Ichirou Mizuki's Real Name: Toshio Hayakawa

Quick answer: Ichirou Mizuki's real name was Toshio Hayakawa (早川俊夫). He was born on January 7, 1948, in Tokyo, Japan, and died on December 6, 2022. He was widely called the "Emperor of Anime Songs."

Birth name and stage name

Toshio Hayakawa adopted the professional name Ichiro Mizuki / Ichirou Mizuki (水木一郎) when launching a singing career. Japanese and international anime music references list Hayakawa as the birth name and Mizuki as the stage name (Anime News Network; Crunchyroll obituary; official profile).

He debuted in 1968 and from 1971's Genshi Shōnen Ryū onward became the defining voice of 1970s–80s anime and tokusatsu theme songs.

Anison catalog and records

Official materials credit him with performing on the order of 1,200 songs, including iconic openings for Mazinger Z, Captain Harlock, and multiple Kamen Rider entries, plus later Ultraman themes. In 1999 he completed a pioneering 24-hour live performance aiming to sing 1,000 songs—cited on his official site as a landmark solo live feat (official biography; Crunchyroll).

He toured internationally (Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East) and appeared at Expo 2010 Shanghai. In 2016 he received a Tokyo Anime Award Festival lifetime achievement honor. A 2018 Mazinger Z / Infinity film used his newly recorded theme version (official biography).

Death and legacy

Ichiro Mizuki died on December 6, 2022, at age 74; anime press worldwide noted the loss of a foundational anison artist (Crunchyroll; ANN). Japanese educational materials have used his life story in moral-education readers about developing individuality, per his official site.

Ichiro Mizuki best-of / Mazinger Z theme collections CD classic anime soundtrack compilations featuring Mizuki Mazinger Z related Blu-ray sets