Isao Sasaki, 82, sings Space Battleship Yamato!
Published May 24, 2024 on Mieko’s Free and Easy Blog (see the original post here)
On May 19, Isao Sasaki appeared on NHK’s Nodo Jiman and sang Space Battleship Yamato! It trended on social media with comments like, “You wouldn’t believe he’s 82” and “It gave me goosebumps”!
PROFILE
Real name: Isao Sasaki
Date of birth: May 16, 1942 (82 years old)
Birthplace: Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Elementary school: Gyosei Elementary School
Junior high school and high school: Graduated from Musashi High School
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Blood type: A
Affiliated agency: Nagara management
Occupation: Active in many fields, including as a singer, actor, voice actor, narrator, presenter, and radio personality.
Isao Sasaki’s family was an elite clan
• His paternal great-grandfather, Nara Masashi, was the Navy’s Chief of Staff and the first head of the Navy’s Accounting School.
• His grandfather was Juzo Sasaki, a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University and a Navy Vice Admiral.
• His maternal grandfather was Shunji Terai, a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University who served as an auditor for the Korean Explosives Manufacturing Company.
• His maternal grandmother’s brother was Eiichi Ino, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Manchukuo.
• Minoru Ino served as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and Minister of Justice.
• His father is a first-class architect who graduated from Waseda University.
They are truly an elite family. Isao Sasaki was born with that dignity. Sasaki himself was a very good student at Musashino High School, ranking 1st to 3rd. Everyone around him had high hopes for him to enter the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Tokyo, but he gradually lost interest in his studies, and his grades naturally dropped.
What led to his debut as a singer?
In 1960, he made his debut as a rockabilly singer with a Japanese cover of Elvis Presley’s song Stuck on You on Columbia Japan. Even while he was still a student, he gained popularity as the “Japanese Elvis.”
He appeared on the Japanese TV show Nodo Jiman and was praised by Hattori Ryoichi, the head judge, who said, “You’re the Elivs of Tokyo,” which was the catalyst for him to pursue a career as a singer. I think that if he hadn’t met Hattori Ryoichi, the singer Isao Sasaki would never have been born.
Isao Sasaki as an actor
In 1960, he was selected to play the lead role in Nagisa Oshima’s film Graveyard of the Sun. In 1962, he made his first TV drama appearance in There’s a Curve Ahead. He was active as a singer and actor, but as the Rockabilly era ended, he found himself in a difficult period.
However, he did not give up and relearned singing and vocalization from the basics. His teacher was Takaho Shimada, the father of singer and actress Kaho Shimada. He also learned acting from the ground up and participated in the theater club Marui for ten years.
As a voice actor, he played the role of Condor Joe in the TV anime Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, which was his first appearance in a domestic animation work. He was then selected to sing the theme song for the TV anime Neo-Human Casshan. Isao Sasaki’s voice has been truly wonderful since then. It hasn’t changed at all now. It was a show that even children were crazy about.
Isao Sasaki, the “King of Anime Songs”
With many hits in anime songs, including his signature songs Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999, he eventually came to be known as the “King of Anime Songs.” Together, Sasaki, Ichiro Mizuki, Mitsuko Horie, and Kumiko Ogata are known as the “Four Heavenly Kings of Anime Songs”!
His wife and children
Isao Sasaki got married in 1966 (at age 24), but divorced ten years later and raised his son on his own. It is said that his wife passed away after that.
In 1981, he remarried voice actress and actress Miyuki Ueda. The couple first met while co-starring as voice actors on Gatchaman and Space Battleship Yamato, The New Voyage. (Ueda played the role of Starsha.) It seems that there were many difficulties in marrying someone with a child from a previous marriage.
In 1986, Isao Sasaki and Miyuki Ueda published One-way ticket to remarriage with children, a record of their struggle to become a real family with parent/child relationships. Divorce can be very traumatic for children. It seems to describe how the couple worked together to become a family.
Summary
I was happy to hear the words of praise for Isao Sasaki, who moved the audience with his singing voice. Apparently, the reason his wonderful voice is still in good condition is because he regularly does muscle training and squats to strengthen his abdominal and back muscles. He does aerobics, abdominal training, and voice training while holding a dumbbell.
He believes that “if I sing in a lower key, I’m no longer active,” so he sings his past songs in the same key as they were at the time. That’s why he can still sing with that wonderful voice today. Even if you know it, it’s not easy to do.
There are many fans who have been inspired by Isao Sasaki! Please take care of yourself and keep up the good work.