The Original Female Singers - Misao Matsubara and "Miss Columbia" 1930s-1980s

The Original Female Singers - Misao Matsubara and "Miss Columbia" 1930s-1980s

Misao Matsubara, born in 1914, was one of the pioneering female singers in Japan before and after World War II. Known as "Miss Columbia," she was popular for her well-groomed appearance and clear voice. Her masterpiece "Three Hundred Sixty-Five Nights," a song about a woman waiting for her lover, was sung in a straightforward manner that resonated deeply with the common people. In the early Showa period, when radio and records were becoming popular, her songs were a symbol of the new popular culture and made widely known the significance of female singers on the stage. She also made a name for herself with songs such as "Samurai Nippon" and "Junjo Duet," paving the way for women to gain popularity on par with male singers. During the war, she sang songs in line with national policy and participated in consolatory activities to meet the needs of the nation, which was the fate of entertainers of the time. After the war, she was again supported for a long time as a signature sin
ger for record companies, and her plaintive voice was familiar to people of all generations. Compared to her contemporary Noriko Awatani, who established an innovative position as the queen of the blues, and Hamako Watanabe, who gained popularity during the war by bringing exoticism to the forefront, Matsubara's strength was her authentic and pure singing, and she was long accepted as "a singer you can listen to with peace of mind. Although she died in 1987, her life embodied the starting point of the history of female singers and represented an ideal image in the history of Japanese popular music.