A Boat Wet in the Rain, Lingering Love: Memories of the Voice of Aki Yashiro" - 1950 to 2023

A Boat Wet in the Rain, Lingering Love: Memories of the Voice of Aki Yashiro" - 1950 to 2023

A young girl born in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, a town of coal mines, grew up in a life of hardship, finding emotional support in songs. Aki Yashiro made her debut in 1971 with "Even If Love Dies," and quickly made her name known with "Namida Koi" (Namida Love) released in 1973. Her voice had both a damp passion and a strength that was never flirtatious.

In "Funauta," set in a bar at a harbor, she evokes the bittersweet fragments of her life with a glass of warmed sake. The low, sad melody had the magical power to transport the listener out of time. In "Ame no Boumou," the song's depiction of emotional conflict overlaid on a torrential downpour won her the Japan Record Award. The repetition of the chorus was not just a technicality, but a cry of the soul.

In addition to enka, she also tried her hand at jazz and blues, and was also active as a painter. Her paintings were recognized by Le Salon in France, showing the world another form of soul different from the voice. In December 2023, she passed away due to interstitial pneumonia caused by collagen disease, ending her 73-year life.

Aki Yashiro did not just sing. She carried in her voice the sorrows and dreams of the people of the Showa era, the Heisei era, and 2025, and continued to depict them. Even now, her songs light up someone's heart on a rainy night.