Echoes of Melancholy and Strength: The Trajectory of Hisao Ito, 1910-1983

Echoes of Melancholy and Strength: The Trajectory of Hisao Ito, 1910-1983

Hisao Ito (1910-1983) was born in a farming village in Fukushima Prefecture. His massive baritone sound was both powerful and melancholy, and he was one of the "three great singers" along with Ichiro Fujiyama and Noboru Kirishima, representing the golden age of Showa-era songs. During the war, he sang military songs such as "Dawn Prayer" in line with national policy to inspire the morale of soldiers and the people, but after the war's defeat, his career as a military singer faced headwinds. Nevertheless, he revived his career with film music and popular songs. The exotic and wild melody of "The Night of Iyomante" fascinated the Japanese people during the reconstruction period, and "Elegy for the Town of Hot Spring" reached into the emotions of the common people and scooped out their sorrow and joy.

Ichiro Fujiyama, a contemporary of Ito's, was the aristocrat of popular songs with his clean and dignified voice, while Noboru Kirishima's soft and sweet voice was loved by the masses. While Fujiyama's voice was elegant and Kirishima's soft, Ito's was a rare combination of strength and pathos. From the era of militarism to the postwar reconstruction period, Hisao Ito embodied the ever-changing Showa era in his songs, sometimes cheering up soldiers and sometimes soothing the sorrows of the common people, and he remained deeply etched in the landscape of the Japanese psyche.