Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Hachiro Kasuga -- Tokyo Hatoba(東京波止場)



This is quite a chipper tune by veteran kayo singer Hachiro Kasuga(春日八郎). In fact, I'm not quite sure whether "Tokyo Hatoba" (Tokyo Wharf) would be a purely enka song. The melody by Toshio Saeki(佐伯としを)has got that certain enka lilt but running under it is this snappy beat which admittedly brings me images of twisting swivel hips on a dance floor.

Hiroshi Nagai(永井ひろし)wrote the lyrics for "Tokyo Hatoba" which was released with its mate on the 45 single, "Asakusa Ninjo"(浅草人情...Asakusa Kindness)in 1967. I couldn't find the actual words, unfortunately, but it does seem to relate a tale of sunny times ahead despite the hard work that still must have been going on in bringing Japan up from the ashes of World War II. Considering what the Tokyo waterfront looks like now, I don't know what it must have appeared as back in the 1960s. Perhaps it was more rough-hewn and bustling with industry but it may also have been quite a happy place as well.

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