Kiyoshi Hikawa

Since embarking upon his professional singing career in the year 2000, the Japanese pop singer Kiyoshi Hikawa has had a prolific recording output and has recorded no less than 30 singles, 18 albums and 3 EPs. He was born in Fukuoka in 1977 and, as an emerging enka artist, signed to Columbia Music Entertainment at the age of 22. Enka is a modern form of Japanese music which draws heavily upon traditional singing styles and is very popular in Japan, particularly amongst older audiences.

Many of Hikawa's albums and singles reached number one in the Oricon charts and established him as one of Japan's most consistently popular performers during his 20-year career. He first topped the charts in 2005 with his eight single release titled 'Hatsukoi Ressha' and since then has rarely been out of the charts. In the history of the Oricon charts he remains the only enka singer to have had three number one singles.