織井茂子

Shigeko Orii (January 10, 1926 – January 23, 1996) was a Japanese singer. Her real name was Shigeko Ito. She was born in Meguro Ward, Tokyo. In her teens, she worked as a children's song singer, exclusively signed to Regal (Columbia's budget record label). After graduating from (now Tokyo College of Music), she became a student of the then-famous Omura Yoshiaki Vocal Academy in order to become a popular song singer. Through Omura's introduction, she debuted in 1947 (Showa 22) with King Records under the stage name "Miyako Yoshiko." The "Yoshiko" in her stage name comes from the "No" in her teacher Omura Yoshiaki's name. Although she did not have any hit songs, she appeared as a revue singer in the Shochiku film "Onna" directed by Kinoshita Keisuke, singing "Kurenai Bara Rumba" in the film. In 1949 (Showa 24), at the suggestion of her senior singer Isao Hayashi, she changed her stage name back to her real maiden name, Shigeko Orii, and moved to Columbia Records, making her comeback with "Annan Yofune." It wasn't until 1952 (Showa 27) that she finally gained recognition with the theme song of the same name for the Shochiku film "Carmen Junjo Su" (directed by Keisuke Kinoshita). In an era when orthodox singers were beginning to be shunned, what solidified Shigeko Orii's name was her recording of the theme song for the radio drama series "Kimi no Na wa," which began airing that same year. Initially, vocalist Futaba Takayanagi was used for the broadcast, but when Columbia Records released the record, Orii was chosen for the role. Although Orii herself suffered from a chest ailment after recording, and her voice was never broadcast as the theme song for the radio program, the record released the following year, 1953, sold well thanks to the program's popularity. Furthermore, in the same year, "Kimi no Na wa" (Your Name) was made into a film by Shochiku starring Keiko Kishida and Keiji Sada, and when the song was used as the theme song, it became an unprecedented hit, selling a total of 1.1 million copies. Subsequently, "Kuroyuri no Uta" (Song of the Black Lily), the theme song for the second part of the film "Kimi no Na wa," and "Kimi wa Haruka na" (You Are Far Away), a duet with Keiji Sada for the third part, also became hits, and Orii Shigeko rose to stardom as a nationwide hit singer. She has appeared in the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen (NHK Red and White Song Contest) a total of six times. In the 1950s, she found new ground in Toru Funamura's works, and hits such as "Tokyo Mujou" and "Yoru ga Waratteiru" were produced. However, after marrying a director at Nippon Columbia in 1956, she gradually withdrew from the forefront of the music scene. However, she made a comeback with the nostalgic music boom of the mid-1960s. She performed many of her old hit songs on television music programs such as "Natsukashi no Utagoe" (Nostalgic Songs). In 1972, she released an album featuring songs by The Ventures, which garnered significant attention. She ran a club in Tokyo for many years, but closed it down when the bubble economy burst. Even after the Heisei era began, she regularly appeared on shows such as "Showa Kayō Daizenshū" and "Toshiwasure Nippon no Uta," and remained active until shortly before her death. She died on January 23, 1996 (Heisei 8) from a pancreatic tumor at the age of 70. Her last work was her appearance on TV Tokyo's "Year-End Nippon Songs" broadcast on December 31, 1995 (Heisei 7). Her grave is in Kodaira Cemetery. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.