Life and career Misora was born on May 29, 1937 in
Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Japan. Her father, , was a
fishmonger and her mother, , a
housewife. Katō displayed musical talent from an early age after singing for her father at a
World War II send-off party in 1943 at the age of six. Masukichi invested a small fortune from the family's savings to begin a musical career for his daughter. In 1945, at the age of eight, Kazue made her debut at a concert hall in
Yokohama. Later that year, she appeared on another
NHK broadcast, and this time impressed Japanese composer
Masao Koga with her singing ability. He considered her to be a child prodigy with the courage, understanding, and emotional maturity of an adult. Over the next few years, Misora became an accomplished singer and toured notable concert halls to sold-out crowds. While the general public loved her, she was criticized by the social and cultural elites for sounding too much like a grown woman and for singing boogie woogies and love songs rather than children's songs. Kazue began her recording career in 1949 at the age of 12, now with the name , which means "lark in the beautiful sky," and starred in the film . The film gained her nationwide recognition. That same year, she recorded her first single for
Nippon Columbia. It became a commercial hit, selling more than 450,000 copies. She subsequently recorded "Kanashiki kuchibue", which was featured on a radio program and was a national hit. Her performance in
Tokyo Kid (1950), in which she played a street orphan, made her symbolic of both the hardship and the national optimism of post-
World War II Japan. In June 1950, Misora was one of the first entertainers from Japan to visit the United States after the war. She performed in Hawaii and California. In 1956, Misora was briefly engaged to musician Mitsuru Ono. Their engagement was called off when Misora was told she would have to give up her career in order to marry. On January 13, 1957, Misora was attacked and injured with
hydrochloric acid at Asakusa International Theater. The suspect was identified as a fanatical admirer of hers. In 1962, Misora married actor
Akira Kobayashi. They divorced in 1964, and she never remarried. Her mother, who had been opposed to the marriage, later stated that the unhappiest moment in her life was when her daughter married Kobayashi and the happiest moment was when they divorced. Between 1949 and 1971, Misora appeared in 8 to 12 films per year, usually with top billing. These films ranged from light contemporary romances to period films with sword-fighting action. In many of her period films, she was cast either in male roles or in female roles disguised as men. After she ended her film career, Misora sometimes sang in male drag in her many television performances. In 1973, Misora's younger brother, Tetsuya Katō, was prosecuted for gang-related activity. Although
NHK did not acknowledge any connection, Misora was excluded from
Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time in 18 years. In 1978, Misora adopted her seven-year-old nephew, Tetsuya's son Kazuya Katō. In 1980, on the 35th year anniversary of her debut, Misora performed a recital at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.
Illness and death The 1980s were difficult years for Misora. Her mother died in 1981 and a year later her best friend, fellow singer and actress
Chiemi Eri, died. Misora’s brothers both died in 1983 and 1986, respectively. Misora and her mother had been extremely close; not only had Kimie been her daughter's number one fan, but also she had worked as Misora's producer/manager throughout her career. To cope with her sorrow, Misora, having already been known as a hard drinker, increased her drinking and smoking even further. In April 1987, Misora suddenly collapsed on stage at a concert performance in
Fukuoka. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was diagnosed with
avascular necrosis brought on by chronic
hepatitis. Doctors did not reveal to the press that she was also suffering from
cirrhosis so as to not cause worry to her fans and associates. She was immediately admitted, but eventually showed signs of recovery in August. She commenced recording a new song in October, and in April 1988 performed at her comeback concert at
Tokyo Dome. At the time, the audience was unaware that she had still not fully recovered and spent her backstage time lying in a bed with an oxygen tank. Despite overwhelming pain in her legs, Misora performed a total of 40 songs. Once off the stage after the last song, she collapsed and was taken away by an ambulance that was on standby. Misora's health improvement was to be temporary, as her liver weakened from decades of heavy drinking and her condition worsened. Yet, she continued to perform live while hiding the true nature of her health from her fans. On February 7, 1989 (less than a month after the
Heisei period began), Misora held her final concert in
Kokura. It was the start of a nationwide tour which had to be cancelled due to her failing health. On March 21, she wrapped up her nearly four-and-a-half-decade career with a 10-hour live radio show for
Nippon Broadcasting System. She was later hospitalized at
Juntendo University Hospital in Tokyo with
interstitial pneumonitis. On the morning of June 24, 1989, Misora died at Juntendo. She was 52. Her death was widely mourned throughout Japan and many felt the
Shōwa period had truly come to an end. The major
television networks had to cancel their regular programming that evening to bring the news of her death and instead aired various tributes.
Legacy In 1993, a monument depicting Misora's portrait with an inscribed poem was erected in her memory near
Sugi no Osugi in
Ōtoyo, Kōchi. In 1947, a 10-year old Misora had been involved in a serious bus collision in Ōtoyo. While recovering from her injuries, she remained in the town and reportedly visited Sugi no Osugi and wished to become the top singer in Japan. Misora’s father was so upset, he demanded that she stopped singing. The young Misora responded “If I can’t sing, then I will die.” She eventually returned to Tokyo, where she began her recording career in 1949 at the age of 12. In 1994, the
Hibari Misora Museum opened in
Arashiyama,
Kyoto. This multi-story museum complex traced the history of Misora's life and career in various multimedia exhibits, and displayed various memorabilia. It attracted more than 5 million visitors, until it closed down November 30, 2006 as to allow a scheduled renovation of the building. The main exhibits were relocated to the
Shōwa period section of the
Edo-Tokyo Museum, until a renovation was completed. The brand new
Hibari Misora Theater opened in its place on April 26, 2008, and includes a CD for sale of a previously unreleased song. A bronze statue of her debut was built as a memorial in Yokohama in 2002 and attracts around 300,000 visitors per year. Beginning in 1990, television and radio stations play Misora's song annually on her birth date to show respect. In a national poll by
NHK in 1997, the song was voted the greatest Japanese song of all time After Misora's death in 1989, a
TBS television drama special aired later that same year under the title
The Hibari Misora Story (), starring
Kayoko Kishimoto as Misora. In 2005, also on TBS,
Aya Ueto portrayed Misora in
The Hibari Misora Birth Story (). == Notable songs ==