Yoko Kishi - The Voice of the Chanson that Lit the Prayer at Dawn, 1960s-1970s

Yoko Kishi - The Voice of the Chanson that Lit the Prayer at Dawn, 1960s-1970s

Yoko Kishi (born in 1935 in Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture) studied voice at the graduate school of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and aspired to become an opera singer as a research student of the Sankikai, but gave up due to a heart attack. In the midst of her disappointment, she heard Edith Piaf and was so struck by her singing that she began singing at the Ginpari Ginza Opera House. Her deep alto voice backed by authentic vocal technique and her elegant stage presence in black dress became the foundation of her reputation as a "chanson singer who makes you listen.

In the 1960s, Japan experienced rapid economic growth and the spread of television accelerated, and songs for adults found a place in the urban nightlife. The song "Songs of Dawn" (lyrics by Tokiko Iwatani, music by Taku Izumi, 1964) was originally a TV musical, and was reworked with "Dawn" as its theme. The song competed with Kyu Sakamoto and Dirk Dax, but in the end, Kishi's version took the lead. It won the Best Song Award at the 6th Japan Record Awards and became widely established as one of her best-known songs. The lyrics, which are tinged with metaphors of hope and rebirth, were in tune with the atmosphere of the mid-1960s, a time of growth and anxiety, and sublimated her personal prayer for the morning into a national sentiment.

Kishi's expression is characterized by the fact that she was described as a "singer to be listened to," while her contemporary Fubuki Koshiji was called a "singer to be charmed. Her breathing and phrasing are based on classical music, and even with a weak voice, she maintains a resonant core and carries the meaning of the words with great care. The accumulation of these qualities has created a quiet theater that submerges the audience inside without relying on spectacular lighting or staging.

After the success of "Songs of Dawn," Kishi was positioned as the voice of "hope. The song "Hope" (lyrics by Toshio Fujita, music by Taku Izumi), released in the early 1970s, presented a quiet strength that emerged from within the individual amid the turbulent times of the post-Expo upsurge and the aftermath of the student movement on the eve of the oil crisis. The composer IZUMI Taku testified that Kishi's songs could reincarnate any lyrics with emotion, and his highly resolved expression of emotion was outstanding even in his own time.

In general, Yoko Kishi was a rare singer who translated her personal prayers into public songs with the keywords "dawn" and "hope" in Japan's transition from postwar reconstruction to maturity. While Fubuki Koshiji led the era with her glamour, Kishi spread quiet sympathy with the persuasive power of her voice, and rooted chansons in the Japanese sensibility. Even in this age of visual production, Kishi's words and melody alone light up the hearts of her audiences, and this is the core of Yoko Kishi's music and the reason why it is still listened to today.