Death sells. That's the cynical conclusion one reaches when looking at the career of tragic Japanese rock 'n' roller Yutaka Ozaki. Since he died at age 26 on April 25, 1992, Ozaki has become mythologized as a rock 'n' roll rebel who followed the path of excess and paid the ultimate price, one in a long line of doomed romantic heroes in Japanese culture. Ozaki's demise was decidedly inglorious - he died of excessive accumulation of fluid in his lungs (pulmonary edema) several hours after being...

Death sells. That's the cynical conclusion one reaches when looking at the career of tragic Japanese rock 'n' roller Yutaka Ozaki. Since he died at age 26 on April 25, 1992, Ozaki has become mythologized as a rock 'n' roll rebel who followed the path of excess and paid the ultimate price, one in a long line of doomed romantic heroes in Japanese culture. Ozaki's demise was decidedly inglorious - he died of excessive accumulation of fluid in his lungs (pulmonary edema) several hours after being found drunk and naked in a Tokyo alleyway early the morning. It was his skill in expressing the frustrations of young people trapped in a conformist social system that made him a Japanese rock martyr. They may sound a bit tame in translation, but Ozaki lyrics like "I don't want to be crushed in the rush hour until my death/Why, to whom and what do have I have to be tied?/I can see myself struggling in a stream from which I can't escape" ("High School Rock 'n' Roll") spoke to disaffected Japanese youth. In songs such as "Seventeen's Map", Ozaki dealt with heavy subjects like teenage prostitution, questioning the values of a society in which a young girl who has lost her dreams sells her body on the street. Following Ozaki's death, some 100,000 of his fans signed a petition asking the police to re-open the investigation into his death. The petition was sponsored by Ozaki's father and brother, who believe the artist didn't die through misadventure but was murdered. Somebody, they think, made him consume (just how isn't clear) enough alcohol and drugs to kill him. Sony Records, which in 1989 released Ozaki's debut single, Sotsugyo (Graduation) and to which the artist was signed when he died, maintained that Ozaki's death had nothing to do with drug use. But few believed that, citing Ozaki's 1987 arrest and 18-month suspended sentence for possession of speed. That confirmed Ozaki's outlaw status and caused him to be temporarily dropped by Sony; the company later re-signed him. In the years following Ozaki's death, a nondescript house in northeast Tokyo became a pilgrimage for Ozaki fans. The alley in which Ozaki was found is beside the house, which belonged to one Tadao Komine. He felt sorry for the fans who regularly visited the alley to pay their respects to their fallen idol, so he converted one small room of his home into what amounted to an Ozaki shrine; the walls were covered by photos and fans' drawings of the late star. Sony hasn't forgotten about him, either, regularly releasing Ozaki compilations, cover versions, videos and DVDs. They sell quite well, apparently.