Akihiro Miwa
Encyclopedia
, is a Japan
ese singer, actor
, drag queen
, director, composer
and author
from Nagasaki in Nagasaki Prefecture
. His real name is . He writes most of his own music and has written over 20 books. An open homosexual, he is also a drag queen
who often dyes his shoulder-length hair bright yellow.
district in Chūō, Tokyo
, when moving to Tokyo
in 1952. He started working in various nightclubs singing his favourites from the French chansons such as those of Édith Piaf
, Yvette Guilbert
and Marie Dubas
. Eventually he succeeded in getting a job at a specific club wher he worked continually for 40 years. His claim to fame came rather early in 1957, with a smash-hit called "Meke-Meke" which included a string of profanities not used in media at the time. He was also renowned for his effeminate beauty, making him a hit with the media.
Along the way he met various movie producers and actors such as Yujiro Ishihara
.
when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb, but he escaped relatively unhurt. He is highly critical of the government at all his concerts.
's Aomori-ken no Semushi Otoko in 1967. In 1968 he starred in and composed the theme song for Kinji Fukasaku
's Black Lizard
, based on Mishima
's stage adaptation of the Edogawa Rampo
novel; Mishima also had a cameo in the film as a statue. The next year Miwa made another film with Fukasaku, Black Rose Mansion
. In recent years he has voiced characters in Hayao Miyazaki
's internationally successful anime
films Princess Mononoke
and Howl's Moving Castle
, and appeared in Takeshi Kitano
's 2005 film Takeshis'
.
In March 2007, Miwa performed the role of Empress Sisi in the play L’aigle à deux têtes by writer Jean Cocteau
at Parco
Theatre in Shibuya
.
In 2009, Akihiro Miwa played the voice of Arceus
in the Pokémon
movie, Pokémon: Arceus: To a Conquering Space-Time
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese singer, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
, director, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
from Nagasaki in Nagasaki Prefecture
Nagasaki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...
. His real name is . He writes most of his own music and has written over 20 books. An open homosexual, he is also a drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
who often dyes his shoulder-length hair bright yellow.
Early life
Miwa was born to a family which ran a small cafe. After seeing the movie Boy Soprano at the age of 11, he claims to have had a dream in which he was standing on stage in a concert hall, singing. It was this which inspired his interest in music. He then attended the Kunitachi College of Music High School at the age of 15.Career
He started his career at 17 as a professional cabaret singer in the GinzaGinza
is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
district in Chūō, Tokyo
Chuo, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards that form the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Chūō City in English.Its Japanese name literally means "Central Ward," and it is historically the main commercial center of Tokyo, although Shinjuku has risen to challenge it since the end of World War II...
, when moving to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in 1952. He started working in various nightclubs singing his favourites from the French chansons such as those of Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
, Yvette Guilbert
Yvette Guilbert
Yvette Guilbert was a French cabaret singer and actress of the Belle Époque.-Biography:...
and Marie Dubas
Marie Dubas
Marie Dubas was a music-hall singer, diseuse and comedienne.Born in Paris, France, Marie Dubas began her career as a stage actress but became famous as a singer. Using the great Yvette Guilbert as her model, Dubas started singing in the small cabarets of Montmartre mixing comedy into her routine...
. Eventually he succeeded in getting a job at a specific club wher he worked continually for 40 years. His claim to fame came rather early in 1957, with a smash-hit called "Meke-Meke" which included a string of profanities not used in media at the time. He was also renowned for his effeminate beauty, making him a hit with the media.
Along the way he met various movie producers and actors such as Yujiro Ishihara
Yujiro Ishihara
was a Japanese actor and singer born in Kobe. His elder brother, Shintaro Ishihara, is an author, politician, and the current Governor of Tokyo. Yujiro debuted in 1956 in "Season of the Sun," based on a novel written by his brother...
.
Social activism and author
Miwa has written many books as well, and is known for his outspoken stances on social issues and war. This can be attributed to his having experienced the worst of it; he was in NagasakiNagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb, but he escaped relatively unhurt. He is highly critical of the government at all his concerts.
Films
Although Miwa is better known as a cabaret singer he has also appeared in a number of films, beginning as a laundry boy in Sennin Buraku in 1961 (under his real name). He also appeared in Shuji TerayamaShuji Terayama
was an avant-garde Japanese poet, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. According to many critics and supporters, he was one of the most productive and provocative creative artists to come out of Japan. He was born December 10, 1935, the only son of Hachiro and Hatsu Terayama in...
's Aomori-ken no Semushi Otoko in 1967. In 1968 he starred in and composed the theme song for Kinji Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
's Black Lizard
Black Lizard (film)
Black Lizard is a 1968 Japanese detective film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. The film is based on a 1934 novel by Edogawa Rampo and its theatrical adaptation by Yukio Mishima, who, at the time, was the lover of Akihiro Maruyama, the actor who plays the notorious female criminal "Black Lizard" in...
, based on Mishima
Yukio Mishima
was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
's stage adaptation of the Edogawa Rampo
Edogawa Rampo
, better known by the pseudonym , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogorō Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the .Rampo was an admirer...
novel; Mishima also had a cameo in the film as a statue. The next year Miwa made another film with Fukasaku, Black Rose Mansion
Black Rose Mansion
Black Rose Mansion is a 1969 film directed by Kinji Fukasaku.-Cast:*Akihiro Miwa as Ryuko*Eitarô Ozawa as Kyohei*Masakazu Tamura as Wataru*Ayako Hosho as Kyohei's Wife*Kô Nishimura*Kikko Matsuoka...
. In recent years he has voiced characters in Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
's internationally successful anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
films Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke
is a 1997 epic Japanese animated historical fantasy feature film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. is not a name, but a general term in the Japanese language for a spirit or monster...
and Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle (film)
is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones...
, and appeared in Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
's 2005 film Takeshis'
Takeshis'
Takeshis' is a 2005 Japanese film directed, written, edited by, and starring Takeshi Kitano. It is the first film in Kitano's surrealist autobiographical trilogy, being followed by Glory to the Filmmaker!, and Achilles and the Tortoise....
.
In March 2007, Miwa performed the role of Empress Sisi in the play L’aigle à deux têtes by writer Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
at Parco
Parco
Parco is a town in Dêngqên County, Tibet Autonomous Region of China.-See also:*List of towns and villages in Tibet*Pak Arab Refinery...
Theatre in Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
.
Television
Miwa is also well known as a TV personality. Hugely popular among women of all age groups, he appears in up to six shows a week and is known for his outspoken, catty, and sometimes downright rude comments about politicians and others in public life.In 2009, Akihiro Miwa played the voice of Arceus
Arceus
is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Arceus first appeared in the video games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.-Concept and...
in the Pokémon
Pokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
movie, Pokémon: Arceus: To a Conquering Space-Time
Arceus Chokoku no Jiku e
Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life, originally released in Japan as , is a 2009 Japanese animated film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. It is the twelfth Pokémon film and the third in the Diamond & Pearl trilogy...
.