Yuya Uchida was a Japanese singer, record producer, and actor. With a career spanning six decades, he was a major figure in Japanese popular music.
Yuya Uchida in 1963
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence , also known as Furyo , is a 1983 war film co-written and directed by Nagisa Ćshima, co-written by Paul Mayersberg, and produced by Jeremy Thomas. The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post as a prisoner of war in Java during World War II, as depicted in his books The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970). It stars David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano and Jack Thompson; Sakamoto also composed and played the musical score including the vocal version of the main theme "Forbidden Colours", with lyrics written and sung by David Sylvian.
Japanese theatrical release poster
David Bowie was cast as Jack Celliers on the strength of his performance in The Elephant Man.