Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni

"Kawa no nagare no yō ni" (川の流れのように, "Like the Flow of the River") is the last single recorded by Japanese enka singer Hibari Misora, as she died soon after its release in 1989. It was composed by Akira Mitake, with lyrics by Yasushi Akimoto.[2] The single charted at 8th place for more than a year[3] and sold 225,000 copies in Japan.[4] It was voted the greatest Japanese song of all time during a national poll in 1997 by NHK,[5] with more than 10 million votes. It is often the song of choice for artists performing live tributes to Misora. It is also covered by various singers, including Teresa Teng, The Three Tenors and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán.[5][6][7]

"Kawa no Nagare no yō ni
(川の流れのように)"
Single by Hibari Misora
LanguageJapanese
Released1989 (1989)[1]
GenrePop
Length4:54
LabelNippon Columbia
Songwriter(s)Yasushi Akimoto
Composer(s)Akira Mitake
Audio
Kawa no Nagare no yō ni
"川の流れのように"
on YouTube

Charts

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Weekly

Chart (1989) Peak
position
Appearances
(Weeks)
Japanese Singles Chart 8[3] 63[3]

Year-End

Chart (1989) Peak
position
Japanese Singles Chart 35[4][8]
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Japanese Singles Chart 78[9]

Legacy

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The song inspired the Kawa model used in occupational therapy.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "川の流れのように - 美空ひばり". Oricon. Retrieved 2023-11-23. 川の流れのように - 美空ひばり - 最高順位 - 8位 - 登場回数 - 63週 - 発売日 - 1989年01月01日
  2. ^ "川の流れのようにの歌詞 - 美空ひばり". Oricon. Retrieved 2023-11-23. 作詞 - 秋元康 - 作曲 - 見岳章
  3. ^ a b c "美空ひばりのシングル売上TOP12作品" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 2023-11-23. Retrieved 2023-11-23. 川の流れのように - 発売日 - 1989年01月11日 - 最高順位 - 8位 - 登場回数 - 63週
  4. ^ a b "1989年の年間シングル売上ランキング(日本国内)". Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. 35位 - 川の流れのように - 美空ひばり - 22.5万
  5. ^ a b Matthew Hernon (2022-02-07). "Spotlight: Hibari Misora — The Queen of Enka". Tokyo Weekender. Archived from the original on 2023-11-24. ...Eight years after her death, it was voted the greatest Japanese song of all time in a national poll by NHK. In 1996, The Three Tenors delighted fans when they performed the track at their concert in Tokyo. The song has been covered by several other well-known artists, including "Asia's eternal queen of pop" Teresa Teng.
  6. ^ "スーパーセレクション - テレサ・テン". Oricon. Retrieved 2023-11-23. 12. 川の流れのように - 最高順位 - 13位 - 登場回数 - 15週 - 発売日 - 1995年06月07日
  7. ^ "May 9 – 29: Music and Movies - Santa Clara County Library District". Santa Clara County Library District. 2022-05-09. Archived from the original on 2023-04-02. ...Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan performed Kawa no nagare no yō ni in Japan in the song's original language. They also recorded a version of it in Spanish and Japanese...
  8. ^ "1989年間シングルヒット曲". Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. 35 - 川の流れのように - 美空ひばり - 1989/01/11
  9. ^ "1990年間シングルヒット曲". Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. 78 - 川の流れのように - 美空ひばり - 1989/01/11
  10. ^ Iwama, Michael (2014-01-27). Dr Michael Iwama shares insights into the Kawa Model for ETOS (Osnabruck, Germany) (Television production). YouTube. Retrieved 2023-05-30.