Yūri Hasegawa

Yūri Hasegawa, also known by his stage names Ojisan and Uncle Jumpsuit, is a popular Akitsukunese singer. Known for his cultivated persona as a rural farmer, Hasegawa is famous for his pop renditions of folk songs and often simple subject matter in his songs, relating to everyday occurrences faced by Akitsukunese in both the countryside and the city. His most popular songs include "I'm So Lonely", "I'm Heading to Heian", "No Home Without You" and "Uncle Jumpsuit", attaining wide popularity in Akitsukuni and abroad.

Hasegawa briefly fell out of the limelight in the 1980s following a scandal involving his supposed ties to communist groups, though he was later cleared of all charges. He has three sons and two daughters, of which the youngest son, Isao Hasegawa, has followed his father's footsteps and is now a popular rapper under the stage name "Nuclear Missile Isao".

Early life
Hasegawa was born in the outskirts of Niihama, the northern Akitsukunese port city, to a Jeongmi immigrant father and an Akitsukunese mother. When he was young, his father Kim Il-Sung encouraged him to cultivate a talent in the arts, and Hasegawa became a singing prodigy by the age of five, joining several child choirs and attaining some notability as "Akitsukuni's youngest chorister". He also picked up the shamisen and dabbled in taiko drumming before returning to singing by the time he entered college, attending the Niihama Institute of the Arts and attaining a degree in vocals conducting.

Career beginnings
Hasegawa's began his career with modernised pop versions of rural folk songs such as "I'm Heading to Heian" and "Tenzan Hill". This inspired him to take on a persona as a simple, rustic, farmer figure that the Akitsukunese public could relate to. In 1975, he made his first breakthrough with the top 10 hit "I'm So Lonely", followed up by the release of his first album, "Akashi Nights".

Uncle Jumpsuit and worldwide success
The next album released by Hasegawa, "Uncle Jumpsuit", marked his rise to worldwide popularity and the spread of Akitsukunese pop music across the world.

Communism scandal
In 1988, Hasegawa was suddenly accused of having ties to various communist groups operating in Akitsukuni and placed under surveillance by the ISA for unknown reasons, suspected to be due to comments he made regarding the 1987 Mountain War the previous year. This resulted in his fall from popularity overnight and a halt in the sale of his songs, with a potential ban considered by the Media Betterment Division of the Ministry of Culture. However, he was soon publicly cleared of all charges within a month, but the damage was done and Hasegawa faded from the spotlight for the next half-decade to avoid death threats to himself and his family.

1990s, Ojisan and revival
Hasegawa finally made a comeback after a hesitant fundraising concert was unexpectedly attended by over 100,000 fans in 1993. Staging an international comeback tour, Hasegawa shot to popularity once again, especially amongst the older generations. In 1994, he released another album, "Ojisan", as well as a re-release of "Uncle Jumpsuit" that sold over 1 million copies worldwide within a week.