℃-ute -- Tokai no Hitorigurashi（都会の一人暮らし）

Ahhh...living in Tokyo. Well, actually to be perfectly accurate, I was living in the satellite city Ichikawa in Chiba Prefecture (which is only 20 minutes away by the Tozai Line to downtown Tokyo). As with any residential situation, one has got to weigh the good with the bad. Lots of things to do versus higher prices or commuting hell versus many interesting neighbourhoods with their own distinctive character.

Certainly, I'm not the first and I won't be the last to wonder about city living especially in one of the biggest vibrant metropolises on Earth (really gotta extend the subway hours, though). The aidoru group ℃-ute has also mused about the trials and tribulations of this very topic through their 23rd single "Tokai no Hitorigurashi" (Living Alone In The City).

Released in November 2013 as this rapid-fire funky disco number by Hello Project guru Tsunku（つんく）, the ℃-ute ladies wonder nonchalantly about how to handle the changes brought about by a move from the countryside to the big city and then maybe even overseas, probably to get away from hectoring parents and then even the boredom of urban Japanese life. Considering that pad that they're dancing in within the video and all of that fashion, I don't think Airi Suzuki（鈴木愛理）and the bunch are hurting too badly.

"Tokai no Hitorigurashi" hit No. 3 on Oricon, and it was also placed in ℃-ute's 8th original album "℃maj9" which came out in December 2015. It hit No. 8. Right now, though, former member Suzuki is getting a fair bit of attention from a duet with another Suzuki.