Singer Kazuo Funaki will be a guest on the BS12 Twelvi program "Tsurube-chan and Sawako-chan ~A Showa Era Senior and Two Quirky People~," airing on June 15th at 9pm. Born in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture in 1944, Funaki will talk about his childhood, growing up with a father who was a playboy, mentioning that he had "nine people he called mother" and that "all his siblings were half-siblings."
The program features veteran comedians from the Showa era, such as Shofukutei Tsurube (53 years in the industry) and Sawako Agawa (42 years in the industry), who affectionately call them "Tsurube-chan" and "Sawako-chan," as guests each week.
In 1963, Funaki made his record debut with his signature song, "High School Third Year Student." On this episode, he will talk about the story behind his debut single, which propelled him to stardom when he was still a high school student at the time of recording.
Furthermore, he will share stories about how he met his wife of over 50 years and how their relationship began, as well as the story of a phone call from Toru Funamura, the composer of his hit song "Yūbue," which became the catalyst for him to reconsider retirement during a time when his popularity was waning and he was struggling with what he called a "cold period." At that moment, tears welled up in Funaki's eyes...
