Masaharu Fukuyama

Masaharu Fukuyama

Fukuyama at the 24th Golden Melody Awards held at Taipei, Taiwan in 2013
Background information
Native name 福山雅治
Born (1969-02-06) February 6, 1969
Nagasaki, Japan[1]
Origin Nagasaki, Japan
Genres Pop, rock
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, radio personality, photographer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, harmonica
Years active 1990–present
Labels
Website www.fukuyamamasaharu.com
Notable instruments
Guitars

Masaharu Fukuyama (福山雅治, Fukuyama Masaharu, born February 6, 1969) is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actor from Nagasaki. He is represented by the agency Amuse, Inc.. He debuted in 1990 with the single "Tsuioku no Ame no Naka".

Career

While he can also be seen in Japanese television drama, Fukuyama is best known for his singing career. His 1992 breakout single "Good night" gained a wide audience because of its tie-in with a TV drama. In 1993, he made his first appearance in Kōhaku Uta Gassen, on which only successful J-pop and enka artists are invited to perform. Propelled by the success of Hitotsu Yane no Shita, in which he played Chinichan, the second older brother in the Kashiwagi family, he had his first million-selling single, "It's Only Love/Sorry Baby", in 1994. His 1995 single "Hello" became the second highest selling single that year.

He took a hiatus in 1996, stopping all his entertainment activities except his radio shows. He returned to the entertainment scene in 1998, and his first single after two years hiatus, "Heart/You", landed at number 3 on Oricon chart and sold 569,000 copies in total. Encouraged by this success, he begins his Daikanshasai (Thanksgiving) series of concerts, to show his appreciation from the support he obtained from his fans.

"Sakura Zaka" and "Niji" are among Masaharu's popular songs. His 2000 single "Sakura Zaka" sold more than 751,000 copies in its first week and remained at the top of the Japanese Oricon chart for 3 consecutive weeks; it sold about 2,299,000 copies on the Oricon charts overall.[2] "Niji" was a theme song for the Japanese drama Water Boys. His triple A-side single "Niji/Himawari/Sore ga Subete sa", released on August 26, 2003, debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon single charts and topped them for five consecutive weeks.[3] His has cemented his status as the best-selling male solo artist in Japan,[4] having sold 21.27 million copies so far.

In 2007, after a four-years absence from drama, Fukuyama returned to television, starring as the brilliant but eccentric physics associate professor, Manabu Yukawa, in the television drama Galileo. He won "Best Actor" at the 55th Television Drama Academy Awards for the role. He also formed a band, KOH+, with his co-star in the drama Kou Shibasaki.

In 2008, NHK selected Fukuyama to portray Sakamoto Ryōma, the title character, in the 2010 year-long prime-time television Taiga drama Ryōmaden.[5]

In 2009, he held his 20th anniversary national arena tour which covered 36 performances in 12 cities over four consecutive months (June to September) with a total audience count of 500,000.[6][7] Two weeks before the tour started, he held four shows at the Nippon Budokan (May 28, 29 and June 4, 5) his first ever solo concerts there, as part of his almost yearly thanksgiving concert ritual.[8] While the Tour was still ongoing, on August 29 and 30, he went back to his hometown Nagasaki and held two open-air concerts at the Mount Inasa Park outdoor stage, with simultaneous public viewing free of charge for 50,000 Nagasaki citizens at the nearby Nagasaki Baseball Stadium (commonly known as the Big N to locals). Official figures announced a final audience count of 80,000 for the Mount Inasa concerts and Big N public viewing, in just over the two days alone.[9][10]

The master ringtone (Chaku Uta) download of his song "Hatsukoi" began on November 6, 2009.[11] It sold about 150,000 downloads in five days, and, on November 13, 2009, it was announced that the song would be released as a physical CD single on December 16, 2009.[12] The single debuted at number 1 on the Oricon weekly charts, with sales of around 151,000 copies in the first week of the release.[13] He performed "Hatsukoi" at the 60th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on New Year's Eve 2009, his first appearance at the event since 1993 and joined John Woo's upcoming film Manhut [14]

Personal life

On September 28, 2015, Fukuyama married actress Kazue Fukiishi, 13 years his junior.[15] and expected first child together

Discography

Filmography

TV dramas

Films

Year Title Role Director Notes
1988 Hon no 5g Sanzō Hashimoto Kei Ōta
1996 Atlanta Boogie Radio DJ Masashi Yamamoto
2008 Suspect X Manabu Yukawa Hiroshi Nishitani Lead role
2009 Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess Shōgo Saeki Hiroshi Nishitani Special appearance
2011 Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops—Winged Angels Masaaki Fukuyama Yukiyo Teramoto Voice
Andalusia: Revenge of the Goddess Shōgo Saeki Hiroshi Nishitani Special appearance
2013 Midsummer's Equation Manabu Yukawa Hiroshi Nishitani Lead role
Like Father, Like Son Ryōta Nonomiya Hirokazu Koreeda Lead role
2014 Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno Hiko Seijūrō Keishi Ōtomo
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends Hiko Seijūrō Keishi Ōtomo
2016 Scoop! Shizuka Miyakonojō Hitoshi Ōne Lead role
2017 The Third Murder Tomoaki Shigemori Hirokazu Koreeda Lead role
Manhunt John Woo Lead role

Television show

Guitar collection

See also

References

  1. ↑ "福山雅治 > Biography" (in Japanese). Barks. Global Plus Inc. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  2. ↑ "桜ソングが愛される理由『心に残る桜ソングNO.1は！？』" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2006-03-22. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  3. ↑ 福山雅治、オリジナルアルバム12年半ぶりの首位！ (in Japanese). Oricon. 2006-12-12. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  4. ↑ "【オリコン】福山雅治、初の結婚ソング首位　22年目で男性ソロ歴代1位の総売上2127万枚". Oricon. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  5. ↑ 龍馬伝 Archived 2009-04-19 at the Wayback Machine. (Ryōmaden) Retrieved November 6, 2008
  6. ↑ "Fukuyama Masaharu 2009 Michishirube Tour Official site" (in Japanese). Amuse, Inc.
  7. ↑ "福山雅治、地元・長崎の稲佐山ライブと50万人動員ツアーそろってDVD化" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2010-02-21.
  8. ↑ "Fukuyama Masaharu Budokan Daikanshasai Official Site" (in Japanese). Amuse, Inc.
  9. ↑ "Universal Music Japan, Fukuyama Masaharu News page" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan.
  10. ↑ 福山雅治デビュー20周年で故郷長崎に凱旋. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 2009-08-30.
  11. ↑ "福山雅治、出演中の「REGZA」新CMソングを着うた配信" (in Japanese). natalie. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  12. ↑ "福山雅治×リリー・フランキー、コラボTシャツ付きシングルを限定発売" (in Japanese). Livedoor. 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  13. ↑ 福山雅治：紅白出場曲　新シングル「はつ恋」が１５万枚を売り上げ首位　オリコン (in Japanese). Mainichi Shimbun. 2009-12-22. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  14. ↑ http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/zhang-hanyu-masaharu-fukuyama-john-woos-manhunt-1201732535/
  15. ↑ "Actors Fukuyama, Fukiishi marry". The Japan Times. Japan: The Japan Times Ltd. 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  16. ↑ Official Score : Fukuyama Masaharu Complete Guitar Song Book Vol.1 (1990-1997). DOREMI Music Publishing Co. Ltd. 2011. ISBN 978-4-285-12992-2.
  17. ↑ Official Score : Fukuyama Masaharu Complete Guitar Song Book Vol.2 (1998-2010). DOREMI Music Publishing Co. Ltd. 2011. ISBN 978-4-285-12993-9.
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