Koji Tamaki

Okay, let me just say it: Koji Tamaki has one of those voices that feels almost unfair. The guy can sing a line completely plainly and somehow your throat tightens and your eyes start stinging before you even know why. With Anzen Chitai he leaned into this smoldering, grown-up romance on ballads like "Wine-red no Kokoro," and then solo he flips to "Den'en" and just bellows "ai wa koko ni aru!" at the sky like his whole heart is leaving his body. Wild range, but you'd recognize that voice in one note. Add that he came up out of Inoue Yosui's backing band, a kid from Asahikawa in Hokkaido, and it's pure self-made legend. Plenty of people sing well; almost nobody melts you like this. I genuinely feel lucky we share an era.

Koji Tamaki was born on September 13, 1958, in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan. He co-founded the rock band Anzen Chitai in 1973 and made their major-label debut in 1982, going on to produce million-selling hits such as "Wine Red no Kokoro" and "Kanashimi ni Sayonara." He launched a solo career in 1987 and expanded his reputation as a composer, winning the Japan Record Award in 1993 for a song he wrote for Kaori Kozai, as well as achieving another million-selling solo single with "Denen" in 1996.

Name (English)

Koji Tamaki

Name (Japanese)

玉置浩二

Reading

たまきこうじ

Born

September 13, 1958 (age 67)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Dog

Origin

Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

Blood type

A

Height

177 cm

Agency

SALTMODERATE (independent label and agency)

Agency history

Warner Music Japan (Anzen Chitai debut era)

Active years

1973–present

Occupation

Singer / Singer-songwriter / Actor / Composer

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Asahikawa Municipal Kamikawa Junior High School

High school

Hokkaido Asahikawa Agricultural High School (dropped out)

University

Did not attend

Debut

February 1982, major debut with Anzen Chitai via the single "Moegi-iro no Snap." Solo debut in July 1987 with the single "All I Do."

Awards & achievements

• 1984 FNS Song Festival Best Vocal Award (Anzen Chitai)
• 1985 FNS Song Festival Best Vocal Award (Anzen Chitai — 2nd consecutive year, first in history)
• 1993 Japan Record Award — Grand Prize (as composer of Kaori Kozai's "Mugonzaka")
• 1996 Japan Record Award — Composition Award ("Denen")
• 2024 NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen Special Feature Appearance

Timeline

1. 1973Founded Anzen Chitai with junior-high classmates in Asahikawa, Hokkaido
2. 1982Made major-label debut with Anzen Chitai via the single "Moegi-iro no Snap"
3. 1984"Wine Red no Kokoro" reached No. 1 on Oricon with over 700,000 copies sold
4. 1985"Kanashimi ni Sayonara" sold over one million copies; first appearance on NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen
5. 1987Solo debut with the single "All I Do"
6. 1993Won the Japan Record Award Grand Prize as composer of Kaori Kozai's "Mugonzaka"
7. 1996Solo single "Denen" reached No. 2 on Oricon and sold over one million copies; starred in and composed music for the film Romance
8. 2003Anzen Chitai resumed full-scale activities
9. 2010Married television personality Noriko Aota
10. 2012Founded independent label and agency SALTMODERATE

Spouse

Noriko Aota (remarried 2010, current wife)

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Elder brother Kazuyoshi Tamaki (former drummer of Anzen Chitai)

Hobbies

• Guitar
• Piano
• Baseball (was a pitcher and cleanup batter in junior high)

Specialties

• Vocals
• Composition
• Guitar
• Piano

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://saltmoderate.com/
• YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdc6yGNDvXynwA0pfCuxRzg
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8E%89%E7%BD%AE%E6%B5%A9%E4%BA%8C

Tags

• From Hokkaido
• Asahikawa
• Anzen Chitai
• SALTMODERATE
• Singer-songwriter
• Denen
• Wine Red no Kokoro
• Japan Record Award

Last updated

2026-06-02

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