Yujiro Ishihara

Overview

Yūjirō Ishihara (December 28, 1934 – July 17, 1987) was a Japanese actor, singer and entrepreneur. The younger brother of Akutagawa Prize-winning author and politician Shintaro Ishihara (Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012), he founded Ishihara Promotion and served as its first president and chairman. He was also a keen yachtsman. Regarded as one of the representative stars of the Showa era, he was called a Japanese Elvis Presley. Kinema Junpo ranked him second among Japanese male film stars of the 20th century in 2000 and 14th in its 2014 all-time list.

Career

Early life

Born in Suma-ku, Kobe, Ishihara grew up in Otaru, Hokkaido, and Zushi, Kanagawa. He swam and skied as a child, then played basketball in junior high, dreaming of the Olympics until an injury in his second year of high school ended that. He failed the Keio Senior High School entrance exam, enrolled at Keio Agricultural High School, transferred to Keio Senior High School in 1951, and went on to the political science department of Keio University's law school.

Film debut and stardom

He auditioned at Toho, Daiei and Nikkatsu and failed them all. In 1956, with the help of producer Takiko Mizunoe and his brother, he got a bit part in the film adaptation of Shintaro's Season of the Sun. He then played the lead in Crazed Fruit and made his singing debut the same year. His performance in Baby Carriage won the Producers Association new face award, and he left university that year. In 1957, hits such as Ore wa matteru ze and Man Who Causes a Storm made him a top star, and he won the Blue Ribbon Award for best new actor.

He married actress Mie Kitahara in 1960, and in 1962 moved from an exclusive Nikkatsu contract to a per-film arrangement.

Ishihara Promotion

On January 16, 1963, he founded Ishihara Promotion and worked as both producer and actor. Alone on the Pacific, directed by Kon Ichikawa, won an Arts Festival award, and Kurobe's Sun (1968), co-produced with Mifune Productions, was a major success. Costly later productions such as 5000 Kilometers to Glory and Mt. Fuji Summit performed poorly, straining the company's finances, and in 1971 he was treated for tuberculosis.

Television

In 1972 he joined the TV drama Taiyō ni Hoero! on the understanding that he would appear in only 13 episodes, but was persuaded to stay. As "Boss" (Shunsuke Todo) he found new popularity with younger viewers; the show ran until 1986. He starred in Hangyaku no hōshū (1973), and voice work in Waga seishun no Arcadia was his last major film role. From 1976 he planned and co-starred in the Daitokai series, and from 1979 the Seibu Keisatsu series.

Singing career

His hit songs include "Arashi wo Yobu Otoko" (1958), "Ginza no Koi no Monogatari" (1961), "Red Handkerchief" (1962), "Futari no Sekai" (1965) and "Yogiri yo Konya mo Arigatō" (1967). "Brandy Glass" (1977) barely sold at first, but after he sang it in an episode of Seibu Keisatsu it sold 1.52 million copies. He was reluctant to sing at concerts or on television. Posthumously released "Kita no Tabibito" sold 1.25 million copies, and "Waga Jinsei ni Kuinawashi" was also released after his death.

Illness and death

He was hospitalized in 1978 for a sublingual ulcer and was diagnosed with tongue cancer, which was not disclosed to him. In 1981 he survived an aortic dissection, an operation said to carry a 3% survival rate. Liver cancer was found in 1984. After leaving Taiyō ni Hoero! in 1986, he returned for the final episode (718), delivering a seven-minute single-take ad-lib that was his last acting performance. He died at Keio University Hospital on July 17, 1987, aged 52. His will asked that the company be closed immediately, but it continued.

Legacy

His grave is at Sōji-ji temple in Tsurumi, Yokohama, where memorial services called "Ajisai-ki" were held each July 17. The Ishihara Yujiro Memorial Hall opened in Otaru in 1991 and closed in 2017. The 33rd anniversary service in 2019 was the last of its kind, and Ishihara Promotion decided to dissolve in 2021. He appeared on a 1997 postage stamp, and in 1996 Shintaro published the biography Otōto, which won a Mainichi Publishing Culture Award special prize and inspired a 2004 TV Asahi drama.

Yachting

He learned to sail on a dinghy in Zushi Bay with his brother and later raced yachts named "Contessa". In 1963 he entered the Transpacific Yacht Race aboard Contessa III, a rare achievement for a Japanese sailor at the time.

Musical style

Working in kayōkyoku and enka, Ishihara became famous for songs performed within his films, and his dual acting and singing career became a symbol of the Showa era.