[1] Senri Oe's pop music garnered mass popularity in Japan following his first single "Wallabee Shoes" in 1983.
Oe began playing piano at the age of three, and was trained by his junior high school teacher Yumi Nara, who would go on to become an acclaimed opera singer.
Soon after, Oe's music repertoire expanded to include jazz musicians such as Chris Conor, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Winton Kelly, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.
In 1975, Oe participated in the final Yamaha Popular Song Contest POPCON (akin to American Idol).
[2] Later in 1980, Oe entered Kwansei Gakuin University and majored in economics while simultaneously beginning to pursue a professional music career.
On February 27, 1983, Oe performed on STV Radio's Sunday Jumbo Special in Sapporo, Hokkaido, granting him his initial exposure as a professional musician.
After graduating from Kwansei Gakuin University, Oe rose to fame in November 1984 with the success of his sixth single, "10 People, 10 Colors (十人十色)."
Continuing to tour large venues throughout Japan, Oe released the greatest hits album, Sloppy Joe, on March 25, 1989, which charted at No.
Meanwhile, Oe appeared as an actor on television for the first time, in the dramatic show entitled Kimi Ga Uso Wo Tuita.
Also, notably, Oe scored music for the Japanese animated film Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure in the South Seas, as well as "Kono Hoshino Dokokade" by Yasuda Sisters.
At the same time, Oe was creating his fourth jazz vocal album, Answer July,[6][7] with Sheila Jordan, Jon Hendricks, Theo Bleckmann and Lauren Kinhan.