"Song of the Echigo Lion"

Her first film appearance was in March 1949 for Toyoko Film's "Nodo Jiman Kyo Jidai" (The Crazy Days of Singing) directed by Torajiro Saito, which immediately sold 100,000 copies and soon became her first big hit, approaching 500,000 copies. In 1951, she had "Echigo Lion's Song" (theme song for the Shochiku New Year's film "Tonbogaeri Dochu" directed by Torajiro Saito) and in 1952, "Ringo Oiwake" (theme song for the radio drama "Ringoen no Shojo" (also made into a film by Shochiku in the same year) which became big hits and secured her stardom. As these examples show, her penetration into the public with the double bill format of "song and film" led to her immense popularity throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Incidentally, she appeared in 63 films over the five years from 1957 to 1961, averaging a little over 12 per year (In July 1958, a gentleman's agreement between six Japanese film companies that prohibited any one company from monopolizing Hibari was broken, and Toei signed an exclusive contract with her, which continued until December 1963).

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "The Echigo Lion's Song" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…なお映画初出演は1949年3月の東横映画･斎藤寅次郎監督《のど自慢狂時代》)，たちまち10万枚を売りつくし，やがて50万枚に迫る初の大ヒットとなった。51年には《越後獅子の唄》(斎藤寅次郎監督の松竹正月映画《とんぼ返り道中》の主題歌)，52年には《リンゴ追分》(ラジオドラマ《リンゴ園の少女》の主題歌，同じ年に松竹で映画化もされる)の大ヒットを飛ばしてスターの座を確かなものにするが，これらの例にもみるように，〈歌に映画に〉といった2本立て形式での大衆への浸透が，以後，昭和30年代を通じての絶大な人気を築くことになる。ちなみに，昭和32年から36年まで5年間の映画出演本数は63本，年平均12本強にも及んでいる(なお，昭和33年7月に〈ひばりに関しては1社の独占を禁ずる〉という邦画6社の紳士協定が破られて東映が専属契約，それが昭和38年12月まで続いた)。…

※「《越後獅子の唄》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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