He may not be as famous as he should be, but I believe that his contributions to Japanese music is quite large. Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi heard Tomobe’s song “Ipponmichi” and decided to pursue a career in music. When Takuro Yoshida heard the lyrics of the same song, he said, “Tomobe is not my rival, he’s my jealousy. I can’t write the lines like he does.” Other musicians who have been influenced by Tomobe include Kazufumi Miyazawa (THE BOOM), Tama, Naotaro Moriyama, and many others.
Ryuichi Sakamoto made his debut as a professional musician when he recorded with Tomobe for the album “Nobody Will Be able to Paint a Picture of Me”.