:Shimaguchi Komao
{{Short description|Japanese composer and writer (1911–1945)}}
{{family name hatnote|Shimaguchi|lang=Japanese}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Shimaguchi Komao
| image = Shimaguchi Komao.jpg
| caption = Shimaguchi Komao during the early Shōwa era
| native_name = 島口駒夫
| native_name_lang = ja
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|04|10}}
| birth_place = Kaizuka, Chiba Prefecture, Empire of Japan
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|03|17|1911|04|10}}
| death_place = Iwo Jima, Empire of Japan
| occupation =
| years_active = early 1930s–1945
}}
{{nihongo|Shimaguchi Komao|{{Langx|ja|島口駒夫}}}}; April 10, 1911 – March 17, 1945) was a Japanese composer of ryūkōka and gunka.
Biography
Shimaguchi was born in 1911 in the village of Kaizuka (today part of the city of Kamogawa), Chiba Prefecture. He was the third son of a family who ran a fishery. Upon finishing elementary school, Shimaguchi moved to Tokyo where, with the assistance of an older brother, he enrolled at a music school.{{cite web |title=作曲家 島口駒夫 |url=https://www.city.kamogawa.lg.jp/site/shiryoukan/1014.html#:~:text=%E5%B3%B6%E5%8F%A3%E9%A7%92%E5%A4%AB%E3%81%AF,%E6%B4%BB%E8%BA%8D%E3%82%92%E5%A7%8B%E3%82%81%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%80%82 |website=Kamogawa City |access-date=May 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521024003/https://www.city.kamogawa.lg.jp/site/shiryoukan/1014.html |archive-date=May 21, 2022 |language=Japanese}}
During his professional career, Shimaguchi was signed exclusively to Nippon Victor,{{cite book |last1=Shimaguchi |first1=Komao |title=流行作曲家になるには : 易しい流行歌の作曲の仕方 |date=August 1938 |publisher=新興音樂出版社 |location=Tokyo |page=107 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1055225?tocOpened=1 |access-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521024754/https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1055225?tocOpened=1 |archive-date=May 21, 2022 |language=Japanese}} for whom he composed a number of songs which were popularized by the label's singers such as Fujiyama Ichirō, Haida Katsuhiko, and Nitta Hachirō.{{cite web |last1=Miyagawa |first1=Mitsuyoshi |title=長崎の歌(70) 続 : 秘曲・珍曲・話題曲（上） |url=http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/nagazine/uta/090501/index.html |website=ナガジン！ |access-date=June 16, 2021 |location=Nagasaki |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521024955/http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/nagazine/uta/090501/index.html |archive-date=May 21, 2022 |language=Japanese}}{{cite web |title=島口駒夫作曲の歌詞一覧リスト |url=https://www.uta-net.com/composer/31680/ |website=Uta-Net |access-date=June 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521025139/https://www.uta-net.com/composer/31680/ |archive-date=May 21, 2022 |language=Japanese}} Shimaguchi also wrote a primer, {{nihongo|Becoming a Popular Music Composer: Easy Methods to Write Popular Songs|流行作曲家になるには : 易しい流行歌の作曲の仕方|Ryūkō sakkyokka ni naruniha: Yasashī ryūkōka no sakkyoku no shikata}}, which was published by {{ill|Shinkō Music Publishers|ja|シンコーミュージック・エンタテイメント}} in August 1938.{{sfn|Shimaguchi|1938|pp=2–3}} His most famous song was {{nihongo|"South Seas Voyage"|南洋航路|Nan'yō kōro}}, which was released in 1940. However, it gained wider popularity postwar as {{nihongo|"Rabaul Ditty"|ラバウル小唄|Rabauru kouta}}, a renamed contrafactum devised by demobilized Japanese military personnel formerly deployed in the Nan'yō region.{{cite web |title=ラバウル小唄 |url=http://odasan.s48.xrea.com/music/else/raba.html |website=蛞蝓屋敷 |access-date=June 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521025256/http://odasan.s48.xrea.com/music/else/raba.html |archive-date=May 21, 2022 |language=Japanese}}
After the start of the Pacific War, Shimaguchi was drafted by the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was first deployed to Tateyama Air Base, then later to Iwo Jima. Shimaguchi died on March 17, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima. His remains were never found, but he left behind a pair of incomplete songs, including {{nihongo|"Farewell, Wife and Children"|さらば妻子よ|Saraba saishi yo}}.
References
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Category:20th-century Japanese composers
Category:Japanese male composers
Category:People from Kamogawa, Chiba
Category:Victor Entertainment artists
Category:Imperial Japanese Navy personnel killed in World War II