Ichirou Mizuki is the stage name of Toshio Hayakawa, a Japanese singer and voice actor best known for his extensive musical contributions to the anime and film industry. Born on January 7, 1948, in Setagaya, Tokyo, he is considered a precursor of anison, a subgenre of J-pop that specializes in music for anime series and video games. "Kimi ni sasageru Boku no Uta," his debut single, appeared in 1968 and was used as the opening song for Genshi Shōnen Ryū. The success of the single snowballed into a series of iconic theme songs for shows like Mazinger Z, Robot Detective, and Space Pirate Captain Harlock, all of which cemented his reputation as the "Emperor of Anime Songs" throughout the 1970s. In the following decades, Ichirou Mizuki continued to feature in popular series such as Beast King GoLion, Getter Robo Go, and Jikuu Senshi Spielban, and formed the anison supergroup JAM Project in 2000 alongside fellow vocalists Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endoh, Eizo Sakamoto, and Rica Matsumoto. He would later become a part-time member of the group to focus on his solo efforts, returning to the limelight in 2007 with a series of songs for the soundtrack of Juken Sentai Gekiranger. His 40th-anniversary album, Ichirou Mizuki: Newest Best, saw the light in 2008, followed by the 5-CD boxset Michi ~road~ (道〜road〜) later that year. In 2016, his extensive catalog was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival. He passed away on December 6, 2022, a few months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
