菊池章子

Akiko Kikuchi (born January 28, 1924 - died April 7, 2002) was a singer from Tokyo. Her real name was Ikuko Kikuchi. Her younger sister is singer Sachiko Tama. Her stepdaughter is Naohiko Okubo, and her grandchildren are KIKU of camino and Kazuhito Kikuchi, a former member of BREATH. She was born on January 28, 1924 (Monday) in Shitaya, Tokyo. In 1927 (Showa 2), he became a student of Hata Hidesui and learned to play the biwa. In 1930 (Showa 5), ​​at the age of 6, she received a master's license and took the name Kikuchi Kinshi. Later she became Kikuchi Shisui. Afterwards, she became interested in popular songs and enrolled in the Omura Yoshiaki Singing Academy in Kudan. After the Sino-Japanese War, she performed activities at military hospitals and other places with the students of the academy. Despite being a young girl in the lower grades of girls' school, when she sang, the calls for encores never stopped. In 1937, she joined Columbia Records and the following year she debuted with "Ai Ai Ai," but the release was canceled. In September 1939, she made her full debut with "Oyome ni Iku Nara" . "Ai Yobu Uta" and "Aiba Hanayome" became hits. Among them, "Kohan no Otome," the theme song for the Shochiku film "Kohan no Wakare," was a huge hit. After the war, in 1947 (Showa 22), after transferring to Teichiku, she sang "Hoshi no Nagare ni," a song about the feelings of a woman who has become a prostitute. Initially, the record did not sell at all, but it became a long hit as it was hummed by prostitutes. Also, "Haha Koubai no Uta," the theme song for the Mother's Story series, was a big hit. In 1948 (Showa 23), she married composer Tokujiro Okubo (they divorced in 1956). In 1954 (Showa 29), "Haru no Maiko," the theme song for Ayako Wakao's film debut, and "Ganpeki no," a song about a mother who continues to wait for a repatriation ship believing that her son is on board, became hits. In 1957 (Showa 32), she transferred to Victor, but was not blessed with any hit songs, and distanced herself from singing, running a record store called "Kikuchi" on Dogenzaka in Shibuya. In 1967, she returned to Teichiku Records and appeared on nostalgic music programs. In 1977, she released "Okinawa no Haha" (Mother of Okinawa), produced by Dick Mine. In 2000, she was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class. She died of heart failure on April 7, 2002 (Heisei 14), at the age of 78. 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.