Kikusuimaru Kawachiya  

Kawachiya Kikusuimaru is a renowned Japanese musician and vocalist who was born on February 14th, 1963 in Yao, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He specializes in performing Kawachi ondo, a type of traditional folk music from the region of Kawachi. His passion for this genre began at an early age when he started studying it under his father, Kawachiya Kikusui, at nine years old. In 1991, Kawachiya gained national recognition with his reggae-inspired song "Kakin Ondo," which was featured in a commercial for the recruitment magazine "From A." Since then, he has continued to captivate audiences around the world with his performances. He has traveled extensively, from Hawaii in 1983 to Baghdad in 1990 (for the Iraq for peace festival) and Pyongyang in 1995. Apart from being a talented musician, Kawachiya is also an accomplished writer and contributor to various newspapers. One of his notable works includes "Kikusuimarus Scrapbook," a collection of articles he wrote for the Osaka Shimbun newspaper.