Kayo Kyoku Plus
I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Noriyuki Makihara -- Shouri no Egao(勝利の笑顔)
Ryuichi Sakamoto -- Dancing in the Sky
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Miyuki Kajitani -- Kiss The Sunlight
So far, singer-songwriter Miyuki Kajitani(梶谷美由紀)has been represented on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for her contribution to the "Sailor Moon" franchise with the happy-go-lucky ""Rashiku" Ikimasho"(”らしく” いきましょ)ending theme. And on her J-Wiki page, it's been said that she's been mostly known for her anison.
However, Kajitani did release her 5th single in November 1996, "Kiss The Sunlight", which apparently didn't have any anime connections (although it was used as the ending theme for a weekly animal documentary program on TBS). It's also quite the peppy bossa-pop number that starts with a rollicking keyboard sequence that I quite like. For a while, I thought maybe it could also qualify as a Shibuya-kei piece but ultimately I went with Latin and Pop. Kenzo Saeki(サエキけんぞう)and Kajitani were the lyricists here while Hirofumi Suzuki(鈴木博文)took care of the amiable melody.
TOM★CAT -- Summer Time Graffiti(サマータイム グラフィティ)
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| 663highland via Wikimedia Commons |
I regret that I never took the opportunity to visit Okinawa during my years in Japan. I have a friend who lives in Naha and we've exchanged correspondence and Christmas cards once a year for many years now. Maybe I'll get that chance someday. Certainly would love to try Okinawan cuisine such as goya champloo and their distinct brand of soba.
One reason that I mentioned the above is that this particular song was used as the campaign jingle for Japan Air Lines' 1985 campaign for Okinawa. "Summer Time Graffiti" was the second single released by the band TOM★CAT. I wrote about these guys back in 2022 with their November 1984 debut song "Furare Kibun de Rock 'n' Roll"(ふられ気分でRock'n' Roll) and they stood out for their main vocalist TOM, aka Atsumi Matsuzaki(松崎淳美)with her distinct look of J-Roy Orbison in hair and sunglasses as she manned the keyboards.
"Summer Time Graffiti" was written and composed by TOM and released in April 1985. It's definitely got that 80s sound with those orchestra hits launching the song off and TOM's keyboard work which almost had me sprouting a mullet from the back of my head. I think that JAL was quite happy with this one for their campaign since it's dynamic enough to make tourists think about parting with their money for a trip down to Japan's southernmost prefecture. "Summer Time Graffiti" made it to No. 13 on Oricon.
Seiko Matsuda -- Futari dake no Christmas(二人だけのChristmas)
And here I thought that Seiko Matsuda(松田聖子)got all her Xmas feelings out when she released her 1987 "Snow Garden". Well, apparently not.
At the very least, she did have one more Christmas song in the form of "Futari dake no Christmas" (A Christmas Just For Two) which was a track on her December 1989 album "Precious Moment". Seiko-chan herself came up with the lyrics (as she did for all of the tracks) with Minoru Komorita(小森田実) as the composer and Masaaki Omura(大村雅朗)as the arranger. Speaking about arrangement, "Futari dake no Christmas" has this solemn and hushed atmosphere but also seems to possess a child-like wonder about the Holidays as if a couple were getting married in an ancient church on Christmas Eve. As for "Precious Moment", it scored a No. 6 ranking on Oricon.
Monday, December 15, 2025
Susumu Hirasawa (Mandrake) -- Iriyou Hachi no Yuuwaku(いりよう蜂の誘惑)
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| John Severns via Wikimedia Commons |
Masamitsu Tayama/Yoko Kishi -- Tabi ni Detai(旅にでたい)
Back in September this year, I posted an APB for Neff for a group of Chinese-language covers of Japanese and Western songs. Basically, the mystery was solved and that included the final song of the compilation whose original version was "Tabi ni Detai" (I Want to Go on a Trip). What I hadn't realized at the time was that I had already written about it through Kyo Nishimura's(西村協)1982 cover of the song. I did realize that the windmills of my mind were getting a little tattered.
Mind you, although I did give my brief two cents' worth of the original song by folk singer-songwriter Masamitsu Tayama(田山雅充)and another cover version in the aftermath of the APB, I figured that both should get their own article so I've got them both here. Starting with Tayama's "Tabi ni Detai" which was the final track of his May 1977 album "Kouyou"(紅葉...Autumn Colours), it's a truly folksy introspective number with that acoustic guitar as Tayama sings about taking those close to him to pleasant places outside the city such as that tiny seaside town or a small forested hill, thanks to Tsuzuru Nakasato's(中里綴)lyrics.
In January 1978, the late Yoko Kishi(岸洋子)released her cover version of "Tabi ni Detai" as her 14th single. This version has a more conventional kayo arrangement including those silky strings and what sounds like a harpsichord.



