He died of liver cirrhosis on May 21.
Hashimoto Jun, the Japanese lyricist who wrote the theme song for the popular anime "Galaxy Express 999" and the enka ballad "Blue Light Yokohama," died of liver cirrhosis on May 21, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday. He was 86.
Born in Tokyo in July 1939, Hashimoto spent his career writing lyrics for countless hit songs. While studying at Aoyama Gakuin University, he befriended a younger classmate, composer Tsutsumi Kyohei (1940–2020), and the two went on to produce a string of hits together — most notably "Blue Light Yokohama" (1968), with music by Tsutsumi and lyrics by Hashimoto. The song grew so popular that even in South Korea, where Japanese popular culture was banned at the time, it was regarded as the Japanese song most familiar to Korean audiences.
Hashimoto also wrote the Japanese lyrics to the "Galaxy Express 999" theme. The Korean-language version, made familiar by singer Kim Kuk-hwan, differs from the Japanese original. The Japanese lyrics read: "The train pierces the darkness, heading for a sea of light / A universe where infinite dreams scatter / Let us cross the stepping stones of stars / Everyone is a traveler searching for happiness." The Korean lyrics go: "As the train cuts through the darkness and crosses the Milky Way / Sunlight pours down on the space station / The eyes of a traveler seeking happiness burn bright / And in the heart of a boy who lost his mother, longing wells up."
jshan@heraldcorp.com
