Kitayama Takeshi(北山たけし)

When Kitayama Takeshi(北山たけし) was nine years old, he sung Kitajima Saburō(北島三郎)'s Windy Snow Wandering Journey(風雪ながれ旅 Fūsetsu Nagaretabi), in the Kids' Amateur Singing Contest(ちびっ子のど自慢 Chibikko Nodo Jiman) hosted by Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (KBC)(九州朝日放送株式会社 Kyūshū Asahi Hōsō  Kabushiki Gaisha) and won.

He made his debut with Tokuma Japan Communications Co., Ltd.(株式会社徳間ジャパンコミュニケーションズ Kabushikigaisha Tokuma Japan Komyunikēshonzu) using the stage name Ōhira Kōichi(大平幸一) but he was unsuccessful and returns home.

He returned to Tokyo when he was 21 years old and studied under Kitajima Saburō(北島三郎) for eight years.

In 2004, he made his second debut, this time with Teichiku Entertainment, Inc.(株式会社テイチクエンタテインメント Kabushikigaisha Teichiku Entertainment), singing "One way ticket(片道切符 Katamichi Kippu)." That year, he won multiple awards.

In 2005, he made his first appearance on Kōhaku Utagassen with the song "A Man's Outgoing Ship(男の出船 Otokono Debune).

In 2009, he married his teacher Kitajima Saburō(北島三郎)'s second daughter. They had first fallen in love when she took care of injuries he sustained to the index finger of his left hand while cutting weeds from his teacher's yard. Worried about what might happen if people, especially his teacher, found out, they kept the relationship a secret for several years before making it public.

This blog post translates information from the Wikipedia article 北山たけし which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.