He was born in Takehara City in Hiroshima Prefecture, and graduated from Kuremitsuta High School (where he was a member of the baseball team).

He attended Kanagawa University, where he studied law, but left the school before graduating.

His solo debut came in 1976 with the album Umareta Tokoro o Tōku Hanarete.

In addition to his well-known ballads, he was strongly influenced by his father's experience as a victim of radiation poisoning following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, and many of his songs have a very strong protest song tone.

He has written music for many other artists, including Momoe Yamaguchi, and Akiko Wada.