Hamako Watanabe Uta Den (Uta Den) Showa Uta Kyou Shou

Hamako Watanabe Uta Den (Uta Den) Showa Uta Kyou Shou

Hamako Watanabe (1910-1999; real name: Hamako Kato) was an exotic songstress who colored the Japanese song world from the early Showa to the postwar period. She was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and after graduating from Musashino Music School, she worked as a music teacher before making her record debut in 1933 with "Mogamigawa Kouta. Later, in 1937, she moved to Nippon Columbia and began her singing career in earnest.

Starting with "Aikoku no Hana" in 1938, she released a series of songs with Chinese motifs, such as "Shina no Yoru," "Cantonese Blues," and "Suzhou Yagyoku," and became known as the "Queen of Chinese Melodies. Her appearance on stage in a glamorous Chinese dress with exotic melodies and Japanese lyrics left an indelible impression on many people. The song "Shina no Yoru" became a national hit in conjunction with a movie.

In her time, there were male singers like Ichiro Fujiyama, who became popular for his elegant singing based on Western music, and female singers like Noriko Awatani, who was called the "Queen of Blues" for her use of jazz and chanson. Watanabe differed from these singers, establishing her own unique position with her oriental worldview and melancholy lyricism. In wartime Japan, Watanabe's songs were a kind of hope, a cultural device that both yearned for foreign lands and comforted soldiers in war zones.

After the war ended in 1945 in Tianjin, China, she spent about 10 months in internment there and continued to sing for Japanese prisoners of war. After returning to Japan, she resumed her musical activities and had hit songs such as "Kuwako no Chinamachi" and "Ah, Montenrupa no Yoru wo Yoruite". Her voice touched the hearts of the people, especially as a symbol of the postwar confusion and fresh start.

In 1951, she appeared in the first NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Singing Contest) and was honored to be the last performer in the red group. Since then, she has appeared nine times, and her presence in the postwar music world has been solidified. She also devoted herself to social contributions, including relief activities for prisoners of war in the Philippines, and was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1973 and the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class, in 1981. These are indicative of her attitude as a cultural figure, not just a singer.

Among singers of her generation, Hamako Watanabe's voice had a unique clarity and depth. Unlike Ichiro Fujiyama's neatness and Noriko Awatani's passion, Watanabe's voice was imbued with travel and exoticism, inviting people to dream of faraway foreign lands. His voice continues to be played on TV as a nostalgic melody, and is remembered along with the scenes of the Showa era.

Even after her retirement from singing in 1989, her presence was talked about for a long time. Then, in 1999, on a quiet night on New Year's Eve, Hamako Watanabe passed away at the age of 89. However, her voice still lives on in the hearts of many people, along with the music of "Shina no Yoru" and "Suzhou Night Song. Hamako Watanabe's songs are poems of the Showa era, which passed through the shadow of war and interweaved dreams and melancholy.