Kiyoshi Hikawa - History

History

As a high school student, Hikawa was a member of the school's performing arts club (芸能部, geinō-bu?) and trained to be a singer. It is unusual for a young person in his 20s to take up the style of enka professionally. Hikawa decided to become an enka singer when he found that his singing of traditional songs had an effect on the residents of the nursing homes he visited. After graduation from high school in 1995, Hikawa travelled to Tokyo, where he became an apprentice under the supervision of Hideo Mizumori. He served under Mizumori for three years.

In 2000, Hikawa made his professional debut with his single "Hakone Hachiri no Hanjirō."

Hikawa released the single "Hatsukoi Ressha" on February 9, 2005. It became his first number-one single on the Japanese Oricon weekly single charts. In 2006, he won the grand prix award by his song "Ikken" at the 48th Japan Record Awards. On February 4, 2009, he released single "Rōkyōku Ichidai", which became his second number-one single on the Oricon weekly charts. On May 20, 2009, he released album Enka Meikyoku Collection 10: Rōkyōku Ichidai, which debuted at No. 2 on the Oricon weekly album charts only behind Eminem's album Relapse. He released his second single of the year, "Tokimeki no Rumba", on August 19, 2009. The single debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly charts with the first week sales of about 68,000 copies, making him the first solo enka singer to make three number-one singles in Oricon history. He released album Enka Meikyoku Collection 11: Tokimeki no Rumba on November 11, 2009.