Memories of Waves, Songs of Kizuna -- Ichiro Toba's Enka Soul (1980s-2020s)

Memories of Waves, Songs of Kizuna -- Ichiro Toba's Enka Soul (1980s-2020s)

Ichiro Toba, real name Kahei Kimura, was born in 1952 in Toba, Mie Prefecture. He was raised by a fisherman father and a woman diver mother, and his life was spent in close contact with the sea. 17 years old, he boarded a pelagic fishing boat and engaged in tuna and bonito fishing. This experience would later give his songs a vivid reality and persuasiveness. No other enka singer has sung about the sorrow and pride of men living on the sea as authentically as he did.

At the age of 27, he moved to Tokyo and apprenticed himself to Toru Funamura. After a period as an uchideshi (apprentice), he made his debut in 1982 with "Brothers' Boat. This single song became the starting point for everything he does. The song, which depicts the way of life of brothers challenging the ocean, quickly spread to fishing villages and port towns across the country and shook the souls of enka fans. The song's profound melody, combined with his somewhat melancholy voice, had a lyricism that seemed to seep through the song's strength, as if it were wading through a stormy sea. Brothers' Boat" is a symbol of his music and an epic poem of the sea that transcends the framework of the enka genre.

He continued to release classic songs set on the sea, such as "Otoko no Kou" (Man's Port), "Kita no Seagull Song" and "Minato Eki"; "Hokkai no Hana" (Flower of the North Sea) in 2022, "A Sorrowful Song" in 2023, "Toba no Ama" in 2024, and his latest song "Tomoyo yo" (Friendship) in 2025. Each of these works skillfully expresses the sorrows and joys of the sea and life, expanding the depth of the enka genre. Ichiro Toba is truly a representative of the "sea singers" who have continued to engrave scenes of the sea in the hearts of the Japanese people from the Showa period to 2025.

His contemporaries in the enka world included Itsuki Hiroshi, Hosokawa Takashi, and Maekawa Kiyoshi. While Itsuki sang lustrous songs of urban love, Hosokawa overwhelmed the audience with his stagey high notes, and Maekawa attracted female fans with his sweet and melancholy voice, Toba continued to sing about the sorrow and toil of men with the smell of the earth and the splash of the tide. Toba's songs, which were more about down-to-earth sorrow than glamour, and more about the light between the waves than the neon lights of the city, are unrivaled in their individuality.

His life is also deeply connected to social activities, including the "Fishing Port Charity Concerts for Orphans from Marine Disasters," which he began in 1988, a charitable activity that transcends the framework of an enka singer, and for which he has received the Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon seven times. His younger brother, Yutaka Yamakawa, and two sons, Ryuzo and Tetsuji, are also active as singers, and the spirit of Ichiro Toba is being passed on to his family.

From Showa to Heisei to 2025. Even as the times change, Ichiro Toba's songs remain the same. There are always the undulating waves and the voices of people living in the sea breeze. It is a song of the sea that embraces the memory of a fading fishing village. Ichiro Toba will no doubt continue to be passed down through the generations as a "chronicler of the sea" in the world of enka.