Rentaro Kita

Rentaro Kita
Portrait of Rentaro Kita from a 78 RPM lyric sheet.
Background information
Birth name	Kan Kita
Born	(1920-03-20)March 20, 1920 Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan
Origin	Japan
Died	September 15, 1940(1940-09-15) (aged 20)
Genres	Ryūkōka
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1936–40
Labels	Taihei Records, Polydor Records

Rentaro Kita (北 廉太郎, Kita Rentarō, March 20, 1920 – September 15, 1940) was a Japanese ryūkōka singer from the early Shōwa era.

Life and career

Kita was born in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture as Kan Kita (紀多 寛, Kita Kan). He made his debut in 1936 with the song Tears of a Man (男の涙, Otoko no namida) on Taihei Records. In 1937 he moved to Polydor Records where he assumed the professional name Rentarō Kita, a name chosen for its play of sound on the name of composer Rentaro Taki. During this period Kita enjoyed the peak of his fame, but his career abruptly ended with his sudden death from leukemia in 1940 at the age of 20.