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 failed due to cardiac neurosis. Impressed by the songs of Edith Piaf, which he heard in his disappointment, he started his career as a chanson singer at "Ginpari" in Ginza, Tokyo. In the 1960s, Japan's high economic growth and the spread of television led to the maturation of urban culture, and music that expressed the emotions of adults was in demand. In 1964, "Yaake no Uta" (lyrics by Tokiko Iwatani, music by Taku Izumi) won the Japan Record Award for Best Song in a competition with Kyu Sakamoto and others. This song, which symbolizes hope and rebirth, sustained the hearts of people living in the postwar period between anxiety and hope. Since then, songs such as "Hope" and "Wasurenakusa wo Anata ni" have been widely popular, and each song is imbu
ed with a clear, prayer-like emotion. If Fubuki Koshiji was an "attractive singer," Yoko Kishi is an "audible singer. Her voice, without decoration and with a serene power, lights up the listener's inner world and sublimates chansons into the realm of Japanese emotion. Her songs live on in the memories of many people today as a symbol of hope and quiet courage in the Showa era, as the country moved from postwar Japan to a more mature age.