Real name Watanabe Tadashi, he left junior high school wanting to be a singer. But instead he debuted as songwriter in 1967 and went on to write over 2,000 songs. Together with Aku Yuu, who passed away in 2007, he was regarded as one of the best songwriters of the late 20th century. His heyday for churning out hits was in the 1970s, when he wrote for stars as varied as Saijo Hideki, Agnes Chan and Iwasaki Hiromi. One of his biggest hits was Ishikawa Sayuri’s “Tsugarukaikyou – Fuyukeshiki” in 1977. Together with writer Araki Toyohisa, he penned a series of hits for the hugely successful Taiwanese star Teresa Teng, including the award-winning “Toki no Nagare ni Mi wo Makase” (photo right). Among his other well-known creations are the theme to the children’s anime “Anpanman.” In recent years he wrote music mostly for the theater. He was board chairman of the Japan Composer’s Association from 2004 and was recognized by the government for his contribution to the arts in 2005. He was 64 when he died. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer since 2006.
Brother of Jun Mayuzumi. Edit Biography