Ichimaru
| Ichimaru | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matsue Gotō |
| Born |
July 16, 1906 Matsumoto, Nagano prefecture, Japan |
| Died | February 17, 1997 (aged 90) |
| Genres | Ryūkōka, Min'yō,Hauta,Kouta,Miyazono |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1931–1997 |
Ichimaru (市丸?) born Mitsue Goto (後藤 まつゑ Gotō Matsue?, July 16, 1906 – February 17, 1997) in Japan, was a popular Japanese recording artist and geisha. Her rivalry with another popular geisha singer Katsutaro Kouta created the "Ichi-Katsu Era" in Japanese popular music history.
Ichimaru grew up in Japan with eleven siblings under harsh conditions. She left her family at the age of fourteen or fifteen to work at a geisha house. She spent much of her early years working at a hot springs spa in Asama, located in the Nagano Prefecture as an oshaku waitress. One time she was asked to sing by one of her customers, she was terribly embarrassed at her inability to sing and vowed to improve her skills.
At the age of nineteen she moved to Tokyo and joined the Ichimatsuya Okiya, and took on her new name, Asakusa Ichimaru.
In an effort to improve her singing skills when she moved to Tokyo, Ichimaru undertook shamisen and singing lessons from Enchiga Kiyomoto, who was a famous female shamisen artist. She made great progress but still felt she could get better. Ichimaru then undertook training with the Grand Head Master Enjudaiyu Kiyomoto V's son, Eijudaiyu.
The training paid off and soon she was in great demand in not only her own geisha district but others around hers such as Yanagibashi, Akasaka and Shinbashi. Due to her great singing talent, Ichimaru was asked by The Victor Recording Company to sign a contract in 1931, along with another popular geisha singer, Katsutaro. She recorded her first song Chakkiri bushi (Picking tea song) which became a hit. Composed by a poet Kitahara Hakushu to promoted an amusement park. She followed her debut up with another hit, "Tenryū Kudareba" (Down the Tenryū River, 1933), which saw her become a superstar. Due to the success of her budding music career she decided to retire from being a geisha to concentrate solely on her singing career. In around mid-1930s was called "Katsu-Ichi Jidai" or "Ichi-Katsu Jidai", when she and Katsutaro Kouta became big rival on song and kimono style and other fees, which sometimes make problem.
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