Tanimura Shinji: Connecting Asia with Music

"…The starlight leads the way; listen to the whisper of the breeze; I am pursuing my dream with zest; my dream is peace…", when the music started and Tanimura Shinji sang the Chinese version of his famous song "Star", the audience burst into a resounding chorus of applause. On September 21, Tanimura Shinji, now 69 years old, came to Shanghai to perform again one year later, with his new album "Star of 38 Years". Everyone has a different memory about him: a Japanese national treasure musician; the famous songwriter whose songs have been reproduced by such great Chinese artists as Teresa Teng, Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung; a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; and an envoy of Sino-Japanese friendship.

Tanimura Shinji at the 2018 Shanghai concert

The star still shines after 38 years

The songs performed during this concert had been carefully selected by Tanimura Shinji from all the songs he has written since 1980 and they had been recomposed by himself specifically for this concert. He sang a total of 21 songs during the two-hour event, including "Star","Flower" and "Hometown".

When, at the very beginning of the concert, the music for "Star" started and Tanimura started to sing, the whole audience began to sing along with him and when he sang in Chinese for the second part of the song, the audience burst into a resounding chorus of applause. It was noteworthy that the last song of the concert was also "Star", but sung in Japanese. A spectacular atmosphere was thus created  that night with thousands of fans singing in chorus. Tanimura said that he would sing for another 20 years and the audience responded, "We will attend your concert 20 years later!"

Tanimura has sang this song every time he has come to China for a concert since his first trip to China in 1981. The song “Star” has been reproduced and sung by many Chinese singers like Teresa Teng and Michael Kwan. Many Chinese share the same memory when they hear this familiar melody.