Shizuko Kasagi

Shizuko Kasagi is one of those figures you can only really understand by listening. Born in Kagawa in 1914 and gone in 1985, she became known as the "Queen of Boogie" in the years right after the war, singing songs written by Ryoichi Hattori — above all "Tokyo Boogie-Woogie" from 1947. What strikes me is the timing. Japan was flattened, hungry, uncertain, and here comes a voice that bounces, shouts, and refuses to be solemn about any of it. That was not just entertainment; it was a kind of permission to feel alive again. She worked as an actress too, which fits: her singing has a physical, stage-forward quality, like someone performing with her whole body rather than just her throat. She also belongs to the first generation of Japanese singers who made jazz phrasing sound native rather than imported. The recordings are old and the sound is thin, but the energy has not aged a day.

Name (English)

Shizuko Kasagi

Name (Japanese)

笠置シヅ子

Reading

笠置しづ子

Born

August 25, 1914 – March 30, 1985

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Tiger

Origin

Aioi, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Occupation

singer / actor / jazz musician

• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shizuko%20Kasagi
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%A0%E7%BD%AE%E3%82%B7%E3%83%85%E5%AD%90
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3137013

Tags

• Kagawa Prefecture
• singer
• actor
• jazz musician

Last updated

2026-08-07

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.