Beginning of popularity In the early Showa period, the microphone was introduced into the popular music of Japan. Teiichi Futamura released his cover version of in 1928. The song was originally composed by Fred Fisher. Chiyako Sato's 1928 song , composed by Nakayama, sold 100,000 copies. The song was also sung by singer Yoshie Fujiwara. Chiyako Sato's 1929 song "Tokyo March" sold more than 300,000 copies. 1931–1937: Rising popularity Some of the country's first major stars were singer Ichiro Fujiyama and composer Masao Koga. Koga attempted to initiate fusion of Western jazz and Japanese dodoitsu. Fujiyama's 1931 song , composed by Koga, became a major hit in Japan. This song created a fusion of Fujiyama's crooning and Koga's guitar play. Using the vocal technic Mezza Voce with a microphone, Fujiyama sang the song by the deep voice of not Opera's G minor but D minor. Fujiyama's song sold 600,000 copies. However, Fujiyama was an elite student, who specialized Western classical music in the Tokyo Music School. Ryūkōka songs often dealt with the "Ero Guro Nansensu" things. Since his school regarded ryūkōka as bad form at that time, Fujiyama was once suspended from the school, though Fujiyama was not dismissed from the school because Klaus Pringsheim Sr., a professor of the school, opposed the proposal of Fujiyama's expulsion. This period also saw the popularity of geisha singers such as Ichimaru and Katsutaro Kouta. Katsutaro became famous when Fujiyama was turned out of ryūkōka. Her song sold 600,000 copies. Katsutaro and Issei Mishima recorded duet song "Tokyo Ondo". The song was composed by Shinpei Nakayama and was released in 1933. The single "Tokyo Ondo" sold 1,200,000 copies. When Fujiyama sang Western classic lied songs, those songs were called "kayōkyoku", but the term "kayōkyoku" went on to be used as another name of ryūkōka in NHK. At first, Koga was a good co-worker for Fujiyama but they moved apart from each other because Koga sought "Japanese" music. On the other hand, Yoshie Fujiwara drew a clear line between him and ryūkōka and established the Fujiwara Opera in 1934, launching the establishment of Japanese Opera. Baritone singer Taro Shoji's 1934 song also became popular, though he did not know Kunisada Chūji, the theme of the song. Soprano singer Noriko Awaya also sang ryūkōka, but the Toyo Music School once annulled her graduation. However, her song became a hit in 1937. The song was composed