Hiroshi Kamayatsu

Kamayatsu Hiroshi, also known as Monsieur Kamayatsu, was a folk and rock guitarist and singer from Tokyo.

The hit songs he composed for his band The Spiders in the mid 1960s are widely considered to be gems, and still hold up as classics today in the Japanese market. "Monsieur" was also a member of Vodka Collins, and a very successful solo act.

In 1999 he had a reunion with some former members of The Spiders, forming the band Sans Filtre. Among his work in the first half of 2000s was his performance of RTB - the ending song to the anime Sentou Yousei Yukikaze. In 2009 he released an anniversary album that he recorded together with a large group of famous music artists.

He was going strong performing for over five decades, often being considered a true legend in Japan. On 1 March 2017 he died from pancreatic cancer, aged 78. His wife died earlier in February of the same year.