Joe Yamanaka

, better known as , was a Japanese singer and actor. He is known for both his work with Flower Travellin' Band and as a solo musician; singing at a vocal range of three octaves. As an actor, he appeared in many television shows and movies, such as Blackmail Is My Life, Proof of the Man (1977), Zatoichi (1989) and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka (2002).

He is also recognized for 20 years of charity and volunteer work with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and flew around the world helping those in poor or war-torn conditions; visiting more than 30 countries including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bosnia, numerous sovereign states in Africa, China, Ukraine (including Chernobyl), North Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Brazil. While doing aid work in Jamaica, he met local musicians and later became involved in reggae music. His aid work was a personal inspiration to help those who were growing up in similar conditions that he had experienced as a child.

Biography Akira Yamanaka was born in Yokohama, Japan, on September 2, 1946. He grew up in a family of seven children, though the only one of mixed descent as his father was a US Army soldier of Caribbean descent. In his autobiography, he mentions that he never met his biological father and that he came from a poor family in ruined Yokohama; being born in a brothel as his mother was a prostitute for the Recreation and Amusement Association. The only knowledge of his father was that he was a US soldier from either Cuba or Jamaica. Joe grew up in an orphanage after his mother and stepfather died. During an interview with Mainichi Shimbun, Akira stated that he was born with tuberculosis and that he never really thought about his biological father, believing that those who raised him were his real parents.

He left the orphanage at the age of 16 and became a boxer (inspired by his childhood idol Hiroyuki Ebihara) to earn money, he then met his lifelong friend Rikiya Yasuoka, who was a kickboxer of Japanese-Sicilian heritage. Yamanaka mentions that he adopted the English name Joe because it is the English pronunciation of his favorite painter, Keito Joh; with Joh meaning castle in Japanese. As a teenage boxer, he used the ring name . They went on to become successful, particularly in Canada where they lived for a while, and are now considered a pioneering and influential Japanese band.

In his acting career he was known as one of the three "real tough guys" in Japanese cinema, along with Tsunehiko Watase and Jerry Fujio. The trio were known for being good-natured, but with a rebellious past and noted fighting prowess. In his autobiography, Akira recounts the times during his youth when he was involved in violent fights. After a large brawl with members of the Zenkyoto in Hibiya Park in which he almost killed a man, the resulting police raid led him to an epiphany that "violence leads to nothing." Three of Joe's songs were used in the film.

After Flower Travellin' Band disbanded in 1973, Joe started a solo career the following year. His most well-known song is , which sold more than half a million copies, which he learned in February. On September 6, his house was burned down after a lit cigarette was left unattended. In March of the following year Yamanaka participated in fundraising for relief from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and performed his last concert on May 5. He suffered cardiac arrest in late July. Joe died from his cancer on August 7, 2011, at 6:56 am, less than a month before his 65th birthday.

Discography

Solo Studio

1974 – Joe 1977 – 1979 – Goin' Home 1981 – 1982 – Reggae Vibration – credited to Joe Yamanaka & The Wailers 1983 – Reggae Vibration II - My Reggae Music 1984 – Reggae Vibration III - We Are Fighters 1991 – Love Is an Art 2006 – Mr. Rally – Stupid Philosopher 2009 – Reggae Vibration IV - Going Back to Jamaica Compilation

1980 – Joe '70s 1986 – 20th Anniversary 1996 – 1999 – Reggae History: Joe Yamanaka Best Selection 2001 – W's 2005 – 2008 – 2012 – Bamboo Grass

Live

1978 –

With Flower Travellin' Band

Studio

1970 – Anywhere 1971 – Satori 1972 – Made in Japan 1973 – Make Up 2008 – We Are Here

Compilation

1971 – Satori 1975 – The Times

Video

2008 – Resurrection

With Kuni Kawachi

1970 – Kirikyogen

With Akira Ito and Hideki Ishima

1984 – Japanesque

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1964 Car Thieves Tohoku-Ben 1968 Blackmail Is My Life Noguchi 1969 Black Rose Mansion George 1969 Savage Wolf Pack Taro 1977 Proof of the Man Johnny Hayward 1978 Never Give Up Himself 1981 Tomorrow's Joe 2 Carlos Rivera (voice) 1989 Zatoichi Sukezaemon Kuruma 1991 Door II: Tokyo Diary Mamiya 1993 Ulterior Motives Himself 2002 Deadly Outlaw: Rekka Nobuhiro Hiraoka 2003 Shin Karate Baka Ichidai: Kakutōsha 2004 Izo Butler