(60) Recovery from Despair / The Akireta Boys Activity Record
(Summary up to the previous installment) In the summer of 1946 (Showa 21), while the Akireta Boys were reunited and active, Yoshio Kawada was suffering from spinal caries and renal tuberculosis, and it was said that his recovery was hopeless.
*For basic information on the Akireta Boys, see (1)!
[Kawada's Recovery]
Recovery from a life of despairing illness
Yoshio Kawada, who lived by the power of faith
Yoshio Kawada, who collapsed from his chronic spinal caries after his last appearance in Nichigeki's "Ginza 1001 Nights" last summer, was reported to have worsened temporarily and that his recovery was hopeless. However, thanks to his recuperation, he has recovered remarkably of late, and it has been decided that he will appear in a film at the newly established Oizumi Studio early next year...
Although Kawada had been suffering from spinal caries and renal tuberculosis, he miraculously recovered through his mental strength and returned to the stage.
Koji Ozaki, a reporter for the Tokyo Shimbun, met with Kawada shortly after his return when he himself was feeling down after being caught up in the unreasonable Red Purge (a movement in occupied Japan that dismissed people labeled as supporters of the Communist Party).
During those days, I met Haruhisa Kawada in Ginza, and the twenty or thirty minutes we spent talking are unforgettable. I was stunned by the effort he had made to recover to this point, having been considered hopeless due to caries. At that time, Kawada spoke of the path of his battle with illness in his usual rapid-fire manner. When he was abandoned by modern medicine, he tried every kind of herbal treatment and mental discipline. Finally, he said he went to Nagoya, shut himself in a temple, and practiced asceticism. Even then, when it didn't lead to improvement, he said he eventually created his own faith.
"Your own faith?"
"The sun. I worship the sun. I believe in the sun. That's how I was cured."
I was dumbfounded for a while, as I couldn't believe that an illness for which modern medicine had given up could be cured by such things. But looking at the vibrant face of Haruhisa Kawada right in front of me, I had no choice but to tell myself cheerfully that although the illness wasn't cured, his mental strength was sustaining his body.
He held a comeback performance at the Yokohama International Theater starting January 26, and appeared at the same theater for a while after that.
Yoshio Kawada's Revival
Yoshio Kawada, who had been recuperating from spinal caries since his appearance at Nichigeki the summer before last, will return to the stage for the first time in two years, performing jointly with Haruo Oka and the Santa Fe Show at the Yokohama International Theater for one week starting on the 26th.
Since Kawada is virtually paralyzed from the waist down, he will live in the dressing room during the performances and appear on stage in a specially made handcart for stage props.
Although he is by no means fully recovered, as Ozaki also wrote, it seems he recovered through the passionate mental strength he poured into the stage.
For Kawada, who is said to have frequented the Asakusa Rokku district instead of going to the hospital even as a boy, being in touch with the stage must be his greatest mental therapy.
[Meeting Hibari Misora]
Then came the May performance at the Yokohama International Theater.
A young girl who appeared as the opening act for Katsutaro Kouta sang Shizuko Kasagi's "Second-Hand Girl."
Kawada sensed extraordinary talent in that singing voice.
This was his meeting with Hibari Misora.
Kawada and Hibari first met in September 1948 at the Yokohama International Theater, shortly after she debuted as the opening act for Katsutaro Kouta. Kawada happened to hear her singing "Second-Hand Girl" in the same show. He went out of his way to visit the dressing room and said this to Kimie-san:
"Your daughter will definitely become a first-class singer. She has her own unique style, so if you nurture her individuality, she will surely make it. Why don't you entrust her to me for a while..."
Hibari Misora (real name: Kazue Kato) was born in Yokohama on May 29, 1937 (Showa 12).
Yes, almost at the same time the Akireta Boys were born in Asakusa.
She stepped onto the stage for the first time at age 8, and at age 9, she entered an amateur talent contest, but was rejected because she was "good but not like a child."
Her ability was not easily recognized, and she was still an unknown girl.
It was Kawada who saw her talent, promoted her, and supported her.
Comparing their singing voices, it is said that everything from their pitch control to their phrasing is almost identical.
From then on, Kawada always included Hibari in his regional tours. Of course, their ranks as entertainers were as different as a Yokozuna and a Makushita, but he had the promoter put up a sign the same size as his own and advertised her extensively as "Genius Girl Hibari Misora." It was also Kawada who had her audition for Keikichi Okada of the "Shinpu Show" through Junzaburo Ban, and who sold her to her first film, "Nodo Jiman Kyo Jidai."
... (omitted) ...
That "Kawada-bushi" style still lives on in the heart of Hibari's singing. The only person she calls "Sensei" (teacher) in her memories is Haruhisa Kawada.
"The people I can call my masters are, first of all, my father. And then Kawada-sensei. There is no one after that..."
[Formation of the Dyna Brothers]
Also, while he was recuperating, young entertainers who admired Kawada began gathering at his home.
From among them, the "Dyna Brothers" was eventually born, and thereafter they would become active together on stage and radio as "Haruhisa Kawada and the Dyna Brothers."
It seems that the newly formed Dyna Brothers appeared alongside Kawada at the Kokusai Gekijo in May, where Hibari also performed.
Later, in August at the Niigata Yoshida Gekijo, the Dyna Brothers, consisting of Sadao Nada, Takamitsu Kojima, and Mitsuo Kashima, stood on stage with Kawada.
Their stage names would later become Yasuji Nada (electric guitar), Toshiyuki Kashima (side guitar), and Hiroyuki Kojima (accordion).
[The Demobilization of Futoshi Arikiyama]
On February 8, 1948, Kawada, having recently returned, participated in the radio broadcast "Okonomi Engei: Kawatta Hanasaka Jiisan."
In this broadcast, Futoshi Arikiyama, formerly of the Milk Brothers, let his voice be heard for the first time in a long while.
He had finally been demobilized from Siberia.
According to what can be confirmed in the Tokyo Shimbun, his name appears among the cast members of the Shin Toho Independence Commemoration Show "Star Paradise," held at the Nichigeki from May 18 to 30.
Masuda and Kawada also performed.
Unlike Toyama, who returned to being a bandman, it seems Arikiyama chose the path of working as a comedian.
He participated in the first performance of the "Tokyo Musical Show Production," established in July as a show production company (Nichigeki Small Theater "Paris Festival"),
and in March of the following year, 1949, he participated in the launch of the revue troupe "Toho Atomic Show" (also at the Nichigeki Small Theater), working ambitiously in cutting-edge musical shows.
Arikiyama's nephew (his sister's son), Tatsuya Nakadai, was apparently working part-time as Arikiyama's attendant around this time, carrying his accordion.
Although he was still a student at the time, he entered the Haiyuza Theater Company training school in 1952 and made his debut as an extra in the 1954 film "Seven Samurai."
I called him "Uncle Yamata" and admired him, and I even worked as his attendant part-time. I went to the Nichigeki Music Hall in Yurakucho many times following this uncle.
There, they performed a simple show called the "Picture Frame Show," where a woman who was nude from the waist up would just sit still inside a picture frame, and Futoshi Arikiyama would play the accordion and tell jokes between shows to get laughs from the audience.
At that time, he asked me why I didn't enter the entertainment world, but the glamour didn't suit me, and my heart wasn't moved.
... (omitted) ...
In the end, my younger brother became a singer and I became an actor. Thinking about it now, I believe Uncle Yamata's existence had no small influence on both of us.
In the 1956 live-action film version of "Sazae-san," one can see a co-starring performance between Nakadai, who played Norisuke, and Arikiyama, who appears as a wandering singer.
[Clear for a Long Time and Forever]
In February 1949, Kawada changed his stage name to "Haruhisa Kawada."
It is said that he had his name fortune-told by an acquaintance of the head priest at Rinsen-ji Temple, who had taken care of him during his recuperation.
About a year after returning to the stage, with his encounter with Hibari Misora and the formation of the Dyna Brothers, he was turning over a new leaf with a name change.
The name "Haruhisa" embodies the wish to "be clear for a long time and forever."
Yoshio Kawada changes his name. Yoshio Kawada had his name fortune-told last month in Hamamatsu while on tour, and was frightened by being told, "If you don't change your name, you will have another major illness in two years and this time it will take your life." Surprised, he changed his name to "Haruhisa Kawada," and decided to use this new stage name starting with his appearance at the Nichigeki on the 17th. Kawada himself says, "Haruhisa is an unpleasant name, but I've had enough of illness," but as expected of Kawada of the "Kawatta" (changed) Naniwa-bushi, he has even changed his stage name.
The Nichigeki "Swing Rhapsody" starting on February 17 was his first appearance after the name change.
Futoshi Arikiyama also co-starred.
Haruhisa Kawada (formerly Yoshio) appeared in the final scene for the first time in a while, showing the energy of someone truly dedicated to their craft—however, in the future, even with the same style, I would like him to create a special product that combines Naniwa-bushi-like sentiment with political criticism.
[References]
"Haruhisa Kawada Reader," Osamu Ikeuchi et al. / Chuokoron-Shinsha / 2003
"Complete Book: Hibari Misora," Ro Take-naka / Chikuma Shobo / 2005
"Ishigaki," Tatsuya Nakadai / Shufu to Seikatsusha / 2001
"American Violence," Koji Ozaki / "Geino" May 1959 issue / Geino Hakkosho
Tokyo Shimbun / Tokyo Shimbun Co.
Kanagawa Shimbun / Kanagawa Shimbun Co.
(Next time 3/31) Kawada's trip to the US