“When I’m not performing, I work at my bar in Aomori, Japan. While I’m working at the bar, I end up performing…” Toki Toyokazu.
“I’m a Japanese Elvis tribute artist. My English isn’t very good, but I can sing Elvis songs” said Toki Toyokazu. Toki was born and raised in Tohoku Town, Aomori Prefecture, at the northernmost tip of mainland Japan and currently lives in Aomori City.
Toki’s musical roots lie in singing and dancing, hoping to see the joy on his grandfather’s face. “When I was little, there was a special event twice a year, during Obon and New Year’s, where my relatives’ children would perform special performances to entertain my sick, bedridden grandfather,” Toki said.
Toki’s love of Elvis developed when he was 16, saying “There was something of an oldies boom in Japan, and my earliest memory of hearing Elvis music is a friend with a ducktail and a boombox doing the twist to Blue Suede Shoes. “At the time, Elvis was considered delinquent music and I felt like I shouldn’t listen to it, so I wasn’t interested.
“But when I was 21, I saw a video called Elvis 56 at Tower Records. A bolt of lightning ran through my body, and from that moment on, I said I wanted to be Elvis and started performing.”
“There is a US military base close to where I live, and since there are a lot of Americans there, I thought I might be able to sing Elvis songs. So I sang Baby Let’s Play House over and over again in front of the base gate, accompanied by guitar.
“At first, the gate attendants were happy, but as I kept singing it over and over, they started to get suspicious, so they called the military police and almost arrested me. After that, I got to perform at an oldies living house, and I’ve been singing Elvis songs ever since.”
See Toki perform at a number of Elvis Festival events including on Wednesday, 7 January 10am – 11.30am at the Wall of Fame to unveil his UETA Star. Wednesday, 7 January 1.30pm – 3pm at Parkes Services Club in a show with Josuel Grech.
Friday, 9 January 3.25pm – 3.55pm on the Memphis Stage. The Ultimate Elvis Champion, Thursday 9 January 7:30pm – 11pm at the The Little Theater. Sunday, 10 January at 3pm – 4pm at the past UETA winners’ performance to close the Cooke Park Main Stage.