Yasuyuki Okamura
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Birthplace: Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Introduction:
Yasuyuki Okamura, alternatively known by his pen name Eitarou Isono is a Japanese singer-songwriter, model and music producer who is active in the Japanese music market. He began his professional career in 1985, and is internationally known for the City Hunter 2 ending theme 'Super Girl', and for the Space Dandy opening theme 'Viva Namida'.
Biography:
Yasuyuki was born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan in 1965, he is the oldest of two children. His father worked for Air France, and as a result, his family moved frequently throughout Japan, resulting in him rotating between seven elementary schools and junior high schools. He attended Niigata Higashi High School and formed his first band there, but dropped out in the 11th grade to pursue a musical career while working part-time at the nightclub Hacoban. after sending out numerous demo tapes, and doing composing work for other artists, he was finally signed by Epic Sony in 1986.
Yasuyuki was highly successful in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, first promoted to the world as a teen idol. He also claimed that during this time he was most inspired by the singers Seiko Matsuda and Prince. He starred in the film Peach I'll Do Anything For You (Peach-どんなことをしてほしいのぼくに) alongside Kahori Fujii and Kazuhiko Kanayama. In 1996, he fell back from the media and performing in general, and started to focus more on producing other artists, including Meg and Chara.
Yasuyuki was arrested in 2003 for possession of stimulant drugs, but released after pleading that the drugs were a necessary medicine. His record contract with Epic Sony was terminated by the company, and he was later signed by Universal. In April 2005, he was arrested again, but this time for attempting to use cocaine in a Shibuya record store bathroom, and for this he was sentenced to two years in prison. When returning in 2007, he started a comeback visually similar to his 1980s look, but was arrested again on February 5, 2008 for possession of crystal meth. He was sentenced to another two years in prison, and he then proceeded to return live in Tokyo in 2010. He began releasing demos on his official Myspace page, back then.
In 2011, Yasuyuki begun an official tour again and released a two-part self cover album. Etiquette Pink and Etiquette Purple. He returned to producing other artists and touring, and begun to speak openly about becoming fully sober. In 2013, he released his first single in six years, titled 'Viva Namida', which was revealed to become the opening theme to the Shinichiro Watanabe's Space Dandy. In the music video for this single, an anime version of Yasuyuki dances and sings along with the Space Dandy cast. In 2014 he toured Japan.
In 2017, he alongside TeddyLoid, Kenshi Yonezu and DAOKO released a 14 track album titled "Thank You Blue", featuring the ending theme song from Takayanagi Shigehito's directed Kekkai Sensen & Beyond titled 'Step Up Love'.
(Source: en.wikipedia.org)
