舟木一夫

Kazuo Funaki, Japanese singer and actor born in Aichi Prefecture on December 12, 1944. Released over 60 singles in the 1960s, and remains active today; also acted in TV drama's and series as well as films. Gained fame in the 1960s as a 青春歌謡シンガー (seishun kayou singer), i.e. singer of Kayōkyoku songs aimed especially at younger audiences. In his heyday, Funaki, Yukio Hashi (橋幸夫=Yukio Hashi) and [a2543506] (西郷輝彦=Teruhiko Saigo) were collectively referred to as 御三家 (Gosanke, the "Big Three"), because of their huge popularity.