Oshi-Katsu Chronicle: The 1950s — The Three Girls, Rikidozan on Street TV, and the Birth of Kohaku

In 1950s Japan, television, which began broadcasting in 1953, joined film and radio as a new form of entertainment. TVs were still expensive, and crowds gathering around “street TVs” in front of stations and in squares were a common sight.

Your oshiA singer, actor or athlete

• CinemaAbout 1.127 billion admissions in 1958
• Street TVCrowds gathered in plazas and by stations
• RadioKohaku began here in 1951
• MagazinesHeibon passed 1.4 million copies
• TheatersNichigeki Western Carnival, 1958
• Fan lettersA how-to book appeared in 1957

Television had begun, but fans still went out to find their stars.

Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri and Izumi Yukimura: Stars of Song and Film

Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri and Izumi Yukimura were all singers born in 1937. Each had her own hits, and before long the three were appearing in films together.

The three first shared the screen in the 1955 film Janken Musume (The Rock-Paper-Scissors Girls), and co-starring films followed in the years after: Romance Musume and Oatari Sanshoku Musume. The trio was known as the “Three Girls” (Sannin Musume). (The Three Girls’ co-starring films, in Japanese)

Song and screen

Hibari Misora

• Tokyo Kid was a hit in 1950
• Ringo Oiwake sold 700,000 in 1952

Overseas songs

Chiemi Eri

• Debuted in 1952 with Tennessee Waltz
• One of the popular singers of overseas songs

Jazz and pop

Izumi Yukimura

• Debuted in 1953 with Omoide no Waltz
• Also loved for jazz and popular music

They first shared the screen in Janken Musume, released in 1955.

Kohaku Starts on Radio, and the Record Awards Are Born at Year’s End

The first Kohaku Uta Gassen (the Red-and-White Song Battle), NHK’s annual song show, aired on radio on January 3, 1951. Fourteen singers took part, seven on each team. It did not begin as the New Year’s Eve television show we know today. (Records on the first show, in Japanese)

From the fourth show in 1953, it also aired on television on New Year’s Eve. (Records on the fourth show, in Japanese)

In 1959 the Japan Record Awards were created, and Hiroshi Mizuhara’s “Kuroi Hanabira” (Black Petals) took the Grand Prix at the first ceremony. Apart from record sales, here was an award in which the people who make music judged the works. (Japan Composers Association, in Japanese)

Rockabilly Takes Off at Nichigeki, and Movie Stars Sing Too

In February 1958, the “Nichigeki Western Carnival” began at the Nichigeki Theater in Yurakucho, Tokyo. Masaaki Hirao, Keijiro Yamashita, Mickey Curtis and others performed, and the first carnival is reported to have drawn a total of 45,000 people in a week. (nippon.com, in Japanese)

The rockabilly they sang was born in America from country and rhythm and blues. Along with the songs, the slicked-back pompadour and slim trousers drew attention. (PBS: an explanation of rockabilly)

Paper streamers flew from the audience, and some spectators tried to climb onto the stage, according to the record. (Records on the Nichigeki Western Carnival, in Japanese)

1. 1951Kohaku on radioBroadcast on January 3
2. 1953Television beginsNHK and Nippon Television
3. 1954Rikidozan on street TVAbout 20,000 at Shimbashi
4. 1958Western CarnivalNichigeki, plus 1.127 billion admissions
5. 1959Record AwardsShonen Magazine and Sunday launch too

Key moments from 1951 to 1959.

In film, Yujiro Ishihara took the lead role and made his singing debut in 1956’s Kurutta Kajitsu (Crazed Fruit). The next year he won popularity in Arashi o Yobu Otoko (The Man Who Causes a Storm) and other films. (Records on Yujiro Ishihara, in Japanese)

Crowds Gather at Street TVs to See Rikidozan

In 1953, NHK and Nippon Television began regular television broadcasting. “Street TV” put television, still too expensive for most homes, in front of stations and in squares. (National Archives of Japan, in Japanese)

In February 1954, a pro wrestling match between the team of Rikidozan and Masahiko Kimura and the Sharp brothers was televised, and audiences gathered at street TVs in and around Tokyo. About 20,000 people reportedly packed the west exit of Shimbashi Station, and traffic stopped. (Tokyo Shimbun, in Japanese)

In baseball, the Giants-Tigers “Tenran Jiai” of June 1959, a game the Showa Emperor and Empress watched in person, became the talk of the country. Shigeo Nagashima hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth, and the Giants won. (Records on the Tenran Jiai, in Japanese)

1.1 Billion Cinema Admissions, and Rules About Where Actors Belonged

Cinema admissions in 1958 reached about 1.127 billion for the year. That is a cumulative figure, counting the times the same person went again and again. Even after television began, the cinema remained a major place for entertainment. (Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, in Japanese)

Meanwhile, the film companies’ agreements determined which works an actor could appear in. The “Five Company Agreement” (Gosha Kyotei), signed in 1953 by Shochiku, Toho, Daiei, Shin-Toho and Toei, prohibited the poaching of contracted actors and directors, among other things. (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)

Your oshi couldn’t always co-star freely in a work from a company other than their own.

In animation, Toei Animation released Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent) in 1958. It was Japan’s first feature-length color animated film. (Toei Animation, in Japanese)

Reading Tetsuwan Atom and Enjoying the Extras in Girls’ Magazines

In 1952, Osamu Tezuka’s Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) began serialization in the monthly magazine Shonen. Readers met Atom in manga a full 11 years before the 1963 TV anime. (Osamu Tezuka official site, in Japanese)

Among magazines for girls, Nakayoshi and Ribon were launched in the 1950s. What drew readers to girls’ magazines of the time was, besides the manga, the extras and the pages where stars appeared. (Meiji University Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subcultures, in Japanese)

On March 17, 1959, Weekly Shonen Magazine and Weekly Shonen Sunday were launched on the same day. Beyond the monthlies, readers could then pick up a new issue every week. (Record of the launches, in Japanese)

Myojo’s Photo Pages, and Fan Letters to Your Oshi

The entertainment magazine Myojo was launched in 1952. Its predecessor, Heibon, had surpassed a circulation of 1.4 million with its June 1955 issue, and the two magazines were loved as places to read about singers and movie stars. (Yuki Tajima, Shuppan Kenkyu no. 46, in Japanese)

The magazine HeibonGet to know stars through photos and articles

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"Heibon Hour"Broadcasting begins in 1951

The magazine MyojoRead about singers and actors

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"Myojo Hour"Broadcasting begins in 1956

Some radio programs were tied to the magazines, so you could also hear on the air the voices of stars you’d seen on the page. (Same paper, in Japanese)

Key Events of the Decade

1. Jan. 1951The 1st NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen is broadcast live on Radio 1Music
2. Apr. 1952"Tetsuwan Atom" (Astro Boy) begins serialization in Kobunsha's Shonen magazineAnime
3. Aug. 1952Shueisha launches the entertainment magazine MyojoMedia
4. Feb. and Aug. 1953NHK and Nippon Television begin regular television broadcastsMedia
5. Sept. 1953The five major film studios sign the Five Company Agreement, banning the poaching of contract actorsBusiness
6. Feb. 1954Rikidozan's team faces the Sharpe Brothers, and crowds rush to street televisionsSports
7. Nov. 1955"Janken Musume," the first film starring the Three Girls together, is releasedMusic
8. Jan. 1956Hibari Misora's performance at the Asakusa Kokusai Theater descends into chaos, and one fan diesMusic
9. Feb. 1958The 1st Nichigeki Western Carnival draws 45,000 people in one weekMusic
10. Mar. 1959Weekly Shonen Magazine and Weekly Shonen Sunday launch at the same timeMedia
11. June 1959At the Emperor's-attendance game at Korakuen Stadium, Shigeo Nagashima hits a walk-off home runSports
12. Dec. 1959At the 1st Japan Record Awards, Hiroshi Mizuhara's "Kuroi Hanabira" wins the Grand PrixMusic

Words of the Era

Gaito terebi (street television)

The sight of crowds gathering around sets on streets and plazas to watch, before TV sets spread to homes

Rockabilly

A wave of music and fashion that spread after the 1958 Nichigeki Western Carnival

Sannin Musume (the Three Girls)

The name for Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri and Izumi Yukimura. They first appeared together in the 1955 film "Janken Musume"

Gosha kyotei (Five Company Agreement)

A 1953 pact among the five major film studios forbidding the mutual poaching of contract directors and actors

Sannin Musume (“Three Girls”) names a combination of popular singers, and gaito terebi (“street TV”) names the place where people watched programs. Words for talking about the entertainment of the day spread too, such as rockabilly, the name of a genre of music.

In the next installment, the 1960s, television spreads into homes, and song shows, TV anime and Group Sounds join everyday pleasures.