Hideki Saijo

Hideki Saijō 西城 秀樹
Background information
Birth name	Tatsuo Kimoto (木本 龍雄, Kimoto Tatsuo)
Born	(1955-04-13)April 13, 1955 Hiroshima, Japan
Died	May 16, 2018(2018-05-16) (aged 63) Yokohama, Japan
Genres	City pop contemporary R&B funk new jack swing J-pop Rock: Glam: Metal: Lounge
Occupation(s)	Vocalist, musician, composer, actor
Years active	1972-2018

Hideki Saijō (西城 秀樹, Saijō Hideki, originally Tatsuo Kimoto (木本 龍雄, Kimoto Tatsuo); April 13, 1955 – May 16, 2018) was a Japanese pioneering rock, city pop, Kayoukyoku, J-Pop, R&B, Funk, Lounge vocalist, composer, and musician, as well as an actor.

He debuted at Japanese major pop music scene in March 1972 aged 16 years old, with a song called "Loving Season" (恋する季節) from BGM Victor Japan RCA Records, which ranked in Japanese national pop music chart as the 48th at the highest.

With his fourth single, "Let's Bet on Youth" (青春に賭けよう) and fifth single, "Storm of Passion" (情熱の嵐), both released in 1972–1973, he became one of the most popular singers in Japanese pop music and a Best Ten Chart ranking artist.

In 1973, his 6th single, "Broken Love" (ちぎれた愛) became a rapid and massive mega hit, ranking in number 1 of Japanese national chart, selling half a million records within a few weeks – a record highest sales number. He quickly became one of the most popular singers in Japan from a very early stage of his career, and then a superstar vocalist as well as a popular aidoru (idol).

After his initial success, he continued to rank in the national Top Ten Charts, with singles such as "Chain of Roses" (薔薇の鎖), and "Intense Love" (激しい恋), "Lola, Covered with Scars" (傷だらけのローラ) in 1974.

Saijō was also known for singing the Japanese version of the Village People's hit song "Y.M.C.A.,"^[1] called "Young Man." In the 1970s, he was called shin gosanke (新御三家, "New Big Three") with Goro Noguchi and Hiromi Go. Although the original version was camp, Saijō's version was intended to seriously inspire "young men."

Early Life

Hideki Saijō was born as Tatsuo Kimoto on 13 April 1955 in Atago-machi, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima City (now Higashi-ku), Hiroshima Prefecture, as the youngest of three siblings to parents Saburō and Toshiko Kimoto. In April 1959, he enrolled in Rissho Kindergarten. As a child, he often sang "Black Petals," a popular song at the time, much to the distaste of his teacher who advised that he sing more childish songs. In April 1962, he entered Onaga Elementary School in Hiroshima City. Influenced by his father, who had played jazz guitar as a hobby, he became familiar with Western music from an early age and began attending Hiroshima Central Jazz School. He initially studied electric guitar, followed by bass guitar, but eventually settled on drums.

In 1965, while in fourth class, he formed a rock and roll band called "Beggars" with his older brother. Through Beggars, he began performing as a drummer while still in primary school. In April 1968, he entered Futaba Junior High School in Hiroshima City. He performed on stage at the school's annual festival when his brother was in third year and he was in first year. He was greatly influenced by western musicians such as The Ventures, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Chicago. This deep knowledge and appreciation of Western music later became a distinctive feature that set him apart from other idol singers.

In 1969, while in second year of secondary school, Beggars underwent a member change and the band was re-named "Gypsy". In April 1971, he entered the commerce department of Sanyō Secondary School. It was then that Kimoto became the lead vocalist of Gypsy. Until then, he had aimed to succeed in the world of rock as a drummer, but after hearing Kiyohiko Ozaki's song "Until We Meet Again", his perception of pop music shifted and he decided to become a singer. With Gypsy, he participated in the first and second Yamaha Light Music Contests and won in the China category of the competition. Around this time, he regularly performed at an R&B cafe called "Punch", and while singing there, he was scouted by a manager who had travelled down from Tokyo.

On 3 October 1971, despite facing opposition from his strict and stubborn father against entering the entertainment industry, he ran away from home via an overnight train from Hiroshima and arrived at Tokyo Station the following morning. From there, he joined the talent agency "Geiei" and transferred to a night secondary school in Tokyo. He began living with his manager in a small triangular room only 5.4m x 2.7m in size and practiced intensely each day. In December, he was recognised by RCA director Robbie Wada, at last making his professional debut definite.

Career

Please Note: This section is still in progress.

1972

Kimoto, hereinafter referred to by his stage name Hideki Saijō, made his professional debut on 25 March 1972 with the single "Loving Season", released by Victor Japan's RCA label (currently JVCKenwood Victor Entertainment Corporation). While it was not a major hit, peaking at only number 42 on the Oricon chart, national interest in Saijō's career gradually increased from this work onwards. The release of his second single, "Promise of Love", on 25 July fared better, reaching number 18 and selling an estimated 140,000 copies.

On 8 August, Saijō held his first concert "The Wild 17 Year-Old" at Tokyo Postal Savings Hall. His debut album of the same name was released on 5 November. On 26 November, he was selected as one of the five nominees for the Best New Artist Award at the 14th Japan Record Awards. He received 19 votes, but with that being just one vote short of the 20 votes necessary to win, he narrowly missed out on the award. On 4 December, he appeared on popular music programme "Night Hit Studio" for the first time, singing his third single "Chance Comes Only Once". The intense and dramatic television performances typically associated with Saijō originated from this broadcast.

1973

Saijō started 1973 with the release of his fourth single "Let's Bet On Youth" on 25 February, reaching number 16 on the Oricon chart. His second album, bearing the same name, was released on 25 March. The following day, Saijō held a concert titled "Hideki on Stage" at Osaka Mainichi Hall to commemorate the first anniversary of his debut. The release of his fifth single, "Storm of Passion", on 25 May sent his career to new heights as it propelled him to the top ten of the Oricon chart for the first time, peaking at number six and selling an estimated 246,000 copies. His early career's most significant milestone wouldn't be until 24 September, however, when his sixth single, "Broken Love", topped the Oricon chart, with Saijō becoming the first male idol who debuted in the 1970s to achieve this feat. Broken Love stayed at number 1 for four consecutive weeks and sold an estimated 475,000 copies. It was also the first instance of a Hideki Saijō single incorparating dialogue into a song, a trait that went on to appear in several of his future hits.

Saijō's advertisements for "House Vermont Curry" began airing in November, leading his catchphrase in the advertisements, "Hideki, kangeki!" (meaning, "Hideki, impressive!"), to become a familiar phrase to the general public. Although it was presumed that he would perform at NHK's annual music special Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time that year, he had not been selected to appear. Nonetheless, Saijō ended the year on a high note, winning the Vocal Award at the 15th Japan Record Awards for Broken Love on 31 December.

1974

From 16 January, he appeared as a main cast member on popular television series, "The Kantarō Terauchi Family" (寺内貫太郎一家). His eighth single, "Chain of Roses", was released on 25 February and featured microphone stand-themed choreography.

On 25 May, his ninth single, "Intense Love", was released to great success, selling 584,000 copies, the highest sales of his career so far and the second-highest of his career overall. Although it only peaked at #2 on the Oricon chart, it maintained that ranking for four consective weeks and is still considered one of Saij's signature songs today.

"The Legend of Love & Sincerity", starring Saijō as teenage delinquent Makoto Taiga, was released in cinemas on 8 June. As it was met with great popularity, plans were made for it to be the start of a lengthy film franchise featuring Saijō as Makoto, in a similar vein to the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series. In the end, this did not come to fruition due to Saijō's busy schedule, with the rest of the trilogy featuring different actors as Makoto instead.

On 3 August, Saijō held his first solo stadium concert at Osaka Stadium. This was notable for the fact that he was the first Japanese soloist to achieve this feat and the second Japanese act to do so overall, following The Tigers' landmark Korakuen Stadium concert in 1968. From 1974, Saijō continued to perform live at Osaka Stadium for ten consecutive years.

On 6 October, Saijō made a triumphant return to his home province with his "Back Home Again Hiroshima" concert at Hiroshima Postal Savings Hall. On 9 October, The first series of The Kantarō Terauchi Family came to an end after 39 episodes. Saijō released his eleventh single, "Tears and Friendship", on 25 November to less commercial success than his other 1974 singles, but nonetheless maintained the streak of top 10 entries started by "Storm of Passion".

On 31 December, Saijō won the Vocal Award once again at the 16th Japan Record Awards for "Lola, Covered with Scars", being the first non-enka singer to achieve this. Saijō finally made his debut appearance at NHK's 25th Kohaku Uta Gassen that night with the very same song, facing Momoe Yamaguchi as his opponent.

Illness and Death

In June 2003, while promoting his new released song in South Korea, Saijō suffered a stroke which resulted in his speech being partially impaired. After several years of rehabilitation, Saijō was on his way toward full recovery until his cerebral infarction relapsed in 2011, resulting in his right side being paralysed. In spite of his failing health, Saijō courageously continued to perform to please his fans.^[2]

Saijō died from acute heart failure in a hospital in Yokohama city on May 16, 2018.^[3]

Family

Saijō married Miki Makihara in 2001, and they had one daughter and two sons.

Discography

Please Note: This section is still in progress.

Singles

Original Albums

Note: Some albums were released with English titles, but others were titled with English in katakana or Japanese. These have been translated into English with a romanised version of the original title in italics below. All original release dates are in bold to distinguish them from re-issues.

Cover Albums

Compilation Albums

Live Albums

Box Sets

Other Album Appearances

Other Song Appearances

Live Videos

Promotional Songs

Promotional Songs (Not For Sale)

Tribute Albums

Media Appearances and Performances

Please Note: This section is still in progress.

Film

Film (Animated)

• Sworn in the Black Rain (Theatrical release (National Distribution Committee), 1984) - Main character Junji Takimura
• The King Who Became a Llama (Buena Vista Pictures, 2001) - Theme Song Guy

Television

Television (Animated)

• Botchan (Nissei Family Special, Fuji Television, 1980) - Main character Botchan role
• Sanshiro Sugata (Nissei Family Special, Fuji Television, 1981) - Main character Sanshiro Sugata
• Baby Grandma ( NHK Educational TV " Genius TV-kun Wide " 2002) - as HIDEKI Episode 33: "A big fuss over class observation!", Episode 36: "Passed the first audition!?", Episode 46: "It's the second audition!" !”

Television (Variety)

• Jump out! Mari-chan (TBS, January 24, 1974, 17th "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp")
• Habatake! Mari-chan (TBS, October 3-17, 1974, 1st "Anne of Green Gables (Part 1)", 2nd "Anne of Green Gables (2nd part)", 3rd "Anne of Green Gables (2nd part)" Part 2)
• Rock in Hideki (Fuji Television, 1978)
• UFO Seven Great Adventure (TBS, June 1, 1978), 9th "Rumiko Hideki's Arctic Exploration"
• Yanmar Family Hour Fly! Son Goku (TBS series, June 27, 1978 "Crisis in the Partheno Kingdom ~ Sanzo's family full of scars ~", July 4 of the same year "Crisis in the Partheno Kingdom ~ Partheno Prince Dies in Love! ~"
• Magical 7 Great Adventures (TBS, 1978-1979), 10th episode ``Ultraman vs. Gasura?'', 20th episode ``Hakone's love is the greatest danger in the world''
• Miracle TV launch (TBS, 1979-1980), 1st episode "(Title unknown)", 10th episode "Sumo broadcast Dohyo ga Mapbutatsu"
• Star Dash No.1! (TBS, 1980), 9th episode "Hitomi is scouted as a model", 20th episode "Is the baby you picked up a present?"
• House Children's Theater (TV Asahi, September 2, 1980 - March 24, 1981, during this period the title was changed to ``House Children's Story Theater'').
• Morning Salad ( Nippon Television , May 1981 - March 30, 1985)
• The Star Hideki Saijō ~Four Seasons of Life~ (Fuji Television, June 1983 (all 4 episodes))
• Hideki Saijō Diving the Great Barrier Reef (TV Tokyo, March 14, 1987)
• Hideki Saijō Undersea Exploration of the Secret Island of the Maldives (TV Tokyo, January 1, 1989))
• Hideki Saijō 4973km Philippine Adventure (TV Tokyo, April 23, 1990)
• TV Cruise Papaya Next Door (Fuji Television, 1994)
• Youth Pops (NHK, 1998-2002)
• Same song ( China Central Television , 2000)
• Akiro Hidaka's storytelling and Edo human affairs story "Konya Takao" ( Sapporo Television , December 28, 2004)
• Marumaru Chibi Maruko-chan Episode 19 (Fuji TV, September 27, 2007, appeared in the drama part of a 2-hour special of a children's variety show, role name: Fish Dragon)
• Hobby Gardening Vegetable Time ( NHK Educational Television , 2009)
  • Sings the theme song "Vegetable Wonderful" (lyrics: Satomi Arimori/composer: Masanori Takumi ). The song has been released as a digital single on the iTunes Store .
• Food journey around the kitchen (NHK BS Premium, 2013-2014)
• Hideki's excitement! NEXT House (BS Japan, April - September 2014) - MC

Television (Music Show Appearances)

NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen Appearances

Theatre

• Hanakosode Seiji (1989, Osaka Shin Kabukiza) *Starring role
• Tailor Ginji (1990, Osaka Shin Kabukiza) *Starring role
• Genroku/Abarenbo (1991, Osaka Shin Kabukiza) *Starring
• Kantaro Terauchi family (1999, Shinbashi Enbujo)

Musical Theatre

• The North Wall of My Youth ( Shiki Theater Company , 1977, Nissay Theater) *Starring
  • Sakae Takita , Ayakiko Kuno , Retsuko Sugamoto, Kazuyo Mita
• Duet (Toho, 1984/1986, Nissay Theater) *Starring
  • Ran Otori , Takashi Ishimaru, Keiko Ono , Naoya Uchida, Takeo Seki, Takashi Nagi, Hitoshi Honma, Shigeo Matsuzawa, Reo Okawa, Mika Chiba, Eriko Suga, Mumiko Fujiwara
• Ryoma Sakamoto (1989, 1991, Shin-Kobe Oriental Theater , Nippon Seinenkan ) *Starring role
  • Izumi Yukimura , Kenji Haga , Junichi Inoue
• Love (comedy, 1993/1996, Tokyo , Osaka , Nagoya , Sapporo ) *Starring
  • Masachika Ichimura , Ran Otori
• Rock To The Future (Panasonic D・LIVE, 1996/1997, Akasaka BLITS) *Starring
  • Satoshi Hashimoto , Mika , Miyoko Yoshimoto , Yuki Kuroda , Onapets, DIAMOND YUKAI, Kyoko, Kanako Nakayama, SHIMA-CHANG, MITSUKO, Miki Nakayama, Sasumi Shiraishi
• New Enka no Hanamichi (2002, Shinjuku Koma Theater / Umeda Koma Theater )
  • Dan Nishikino , Naomi Kawashima , Tomomitsu Yamaguchi , Keishi Hirahata , Shiro Suzuki , Noriko Fujita , Sayaka Tsuruta , music producer Tsunku♂
• Legendary Stage FOREVER'70s-Seishun- (2003, Chunichi Theater, Shinjuku Koma Theater, Umeda Koma Theater)
  • Dan Nishikino, Masahiro Kuwana , Hanako Miyagawa , Kayo Asano , Yuta Yamazaki , Michi Taira , Jun Asaka
• Marguerite (March 17-28, 2011, Akasaka ACT Theater , April 6-10, Umeda Arts Theater Main Hall)
  • Norika Fujiwara, Mari Tashiro , Tsuyoshi Matsubara , Megumi Iino , Yuta Yamazaki, Tadashi Yokouchi

Radio

• Music Saturday ~ Youth Return Match ~ ( TBS Radio , 1986)
• Every day is new, this is Hideki Saijō (TBS Radio, 1991)
• Hideki and Kozue's fun date ( Nippon Cultural Broadcasting , October 1975 - March 1980) Kozue Saito
• Hideki and Kenbo's Oni-san (Click here for Cultural Broadcasting, April 1980 - March 1981)
• Hideki and Hiromi's Sunday Waiwai Hiroba (Natural Broadcasting Corporation, April 1981 - March 1982) Hiromi Ota
• Hideki Saijō's Raspberry Club (Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, 1984-1986)
• This is in front of Jogakuin Ijuin Yosaku's Maroha Gokigen! ( Nippon Broadcasting System )

Advertising

• House Foods (from 1973 to 2002)
  • "Vermont Curry" Naoko Kawai
  • "Potato Chips" Kozue Saito , Junji Takada
  • "Granola Bar"
  • "Java curry"
  • " Delicious water of Rokko "
  • "Umaissho" (no appearances, only songs)
  • “Kakuya Curry Ramen/Curry Udon” Masahiro Kuwana
  • "Natural effects" (supplement food)
• Zojirushi Mahobin More Pot (1977)
• Hokuren Agricultural Cooperative Federation Milk (1986)
• Mondo Shoji (1988)
• National IH jar rice cooker (1993)
• sugar food
  • "Satou no Kagami-mochi"
• Yamahisa
  • " Petio "
• ECC Foreign Language School (1995)
• citizen watch
• HONDA
  • "LEAD SS"
• Seiyu
• biotech
• TV Shin Hiroshima ( FNS affiliated TV station)
  • “Jonetsu Denpa TSS”
• Tokyo Telecommunications Network (TTNet)
  • "Tokyo Telephone"
  • "Tokyo Denwa Internet"
  • " Tokyo Denwa Astel "
• Yahoo! Mobage

Other

• " Kansai Yamamoto /Harumi Passion Nights" ( Fashion Show ) (July 6, 1982)

　Held at the Tokyo International Trade Fair Center (Harumi International Trade Center). appeared as a fashion model alongside film directors Nagisa Oshima and Ryudo Uzaki .

• national anthem solo
  • May 27, 2001, 68th Tokyo Yushun ( Japan Derby ) , Tokyo Racecourse
  • August 18, 2004, " Kirin Challenge Cup " match against Argentina , Ecopa Stadium
• short film
  • In 2004, Satoshi Takagi's work, "DANCE MASTER~Dance! "Moulin Rouge Laughter Town~" Friendship appearance, role of Western Joe

Publications

Please Note: This section is complete but not translated yet.

Books

• 誰も知らなかった西城秀樹。（ペップ出版(ワニブックス
• 君におくろう僕の愛を（ペップ出版、1976年）
• ふたりぼっちの日曜日・ヒデキとこず恵の楽しいデート（徳間書店、1976年） - 斎藤こず恵共
• いま、光の中で ー悩むな、つきすすめ、青春。. 明星デュエット・ブックスー03. 集英社. (1979)
• 熱き想いいつまでも. 日本文芸社. (1992). ISBN 4537022930
• バリスタイルの家 西城秀樹の快適アジアン生活のすすめ（イースト・プレス、2002年）
• あきらめない 脳梗塞からの挑戦（リベロ、2004年）
• ありのままに「三度目の人生」を生きる（廣済堂出版
• THE 45・西城秀樹デビュー45周年フォトエッセイ（清流出版、2016年) (2020年6月30日、電子書籍
• 西城秀樹 一生青春（青志社、2020年）
• 欲張らず七・五分でいこう（清流出版、2020年、電子書籍のみ)
• 誰も知らなかった西城秀樹。（青志社、2021年4月19日復刊）

Other Relevant Books

• 蒼い空へ － 夫・西城秀樹との18年 － 木本美紀・著（小学館、2018年11月 ISBN 978-409-3886437）

Serialisations

• のどもと過ぎれば・・・(産経新聞
• 秀樹とヒデキ(週刊朝日
• 欲張らず七・五分でいこう(清流出版
• ヒデキ!カンレキ!!(中日新聞2015年10月7日〜2016年9月21日、隔週水曜日、全25回)

Photobooks

• 西城秀樹 Young idol now『写真集』（勁文社、1974年）
• 西城秀樹写真集（さうんどぱわあ、1974年）
• 季刊ポッポ 75'WINTER 全特集・西城秀樹（新興楽譜出版、1975年）
• The Young Lion 西城秀樹『写真集』（レオ企画、1976年）
• HIDEKI（Wani Books、1980年）
• Hideki Saijo（株式会社シンコーミュージック、1981年）
• MY SELF PORTRAIT（近代映画社、1984年）
• 武藤義 撮影『Body : 西城秀樹写真集』ワニブックス、1986年10月10日。NDLJP:12721837。(要登録)
• H45・西城秀樹「独身最後の衝撃」（主婦と生活社、2001年）
• H45 2018 EDITION (青志社、2018年)
• HIDEKI FOREVER blue （集英社インターナショナル、2019年）
• HIDEKI FOREVER pop (集英社インターナショナル、2020年)上記写真集『HIDEKI FOREVER blue』のスピンオフ企画である。

Awards

• 1973, 15th Japan Record Awards, Vocal Award
• 1974, 16th Japan Record Awards, Vocal Award
• 1976, 18th Japan Record Awards, Vocal Award
• 1978, 20th Japan Record Awards, Gold Award
• 1979, 21st Japan Record Awards, Gold Award
• 1980, 22nd Japan Record Awards, Gold Award
• 1981, 23rd Japan Record Awards, Gold Award
• 1982, 24th Japan Record Awards, Gold Award
• 1983, 25th Japan Record Awards, Gold Award
• 2018, 60th Japan Record Awards, Special Achievement Award

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Hideko Saijō at Oricon (in Japanese)

This page was last edited on 15 June 2024, at 18:25