gained popularity, and Katsuhiko also began recording for various record companies. In 1934, he recorded for Polydor under the name Minoru Fujita. In 1936, after graduating from Rikkyo University, he officially signed an exclusive contract with Nippon Victor, the company to which Haruhiko belonged, and made his debut with "Hawaiian Serenade" [1]. In 1937, his first hit was "Bright Red Envelope," which featured comical lyrics set to Hawaiian music. Around this time, the record industry also took on a strong wartime character due to the Sino-Japanese War, so he began recording not only Hawaiian music but also popular songs. However, just as his song "Rainy Bar," composed by Shunichi Sasaki, was showing signs of becoming a hit, it was canceled for being inappropriate during wartime. Not content with just being a singer, his main profession, he also signed an exclusive contract as an actor with JO Studio, a Toho subsidiary, and made his screen debut in "Twilight Lake." However, at the end of that year, while filming the movie "Life's Horse Racing," he received a conscription notice and was sent to the Chinese front. Due to the unfamiliar lifestyle and stress, he suffered from severe jaundice and, after recuperating in a field hospital there, was sent back to Japan and received treatment at Kokura in Kyushu and the Okura Army Hospital in Tokyo. He was discharged from military service in 1939 and returned to singing at the end of that year. In 1940, in the Minami O film "Hideko's Cheerleading Captain," directed by Yasuki Chiba and co-starring Hideko Takamine, a popular idol at the time, the insert song "Shining Constellations" sung in the film became a massive hit, selling 400,000 copies, surpassing Takamine's theme song "Youthful Gravure Idol." In 1940, in the Minami O film "Hideko's Cheerleading Captain," directed by Yasuki Chiba, in which he co-starred with Hideko Takamine, a popular idol at the time, the insert song "Shining Constellations" that he sang in the film became a massive hit, selling 400,000 copies, surpassing the theme song "Youth Ground" sung by Takamine. This became the catalyst for Katsuhiko, who had been a minor figure despite his popularity, to become a nationally popular star. In his next film, the Toho movie "Burning Sky," he played a pilot. The scene in which he sings "Hometown Sky" after crash-landing and suffering serious injuries brought tears to the eyes of young women and solidified his popularity as a film actor. In terms of records, following the explosive hit of "Kanmeku Seiza," they had a string of hits with "Koryasa no Ondo," "Otamajakushi wa Kaeru no Ko," and "Mori no Komichi" . After the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States, in 1942 they gained immense popularity despite the wartime conditions with "Manila no Machikado de," "Java no Mango Uri," "Shinsetsu," and "Suzukake no Michi" . As his popularity grew, his sweet and melancholic singing voice gradually drew criticism from the Ministry of the Interior and other authorities, who considered it "sentimental and undesirable." They questioned the appropriateness of using the sacred star, a symbol of the army, in the lyrics of the first verse of "Shining Constellations," specifically the line "The color of a man's pure love," in a popular song. In 1945, Haida, who returned home as a wounded soldier, changed his stage name, Katsuhiko, to his real name. His popularity soared even higher, and he had a string of record hits, including the revival hits "Shinsetsu" and "Kanameku Seiza," as well as "Murasaki no Tango" and "Tokyo no Yane no Shita." In 1946, his performance of "Hawaiian no Hana" with Takamine at the Nichigeki Theater drew sold-out crowds every day, marking the peak of his career. In 1948, he married Florence Kimiko from his hometown of Hawaii, with whom he had been separated by the war. On screen, he appeared in numerous films, mainly musical-style songs, starting with the Toho film "Sing, Sun," followed by "Hanakurabe Tanuki Goten," "Ginza Kankan Musume," and "Tanuki Ginza wo Aruku." The film "Utau Yakyu Kozou" (Singing Baseball Boy), which he himself planned to cast "all Rikkyo University alumni," was a success with co-stars including Ken Uehara and Shizuko Kasagi, and its hit theme song "Yakyu Kozou" (Baseball Boy) became Haida's theme song as he loved baseball. Baseball boys all over Japan at the time hummed this song. Even in the late 1940s, he had a huge hit with "Alpine Pasture," showcasing his superb yodeling skills, and continued to have hits with "Light Blue Suitcase" and "Goodbye at Shinbashi Station." Around this time, he formed a brotherhood pact with baseball player Takehiko Bessho, sumo wrestler Higashifuji, and actor Koji Tsuruta, and appeared in the film "The Vow of Four," which became a hot topic. When commercial radio stations were established, commercial jingles were produced in abundance for broadcasting, and he was the one who sang the first of these, "I'm an Amateur Photographer" for Konishiroku Film (now Konica Minolta) [Note 2]. He was also one of the regular big-name singers of the early NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen (NHK General TV, Radio Sai 1), appearing a total of six times (see below for details). He was the final performer for the White Team in the 3rd (1952) and 7th (1956) editions. Asei Kobayashi commented that "the history of Japanese pop music can be traced back to Katsuhiko Haida, who was active from before the war to the postwar period." As the 1950s began, Haida's popularity gradually declined, but he continued to be active in radio and television, and also began composing music. He was an indispensable figure during the nostalgic music boom of the 1960s. The January 15, 1978 broadcast of "The 173rd NHK Big Show: Katsuhiko Haida, Young Man at 66" (NHK General) was rebroadcast on FM radio and released on LP, demonstrating his enduring popularity. Around the time he was celebrating his 45th anniversary in show business, Haida was invited by singer Noriko Awaya to join Awaya's agency, and six months before his death, he moved to Awaya's agency. While plans were underway to show that Haida was not just a nostalgic singer but still a vibrant and active entertainer, on May 21, 1982, he began complaining of feeling unwell during a show at a high-end club in Ginza, and was hospitalized a few days later. It was a mild cerebral hemorrhage, and he was discharged after about a month of hospitalization and rehabilitation, but shortly afterward, it was discovered that he had terminal liver cancer, and he was readmitted to Hanzomon Hospital, where his cousin was the director. He continued treatment, and his health was recovering. However, on October 26, his condition suddenly worsened after breakfast, and he passed away surrounded by his wife Kimiko and eldest daughter. He was 71 years old. Immediately after breakfast, his condition was still stable, and his last words were, concerned about the broadcast time of his favorite professional baseball game, "Hey, turn on the Japan Series at 1 o'clock." The funeral was attended not only by people from the entertainment industry, but also by prominent figures from various fields. On November 3rd, he was looking forward to attending the unveiling ceremony of the monument to the song "Suzukake no Michi" at Rikkyo University, Haida's alma mater. However, at the unveiling ceremony that day, singer Dick Mine, a senior from the same university and a close friend of Haida's for about half a century, left the recording of a music program midway to rush to the venue in Haida's place. He attended the ceremony along with Haruhiko and Haida's widow, Kimiko. He sang "Suzukake no Michi" while weeping, mourning Haida's death. His grave is located at Kinzo-ji Temple in Minato Ward. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.