岡晴夫

Stage name : 岡 晴夫 (Haruo Oka) Japanese male singer from Chiba prefecture. (January 12, 1916 - May 19, 1970) In 1934, he met 上原げんと (Gento Uehara) and 奥田清子 (Kiyoko Okuda who later became his wife). They learned their craft as Nagashi in bars around Asakusa and Ueno. Nagashi are musicians who travel old tea parlors and drinking bars to perform customers' requests usually accompanied by guitar or accordion. They are an essential part of traditional popular music in Japan and Taiwan and they are typically associated with working class culture. In 1938, he signed an exclusive contract with King records. He made his debut "国境の春" in February 1939. He quickly released hits such as "上海の花売娘" or "港シャンソン" and became a big star. In 1940, he settled in Ichikawa City and he married 奥田清子 (Kiyoko Okuda). At the end of the Pacific War, he was dispatched to Ambon Island (current Indonesian territory) but soon returned due to sickness. After the war, his ducktail hairstyle and bright vibrato singing voice matched the new era of peace. "東京の花売娘" "啼くな小鳩よ" "憧れのハワイ航路" were aming his other successive hits. As a star singer of the Showa 20s (1950's), he was part of the "戦後三羽烏" (the post-war trio) with 近江俊郎 (Toshiro Omi) and 田端義夫 (Yoshio Tabata).