KOBAYASHI Sachiko - Snow Flower Blooming Song Heart 1970s-1990s

KOBAYASHI Sachiko - Snow Flower Blooming Song Heart 1970s-1990s

Sachiko Kobayashi (born in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture in 1953) burst onto the enka scene in the late 1970s, just as postwar economic growth was slowing down, with her debut song "Usozuki Seagull" at the age of 9. The song, which quietly spoke of life's sorrows and joys, was a big hit, selling more than 2 million copies, and brought "healing" and "nostalgia" to a society that was still reeling from the aftermath of growing up. The following song, "Yukitsubaki" (1987), depicts the strength and tenderness of a woman against the backdrop of a snow country, and has become one of Kobayashi's most popular songs. Her lyrical voice was widely sympathized with as people re-evaluated the sentiments of the countryside amidst the urbanization of Japan. While Aki Yashiro sang the nighttime blues, Kobayashi symbolized the "lyricism of the snow country," and was called the "Queen of Kohaku" in the Kohaku Uta Gassen in the late 1980s, when she established a stage performance with her go
rgeous costumes. Since the Heisei era, she has returned to the limelight through her fusion with celebrities and Internet culture, and although she has been called a "rasuboss," she has always maintained a singing voice that is close to the hearts of the common people. She is a bridge between the sentiments of the Showa era and the sensibilities of the Heisei era, and she remains a shining light in the history of enka in Japan.