Miyako Otsuki -- Kita no Hate...（北の果て…）

 

Good ol' Kuga's Travel. Taking those rail and ferry trips when we can't easily do so. About a year ago, he took the five-hour Soya Express from Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido, all the way up to Wakkanai, a city which is at the northernmost tip of the prefecture and therefore the northernmost tip of Japan itself. 

Looks like it wasn't just Kuga who wanted to pay tribute to Wakkanai last year. Enka veteran Miyako Otsuki（大月みやこ）made use of her opportunity to sing of the area though her own go-touchi song, "Kita no Hate..." (The End of North). Released in March 2022 as her 135th single, it's an enka with a pretty illustrative arrangement thanks to composer Chiaki Oka（岡千秋）and arranger Norio Ido（伊戸のりお）, reflecting the harsh winter climate while Otsuki, through Suzuko Sawada's（さわだすずこ）lyrics, in alternating soft and then emotional tones, sings of her pursuit of a loved one all the way north. It makes for an interesting lyrical switch since whenever I hear enka, it's usually been the impression that the woman heads somewhere to get away from a broken romance. In a way though, it's quite similar to Saburo Kitajima's（北島三郎）famous "Hakodate no Hito"（函館の女）where a guy is tracking down his lady love in a Hokkaido city.

I've also noticed that Otsuki will soon be celebrating her 60th anniversary in the singing business, so allow me to send some advanced congratulations to her.