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Rentaro Kita

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Rentaro Kita
Portrait of Rentaro Kita from a 78 RPM lyric sheet.
Portrait of Rentaro Kita from a 78 RPM lyric sheet.
Background information
Birth nameKan Kita
Born(1920-03-20)March 20, 1920
Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan
OriginJapan
DiedSeptember 15, 1940(1940-09-15) (aged 20)
GenresRyūkōka
OccupationSinger
Years active1936–40
LabelsTaihei 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

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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.