In the Shadow of "Tokyo March"--The Dream of the Age of Chiyoko Sato

In the Shadow of "Tokyo March"--The Dream of the Age of Chiyoko Sato

In the early Showa period (1926-1989), radio broadcasting began and popular music began to sprout in Japan. At the dawn of this era, Chiyoko Sato made a spectacular appearance as "Japan's first commercial record singer. Born in Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture, she dropped out of the Tokyo Music School (now Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music) and embarked on a "national singing tour" with such artists as Shinpei Nakayama and Ujo Noguchi, and eventually became a household name in 1929 with "Tokyo March.

This song was the theme song for the movie "Tokyo Koshinkyoku" and sold 250,000 copies, shaking the record market at the time. In the early Showa period (early 20th century), when the number of phonographs in use was said to be about 100,000 nationwide, this was an astounding figure. In other words, her voice swept the nation at a time when there was only one phonograph per household.
In addition, "Beniya no Musume," the B-side to "Tokyo Koshinkyoku," "Kuroyuri no Hana," and "Ai ni Okonai," became hits one after another, making her the "darling" of the Showa music world.

However, her glory did not last long, and in the 1930s she went to Italy to study opera, taking advantage of her classical background. There, she introduced Japanese folk songs and was honored with a medal from the Italian government for her efforts. However, perhaps her studies were not enough to keep her from returning to Japan, where the leading role in the music world had already been taken by young singers, and Sato's place was lost.

Then came the Pacific War. She went to the southern front as a consolation prize, and was entrusted by General Isoroku Yamamoto to bring back "Songs of the Night Battle Squadron" to the home front, thus playing a role in national policy. However, with the postwar turmoil, her life began to spiral downward. In 1946, she was arrested for fraud in Chiba Prefecture, and when she applied for a loan from her former ally, composer Masao Koga, she was turned away at the door. In his autobiography, "Songs of My Heart," Koga describes her as a "thin-skinned diva" and describes her complex inner life, in which she felt deeply humiliated by being called a "popular singer" by someone with a classical background.

In her later years, Sato died at a hospital in Okubo, Shinjuku, without anyone to take care of her. She was 71 years old. It is said that she sang "Tokyo March" in a frail voice at the end of her life.
--She sang of the jazz-scented Ginza, a dancer in love, and the roses of the Marunouchi Building. The dream of modern Tokyo in her song may have been too fleeting for her.

Chiyoko Sato was born as a representation of the Showa era, was tossed about by the times, and decayed with the times. Her story is more than just the life of a singer; it is an allegory of Japanese youth in the Showa era.