Masahiko Kondō
近藤真彦
In 2008, as director of Kondo Racing
Kondō in 2008
Born (1964-07-19) July 19, 1964
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Other namesMatchy
Spouse
Atsuko Wada
​
(m. 1994)​
Children1
Musical career
GenresJ-pop, hard rock, kayōkyoku
Occupation(s)Singer, lyricist, actor, racing team manager
Years active1979–present
LabelsSony Music, Ariola Japan
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1994–1996, 2000–2003
TeamsA.D.A. Engineering Ltd./Team Nippon, Team Kunimitsu Honda, NISMO, TV Asahi Team Dragon, Oreca, Kondo Racing
Best finish8th (2000)
Class wins0
Websitewww.matchy.co.jp

Masahiko Kondō (近藤 真彦, Kondō Masahiko, born July 19, 1964) or Matchy is a Japanese singer, lyricist, actor, racing car manager and former semi-professional racing driver. He was a member of the Tanokin Trio.

Kondō is also a semi-professional racing driver and a racing team owner. He founded the racing team Kondo Racing in 2000, which currently competes in both Super Formula and Super GT.

Biography

1980–1987: Early recording career

Kondō was born in Yokohama. Working for the agency Johnny & Associates, Kondō was signed to the record label RVC. His debut single "Sneaker Blues" debuted at number-one on the Oricon weekly single charts in December 1980. With the single he became the first artist to have a debut single to go straight in at number one on Oricon at release.[1] As of 2008, he is the only solo male singer to have a debut single to debut at number one in his teens in Oricon history.[2] The single topped the Oricon charts for five consecutive weeks,[3] and eventually sold over one million copies.[4]

On March 5, 1981, Kondō released his first studio album Thank Ai You. He wrote the lyrics of the songs "Gloria" and "Just A Dance" for the album. Thank Ai You topped the Oricon weekly charts making him the youngest solo male singer to have the debut album to reach number one on the charts at the age of 16 years 8 months.[5] In 1982, he scored another hit called Passion Hot Wind Blown Away which topped the Oricon weekly charts for two weeks (1/25/1982 - 2/1/1982).[6]

In 1985 Kondō moved from RVC to CBS Sony (now Sony Music Entertainment Japan). On December 31, 1987, his song "Orokamono" won the grand prix award at the 29th Japan Record Awards.[7]

1988–2004: Racing career and "Midnight Shuffle"

Kondō learned to drive when he was already famous as a singer. Kondō had always had an interest in cars from an early age and driving on the track engendered his desire to drive race cars. He practiced and was accepted into a racing team when he was 19 in 1984 going on to having a moderately successful career on Japan's race circuit. In 1988 he took part in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship for the first time. On November 10, 1989, he released the single "Andalucia ni Akogarete", which was his cover version of the single by Masatoshi Mashima of Japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts released on October 21, 1989. While Mashima's original version peaked at number thirteen,[8] Kondō's cover version reached number nine in the Oricon charts.[9]

In 1994, he took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time. He also made his debut in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship that year with Team Taisan, winning on his debut race at Fuji Speedway in the wheel of an ex-Group C Porsche 962C. The victory, coupled with a third-place finish in the final round at Mine Circuit, allowed him to finish 9th in the 1994 standings. Kondō remained with Team Taisan for the next season and was credited with a win in the fifth round of the season at Sportsland Sugo despite being ineligible to score championship points on that round because he did not met the minimum distance requirement.

His 1996 song "Midnight Shuffle" peaked at number four in the Oricon weekly single charts. The song was the theme of Japanese television drama Ginrō Kaiki File: Futatsu no Zunō o Motsu Shōnen, in which then-Johnny's Jr. Koichi Domoto played a main role. Kondō appeared on NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen annual TV show singing "Midnight Shuffle". In the same year, Kondō switched teams to compete with the NISMO factory team on the newly rebranded GT500 class in JGTC. He went on to finish 11th and 19th in the 1996 and 1997 standings respectively.

Kondō concentrated his efforts to his full-time racing career starting from 1998, rarely appearing on TV and not putting out any new songs. His occasional appearances on TV were as a racer or racing commentator. On the same year he made his first and only season in JGTC's GT300 class as the driver NISMO's GT300 team, finishing 6th in the standings. Kondō returned to GT500 in the following year with Toyota Team Cerumo, where he would compete for four seasons before retiring from JGTC at the end of the 2002 season. On May 22, 2002, he released a single but it was a cover for his 1985 song "Yoisho".

2005–present: Returning to the recording studio

In 2005 Kondō decided to make a full return as a singer for the 25th anniversary of his debut. On December 14, 2005, he released the single "Chōsensya", which means challenger. He appeared in many TV programs, held dinner shows and went on a limited concert tour. He joined many of his successors such as SMAP, KinKi Kids, V6 and Arashi on their TV shows.

On January 25, 2006, Sony released Kondō's tribute album Matchy Tribute, in which Hitomi Takahashi covered the song "Midnight Shuffle". He also released his greatest hits album Matchy Best on February 6, 2006. The album Matchy Best debuted at number fifteen on the Oricon album charts.[10] On May 9, 2007, he released his first DVD work, Kondō Masahiko '07 Valentine's Day in Budokan, which was shot at his live concert at the Nippon Budokan on February 14, 2007. The DVD debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly music DVD charts.[11]

In December 2007, it was announced that Kondō collaborated with Johnny's Jr., the five-member of rock band Question?, forming the temporary group "Matchy with Question?" and singing the song "Mezamero! Yasei".[12] The song "Mezamero! Yasei" was used for the ending theme of anime series Naruto: Shippuden and was released as a CD single on January 23, 2008. The single debuted at number five on the Oricon charts and with the first week sales of around 40,000 copies.[13]

Kondō released the single "Banka (Otokotachi no Banka)" on December 23, 2008, and the single "Motto" on December 13, 2009. On February 22, 2010, he released the single "Zanbara". The first track, "Kokoro Zanbara", and the second track, "Koi Zanbara", were composed by Hal and Tsukasa respectively. The lyrics of both songs were written by Kōhan Kawauchi. Kawauchi sent the lyrics of the song to Johnny & Associates in 1989 but it had never been released until Kawauchi's death in 2008. The reason given was that the song seemed to be too sad for Kondo whose mother died in 1986.[14]

On April 10, 2010, Kondō started his first nationwide concert tour in Japan 21 years after his 1989 nationwide tour.[15]

In November 2020, Johnny & Associates announced that Kondō's activities were suspended indefinitely after he admitted he had an extra-marital affair.[16]

Personal life

In the late 1980s, Kondō was in a relationship with singer Akina Nakamori and the two were engaged, but he ended their relationship. The relationship ended because he had a third party affair with the Hong Kong singer Anita Mui. Shortly after media reported rumors that he and Anita Mui had an affair, it was also reported that Seiko Matsuda and Masahiko were romantically involved in a love triangle, in 1989, Nakamori broke into his apartment and attempted suicide.[17][18]

Kondō married Atsuko Wada, a non-celebrity woman, in 1994, with a son born in 2006 or 2007 (age 16–17).[18]

In November 2020, Shukan Bunshun reported allegations that Kondō was having an extramarital affair with a 31-year-old woman since 2015,[18] which he confirmed.[16] He was suspended by his agency indefinitely to atone for the affair.[18][16][19]

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Japan Record Awards

The Japan Record Awards is a major music awards show held annually in Japan by the Japan Composer's Association.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2010 Masahiko Kondō Best Singer Award Won

Racing record

All-Japan GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car No. Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
1994 Team Taisan Porsche 962C 35 GT1 FUJ SEN FUJ
1		 SUG MIN
3		 9th 32
1995 Ferrari F40 34 GT1 SUZ
11		 FUJ 15th 16
Porsche 911 GT2 35 SEN
3		 FUJ
9		 SUG
1		 MIN
9
1996 NISMO Nissan Skyline GT-R 556 GT500 SUZ
6		 FUJ
Ret		 SEN
17		 FUJ
5		 SUG
3		 MIN
10		 11th 27
1997 GT500 SUZ
5		 FUJ
Ret		 SEN
14		 FUJ
9		 MIN
Ret		 SUG
Ret		 19th 10
1998 Xanavi Racing with NISMO Jr. Nissan Silvia 15 GT300 SUZ
4		 FUJ
C		 SEN
2		 FUJ
Ret		 MOT
14		 MIN
Ret		 SUG
4		 6th 35
1999 Toyota Team Cerumo Toyota Supra 32 GT500 SUZ
8		 FUJ
6		 SUG
6		 MIN
Ret		 FUJ
Ret		 TAI
11		 MOT
15		 16th 12
2000 GT500 MOT
11		 FUJ
Ret		 SUG
16		 FUJ
19		 TAI
11		 MIN
Ret		 SUZ
10		 23rd 1
2001 Toyota Team Cerumo with Ukyo 33 GT500 TAI
12		 FUJ
14		 SUG
13		 FUJ
14		 MOT
9		 SUZ
Ret		 MIN
13		 24th 2
2002 Toyota Team Cerumo GT500 TAI
15		 FUJ SUG
9		 SEP
7		 FUJ
16		 MOT
12		 MIN
11		 SUZ
13		 21st 6

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1994 United Kingdom A.D.A. Engineering Ltd.
Japan Team Nippon		 Japan Jun Harada
Japan Tomiko Yoshikawa		 Porsche 962C GTi LMP1
/C90		 189 NC NC
1995 Japan NISMO Japan Hideo Fukuyama
Japan Shunji Kasuya		 Nissan Skyline GT-R LM GT1 271 10th 5th
1996 Japan NISMO Japan Aguri Suzuki
Japan Masahiko Kageyama		 Nissan Skyline GT-R LM GT1 209 DNF DNF
2000 Japan TV Asahi Team Dragon Japan Keiichi Tsuchiya
Japan Akira Iida		 Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S LMP900 330 8th 7th
2001 France Viper Team Oreca Japan Seiji Ara
Portugal Ni Amorim		 Chrysler LMP LMP900 243 DNF DNF
2002 Japan Kondo Racing United Kingdom Ian McKellar, Jr.
France François Migault		 Dome S101-Judd LMP900 182 DNF DNF
2003 Japan Kondo Racing Japan Ukyo Katayama
Japan Ryo Fukuda		 Dome S101-Mugen LMP900 322 13th 8th

Notes

1.^ Kondō did not met the requirement for minimum distance driven and was ineligible for championship points.

References

  1. ↑ ランキング特集『オリコン首位獲得シングル1000曲（1968～2007）』 (in Japanese). Oricon. 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  2. ↑ 平成元年生まれの清水翔太、デビュー作で新記録 (in Japanese). Oricon. 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  3. ↑ "KAT-TUN、00年代デビュー・アーティスト初の快挙達成！" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2006-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  4. ↑ "ウォークマンとCD登場！音楽が若者に不可欠となった80年代！" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2006-06-07. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  5. ↑ "清水翔太、平成生まれ初のアルバムTOP3入り" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  6. ↑ Single Chart Book - Complete Edition (1968-2010) (in Japanese). Oricon Research. February 2012. p. 905. ISBN 9784871310888.
  7. ↑ 【88年1月4日】悲痛！近藤真彦、母の遺骨盗んでも「心は絶対に盗めない！」 (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. 2010-01-04. Archived from the original on March 1, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  8. ↑ "Andalucia ni Akogarete/Masatoshi Mashima" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  9. ↑ "Andalucia ni Akogarete/Masahiko Kondō" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  10. ↑ ジャニーズ界の"アニキ"、近藤真彦デビュー25周年武道館ライブ開催！ (in Japanese). Oricon. 2006-02-14. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  11. ↑ 近藤真彦、20年ぶりにオリコン1位獲得！ (in Japanese). Oricon. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  12. ↑ マッチ後輩5人組と期間限定ユニット (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  13. ↑ "マッチ、12年ぶりのオリコンTOP5入り" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  14. ↑ マッチ、デビュー３０周年新曲は故・川内康範氏作詞の未発表曲！ (in Japanese). Sports Hochi. 2010-01-23. Archived from the original on 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  15. ↑ マッチ21年ぶり全国ツアー原点の岐阜から (in Japanese). Oricon. 2010-04-11. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  16. 1 2 3 "Japanese singer Masahiko Kondo to be suspended from work for having affair". Mainichi Shimbun. 2020-11-17. Archived from the original on 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  17. ↑ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (2016-02-02). "A one-of-a-kind album tried to turn '80s pop on its ear". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Yan, Lim Ruey (2020-11-17). "Ex-1980s J-pop idol Masahiko Kondo says sorry for affair, suspended by agency". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  19. ↑ "Masahiko Kondo: Japanese singer suspended over extra-marital affair". BBC News. 19 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "青春グラフィティ スニーカーぶる～す".
  21. ↑ Zahlten, Alexander (2017-09-15). The End of Japanese Cinema: Industrial Genres, National Times, and Media Ecologies. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822372462.
  22. ↑ "［映画］ハイティーン・ブギ".
  23. ↑ http://www.ihkmusic.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=VE11901&txtParam=0&txtCat=%BC@%B1%A1%A4%F9
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