A Portrait of Decadence and Splendor - Kenji Sawada and the 1970s

A Portrait of Decadence and Splendor - Kenji Sawada and the 1970s

In the late 1960s, during the frenzy of the Group Sounds, Kenji Sawada emerged as the vocalist of The Tigers and became a symbol of youth with his sweet voice, The oil shocks made people anxious, and TV songs provided escape and a sense of splendor. Sawada sang about the fleeting moments of urban love in "Unforgivable Love" and "Dangerous Two," and reflected the malaise in "Toki no Yasuyuki Yamashita ni" (Let Time Pass By). The definitive song was "Jiyomitsu Shiyagare" in 1977, which won the Grand Prize with its hat-tossing gesture, followed by "Casablanca Dandy" in 1979 and "Tokio" in 1980, constantly reinventing himself. While his contemporaries Takuro Yoshida and Yosui Inoue sang about their inner selves, and Hiroshi Itsuki and Shinichi Mori supported enka and mood songs, Sawada was unique in his theatricality, transforming decadence into flourish. As an actor, Sawada embodied nihilism and rebellion in "The Man Who Stole the Sun," and sublimated the anxiety of the times in
to sex appeal. In this way, Sawada showed himself as an all-around star of the 1970s Japan and continued to provide dreams and escapism to the masses.