Part of what makes Yagami Toll!!
YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT LISTENING TO THIS!!
Translation: Lola
Koshiji Fubuki
-[Big Present] released in 1966.
-[Koshiji Fubuki Best 30] released in August 2001.
-[CD&DVD THE BEST Koshiji Fubuki] released in June 2005.
When did you hear her?
I've been listening to her since kindergarten. Or maybe a little earlier. She was already part of my childhood before I really became aware of her. My father and mother loved her. I wasn't the one who bought this LP I'm showing now, [Big Present]. Either my father or my mother bought it. But see, these two cost 2000 yen. The prices are different *smiles*. But the others I have are just best hits ones. When I was a kid, the first song I heard her sing in Japanese was, 'Sans toi m'amie'.
What sort of person was she?
I think she knew great success in Takarazuka. That's where she met Iwatani Tokiko, a writer who later became her manager and translator. Iwatani-san even put out a book about her discussing her in amazing detail. The book talked about the absolutely incredible chanson singer Edith Piaf. In those days, people didn't really go overseas, in the 1950s. But when the general public was able to travel overseas, Koshiji-san put out a lot of movies in order to save her money to travel. Then with her savings, she went to France and saw Edith Piaf and ended up suffering an emotional setback, like she ended up crying in frustration after seeing her. But then she used that as motivation and decided that she came back to Japan, she would be a chanson singer. Because of that Koshiji Fubuki ended up introducing chanson to Japan and being its leading performer. She sang chanson with very simple Japanese lyrics. She died when I was in senior high. You should try to see the DVD of her doing a recital in the Nissay Theater from the 70s. I think she might have been the first woman entertainer in Japan to perform and sing like that. She had this incredible presence you know. It's like she came out and just lit up the stage, she truly was a star.