Eikichi Yazawa

Okay, Eikichi Yazawa is just operating on a different frequency than the rest of us. The man left Hiroshima with basically nothing, started Carol, went solo, and somehow earned the right to refer to himself in the third person as "YAZAWA" without anyone laughing—that takes a level of conviction I genuinely admire. Lines that would sound corny from anyone else become gospel when he delivers them dead serious. And 150 nights at Budokan? That's not a stat, that's decades of standing on a stage at full volume, which is borderline inhuman stamina. The towel-throwing ritual, the whole audience flinging them back—that communal madness is pure rock theater. Honestly, his memoir turned half the country into believers. The guy's less a singer than a way of living.

Eikichi Yazawa was born on September 14, 1949, in Niho, Minami Ward, Hiroshima. He rose to prominence as the leader and bassist of the rock-and-roll band Carol, making his major debut in 1972 with the single "Louisiane," before launching a solo career in 1975 after Carol disbanded. He became the first Japanese solo rock artist to perform at Nippon Budokan in 1977, and went on to achieve a record 150 total performances at that venue by 2024. His 1978 autobiography Nariagari sold over one million copies and became a landmark work in Japanese rock and self-improvement literature.

Name (English)

Eikichi Yazawa

Name (Japanese)

矢沢永吉

Reading

やざわえいきち

Born

September 14, 1949 (age 76)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Ox

Origin

Niho, Minami Ward, Hiroshima, Japan

Blood type

B

Height

180 cm

Agency

Independent (operating own label GARURU RECORDS)

Agency history

Warner Pioneer (Carol era)
Sony Music Entertainment
EMI Music Japan (1988–2000s)

Active years

1972–present

Occupation

Rock Musician / Singer

Elementary school

Hiroshima Municipal Oshiba Elementary School

Junior high

Hiroshima Municipal Nakahiro Junior High School

High school

Hiroshima Denki University Senior High School (now Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin High School)

Debut

Made his major debut in 1972 as leader of the rock-and-roll band Carol with the single "Louisiane." After Carol disbanded in 1975, he launched his solo career that autumn with the single "I Love You, OK."

Awards & achievements

• 1978 – Single "Toki yo Tomare" achieved million-seller status
• 2007 – Achieved 100 total performances at Nippon Budokan (unprecedented record at the time)
• 2013 – All-time best album "ALL TIME BEST ALBUM" reached No. 1 on the Oricon weekly album chart
• 2019 – Album "Itsuka, Sono Hi ga Kuru Hi made..." debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly album chart (oldest artist to achieve a No. 1 debut record)
• 2024 – Achieved 150 total performances at Nippon Budokan

Timeline

1. 1949Born on September 14 in Niho, Hiroshima (now Minami Ward)
2. 1968Graduated from Hiroshima Denki University Senior High School and moved to Tokyo to pursue a music career
3. 1972Made his major debut as leader of rock-and-roll band Carol with the single "Louisiane"
4. 1975Carol disbanded; launched solo career that autumn with the single "I Love You, OK"
5. 1977Became the first Japanese solo rock artist to perform at Nippon Budokan
6. 1978Single "Toki yo Tomare" achieved million-seller status; performed at Korakuen Stadium; autobiography Nariagari surpassed one million copies sold
7. 2007Reached a total of 100 performances at Nippon Budokan
8. 2019Album "Itsuka, Sono Hi ga Kuru Hi made..." debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly album chart (oldest artist on record to do so)
9. 2024Reached a total of 150 performances at Nippon Budokan

Spouse

Remarried; current wife is of partial American descent

Children

4 (2 sons and 1 daughter with first wife; 1 daughter with current wife)

Hobbies

• Driving (cars)

Specialties

• Rock vocals
• Bass guitar

Motto

It's your life. You run it yourself.

• Official sitehttps://www.eikichiyazawa.com/
• Xhttps://x.com/official_YAZAWA
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9F%A2%E6%B2%A2%E6%B0%B8%E5%90%89

Tags

• From Hiroshima
• Rock Musician
• Carol
• Budokan
• Nariagari
• GARURU RECORDS
• Pioneer of Japanese Rock

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.