The Pride of Tailcoats, the Resounding Voice of Akagi: A Portrait of Prewar Japan by Taro Tokai (Meiji 31 - Showa 47)

The Pride of Tailcoats, the Resounding Voice of Akagi: A Portrait of Prewar Japan by Taro Tokai (Meiji 31 - Showa 47)

In the early Showa period (1926-1989), the Japanese music world was in the midst of a tumultuous mix of Western music, nankyoku (traditional Japanese songs), and newer songs. In the midst of such chaos and innovation, Taro Tokai-Rin appeared in an unusually well-dressed outfit with Lloyd glasses and a swallow-tailed suit. His posture was steadfast and his voice majestic, and he sang into the microphone with a classical voice, like a military band conductor, and his image was etched in the minds of people as the "ideal male image" of the Showa era.

He was a graduate of Waseda University's School of Commerce and worked for the South Manchuria Railway Company, a picture-perfect elite at the time. However, he could not suppress the passion for singing that resided deep in his heart, so he entered a music contest and won a prize. Eventually, he began his path to becoming a singer. In 1934, "Akagi no Komoriuta" (Akagi Lullaby) became a big hit, and his name became known throughout Japan.

He then went on to have hits with "Border Town," "Tabikasa Dochu," and "Nozaki Kouta," and in 1935, he released 107 songs in one year, an astonishing pace. In 1935, he released 107 songs in one year, an astonishing pace. In 1939, he released his representative song, "Meigetsu Akagisan (Meigetsu Akagi Mountain)," and the words of the song, "Otoko gokoro ni otoko ga koi ni" (Man's heart is in love with a man), became popular as a phrase representing the spirit of the Japanese manly boy.

At this time, Japan had already stepped into the quagmire of the Sino-Japanese War, and the atmosphere of the nation was gradually taking on a wartime tinge. Although Tokaibayashi's songs were not military songs, his martial and dignified style was rather more military than military, and his singing of righteousness, compassion, and sincerity overlapped with the ideals of the nation.

However, behind the bright lights of the stage, his life was also a struggle against illness. After undergoing rectal cancer surgery in 1938, he underwent repeated operations in 1955 and 1964, and finally had his rectum completely removed. He continued to stand on stage even though he was an ostomate. He wore a bleached belly band and makeup on his face, and continued to bring his beautiful voice to the audience without letting anyone know he was there.

In 1947, he held a performance at the Kokusai Gekijo in Asakusa, Tokyo, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his singing career, showing that he was still going strong, but from that point on, his performances were always accompanied by illness. Nevertheless, he continued to sing. Never abandoning his pride as a singer, he adjusted the hem of his tailcoat and devoted his life to singing, faithful to the score and sincere to his voice, until the very end.

Taro Tokai-Rin's existence was truly the crystallization of the "Showa Era. His songs encompassed the seemingly contradictory elements of classical music and nankyoku, modernity and loyalty, culture and enka-like sentiments, and yet they still resonated deeply in the hearts of the people. Even though he is now a thing of the distant past, his image remains in our memories as dignified as the famous moon on Mt.