‘So respectable’: fans mourn death of Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura, a major influence on Hong Kong’s 1980s Cantopop scene, who died at 74

Shinji Tanimura, who died on October 8, became a hit in China with songs like ‘Subaru’, and he performed at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo’s opening ceremony

The Japanese singer-songwriter was a keen promoter of friendly relations between Japan and China and many of his songs were adapted into Cantonese and Mandarin

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Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura on stage in 2018 in Beijing, China. Tanimura was much loved in his native Japan, as well as in Hong Kong and mainland China. Photo: Visual China Group via Getty Images

Published: 5:45pm, 17 Oct 2023Updated: 5:48pm, 17 Oct 2023

Japanese singer-songwriter Shinji Tanimura, known for songs such as “Subaru” (“Star”) that made him a hit in China, died in hospital on October 8. He was 74.

The leader of Japanese three-man folk group Alice, which formed in 1971, had undergone surgery for acute enteritis – inflammation of the small intestine – in March, and was receiving treatment for it at the time of his death.

Aside from the songs he sang as part of Alice, Tanimura was known for his 1980 solo hit “Subaru”, which depicted a person who wishes upon a constellation of stars. He performed the song at the Shanghai World Expo’s opening ceremony in 2010.

Tanimura was a keen promoter of friendly relations between Japan and China and held several concerts in the latter. He also taught as a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Tanimura performs during the official farewell event for Japan’s national stadium in Tokyo in 2014. Photo: AFP

Born in 1948 in Osaka, Japan, Tanimura wrote songs for other singers throughout his early career, such as “Iihi Tabidachi” (“Leaving on a Good Day”) for 1970s singer and actress Momoe Yamaguchi. He formed Alice with Takao Horiuchi and Toru Yazawa in 1971.