Eigo Kawashima

Overview

Eigo Kawashima (河島英五, 23 April 1952 – 16 April 2001) was a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor from Higashiōsaka, Osaka Prefecture. He is best remembered for "Sake to Namida to Otoko to Onna" ("Drinks, Tears, a Man and a Woman") and "Jidai Okure" ("Old-fashioned"). His eldest daughter Amiru is a TV personality, his second daughter Anamu is a member of the music unit Anamu & Maki, and his son Shoma is also a singer. He graduated from Osaka Prefectural Hanazono High School and later lived in Shijōnawate, Osaka.

Career

• 1969: Began singing folk songs while still in high school. After graduating he performed with a group called Homo Sapiens and debuted on the Kyoto indie label Kyoto Record, working alongside acts such as Ano-ne no-ne. His looks and vocal style led some to call him the second coming of Takuro Yoshida.
• 1973: Began his solo career after the group disbanded.
• April 1975: Made his major debut as "Eigo Kawashima and Homo Sapiens" and released the album Jinrui.
• 1976: Released his first hit, "Sake to Namida to Otoko to Onna" (words and music by Kawashima, arrangement by Mitsuo Miyamoto), written at 19 after watching his uncle. While Kenichi Hagiwara was covering it on TV, Kawashima's version was used in a commercial for the Fushimi sake brewer Kizakura and became a national hit.
• Late 1970s–1980: Released Shinbō (1977), Jinsei (1978), Collected Works of Eigo Kawashima (1979) and Homo Sapiens Mongai Fu Shutsu, followed by the three-part Bunmei I–III in 1980. In 1979 he starred in his first film, Toho's Trouble Man.
• 1980s: His record reportedly sat in the jukebox of the Green Bar in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1984 he had a hit with "Nofuuzo", a cover of a 1980 song by Hiroyuki Yamamoto; the title is a Chūgoku-dialect word roughly meaning "rebellious" or "cheeky". He released Hakkan (1985, as Eigo Kawashima & The Running Sweat), Jidai Okure (1986), Romantist (1987) and Kisetsu (1988). In 1987 he appeared as a traveler on NHK's "Eigo no Romantist Kiko", visiting seven prefectures in central Japan, and released the theme song "Romantist" on 21 September. He also appeared in the NHK drama Manga-michi: Seishun-hen.
• 1991: Appeared for the first time on NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (the 42nd) with "Jidai Okure", closing the first white-team segment with a piano performance. The same year he released Ikutsu ka no Bamen, followed by Horoyoi de in 1993.
• Charity work: With his friend Katsura Nankō, he held an annual charity concert in Kobe, "Fukkō no Uta", to encourage survivors of the Great Hanshin earthquake. He also played concerts in mountain and remote areas, connecting with fans in less-served regions.
• 2001: After attending his eldest daughter's wedding, he died of liver disease on 16 April, a week before his 49th birthday. His last live appearance was two days earlier. At that year's concert, his three children and Katsura Nankō sang his final work, "Kyūyū Saikai", with the audience. He was buried at a Shingon Buddhist temple in Nara. The live album Last Live was released in June 2001.

Musical Style

Kawashima began as a folk singer-songwriter and moved into kayokyoku and enka-flavored territory. "Jidai Okure" remains a karaoke staple among older men, sung by figures such as Ken Shimura, Hitoshi Matsumoto, Asashōryū, Kōji Yamamoto and Tatsuhiko Kubo. He also adapted a song by Bolivia's Los Kjarkas into a Japanese number titled "Hana no Tane ga Hajikeru yō ni" for his repertoire. He wrote songs for many artists, including Naomi Chiaki, Aki Yashiro ("Unagitani", "Sayonara Anta", "Tsuki no Hanamatsuri"), Lumi Koyanagi, Takao Horiuchi, Kenji Sawada and Cho Yong-pil.