Shizuko Kasagi

Shizuko Kasagi (笠置 シヅ子, Kasagi Shizuko, 25 August 1914 – 30 March 1985) was a popular Japanese jazz singer and actress. At the peak of her fame in the immediate post-war era, she was known as the "Queen of the Boogie-Woogie" (ブギの女王, Bugi no Joō).[1]

Shizuko Kasagi
笠置 シヅ子
Shizuko Kasagi in the film Ginza Kankan Musume
Background information
Birth nameShizuko Kamei (亀井 静子)
Also known asShizuko Mikasa
Born(1914-08-25)25 August 1914
Ōkawa District, Kagawa, Japan
Died30 March 1985(1985-03-30) (aged 70)
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Singer, actress
Years active1927–1955
LabelsNippon Columbia
Associated actsRyoichi Hattori

Early life and career

Shizuko Kasagi was born Shizuko Kamei (亀井 静子) on 25 August 1914 in Ōkawa District, Kagawa, Japan. She originally took Shizuko Mikasa (三笠 静子) as her stage name, but eventually changed the spelling of her name to 笠置 シズ子.

Before World War II, Shizuko was one of the stars of the Japan Girls Opera Company. During the Occupation of Japan, she became a mega star singing songs influenced by American jazz and boogie woogie. She appeared in the 1948 film Drunken Angel directed by Akira Kurosawa. In 1955, Shizuko retired from singing and concentrated on her acting career.[2]

Death

Kasagi died from ovarian cancer on 30 March 1985, aged 70.

Films
  • Drunken Angel (1948)
  • Hateshinaki Jonetsu (1949)
  • Ginza Kankan Musume (1949)
  • Endless Desire (1958)
  • Sukurappu Shūdan (1968)
  • Gendai Yakuza: Shinjuku no Yotamono (1970)
  • Zubekō Banchō: Zange no Neuchi mo Nai (1971)
  • Kigeki: Onna Ikitemasu (1971)
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References
  1. Treat, John Whittier (2018). The Rise and Fall of Modern Japanese Literature. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226545271.
  2. Bourdaghs, Michael (2012). Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon: A Geopolitical Prehistory of J-Pop. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231530262.
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