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
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.
It's another national holiday in Japan today. If it's September, that means Respect-for-the-Aged Day（敬老の日）and I found out just last weekend that the holiday had been first formed in the immediate postwar era in Hyogo Prefecture.
As such, I was thinking of putting up a list of favourite karaoke tunes among the more elderly. Admittedly though, sexagenarians don't strike me as being quite that old but at least their choices were easy to track down on the blog, and of course, I'm not too far from that group of people, age-wise. So, I'll be divvying things up between the Top 3 karaoke songs for both men and women in their 60s according to the Nagoya-based Takeshi Vocal Studio, a karaoke training school.
The Toronto International Film Festival is wrapping up today after about ten days of movies and glitz downtown. It's run its course like any other festival lasting some days here; a lot of giddy excitement in the beginning with all of the stars coming out to do their meet-and-greets with fans but the ending has gotten a lot quieter and slowly fading into the rest of the news in the city. Mind you, this year's TIFF is a bit more special since for all intents and purposes, this has been the first year since before the pandemic that the festival has returned to its old semblance of movies, fans and thespians happily getting together since before that, we all had to deal with COVID lockdowns and then the Hollywood strikes last year.
TIFF has gotten me to write about this ballad by crooner-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. His August 1984 10th album"Romantic Cinematic" was created with the air of the old movies in mind, and so I bring you this track "Itsuka Tsukiyo de" (Sometime on a Moonlit Night). Written by his sister Etsuko（来生えつこ）with Takao handling the melody, Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）arranged "Itsuka Tsukiyo de" as this straight pop love song about an ideal time to fall head-over-heels, with the singer describing over how he first saw his beloved one moony evening.
I can certainly imagine a scene out of old Hollywood whether it involved Spencer and Kate, Humphrey and Lauren or Fred and Ginger. As for the album, it managed to hit No. 18 on Oricon. And I really like that stylized image of what could look like a typical Beverly Hills mansion as the cover for "Romantic Cinematic".
It's a warm and sunny Sunday out there so perhaps something folksy and relaxing would be nice. I found this folk song by singer-songwriter Masamitsu Tayama（田山雅充）. His third single from October 1976, "Ai Suru Koto kara Hajimetemimasen ka" (Why Not Start by Being in Love?) is quite the warm-hearted tune with the strings and a psychedelic rock guitar that was used as the theme for the TBS drama "Shiroi Himitsu"（白い秘密...White Secret）, broadcast that same year. Tayama was the composer while Tsuzuru Nakasato（中里綴）and Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）were the lyricist and arranger respectively.
The Tokyo-born Tayama had his first taste of show business when he had a role in the cast for the monster movie "Mothra" back in 1961 as a child. During high school, Tayama got into music as a vocalist and a drummer in a rock band. Some years later, he started writing songs, even a few enka ones, as an employee of lyricist Kazuya Senke's（千家和也）company.
As a singer, he joined up with the vocal group Akai Hana（赤い花）in 1974 as its main vocalist and then formed a duo known as Tayama to Yuuko（たやまと夕子）from which a single and an album were released. His solo debut began in 1976 with three singles coming out including this article's song. He would release a total of eight singles up to 1982 with three albums hitting the record store shelves in 1976 and 1977. Almost all of his singles were created from that triumvirate of Tayama, Nakasato and Funayama.
In 2015, Tayama moved out to a small area in Tokushima Prefecture, and recruiting some local amateur musicians, he began a series of live street performances on Sundays at the local historical site.
If I'm not mistaken, that 2017 cruise began on a Friday afternoon so Saturday was our first lunch on the Harmony of the Seas. And the above was it. I guess I had to construct my own hamburger.
OK...deep breath to explain this next singer. There is a singer already on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" who goes by the mononym of Miyuki and started her recording career sometime in the 1980s. Her kanji is 「美雪」which will help in distinguishing her from this singer here who is showing up on the blog for the first time and who also goes professionally by the same mononym but just in romaji with a small "m" to begin her name. miyuki was actually born Miyuki Nakajima（中島美由紀）but she is not to be confused with the far more famous singer-songwriter Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）who hails from Hokkaido while miyuki herself is from Chiba Prefecture. As you can also see, miyuki and Miyuki Nakajima have different writings for their given names, professionally speaking. However, to add to the craziness factor, far more famous Miyuki Nakajima has the same kanji given name from her birth（中島美雪）as the first singer that I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph.😳 If you would like to get a cool compress for your head...
Anyways, "little m" miyuki, as I mentioned, hails from Chiba, and she's a singer, pianist and composer who was active in singing mostly during the 1990s. In the early part of that decade, she released a couple of mini-albums and a single before putting out her first major debut single"Kawaii Kiss wo Ageru"（かわいいKISSをあげる...I'll Give You a Cute Kiss） in 1994. She ended up releasing 6 singles and 3 albums (including one album that got out in 2006).
From her April 1997 album"babyface", I offer you her track "Doyou no Lunch"(Saturday Lunch) which is a light pop concoction with faint feelings of rock and Shibuya-kei. miyuki's vocals and arrangement remind me somewhat of Chisato Moritaka（森高千里）a few years earlier when she herself was getting out of her techno aidoru phase of the early 1990s. Since the singer is listed as a composer only, I'm not sure whether she actually provided the lyrics and if someone else did write the words, I haven't been able to find out who it is.
A few months ago, I introduced a singer to the pages of KKP by the name of Michiru Yuasa（ゆあさみちる）after I'd seen her on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）. She performed something that was a little different from the usual enka and Mood Kayo via her "Osozaki no Hero"（遅咲きのHERO）which was more along the lines of 80s rocker Ayumi Nakamura（中村あゆみ）.
Well, when she made her official debut back in April 2020, her first single was "Watashi no Hana"(My Flower) which was written by Reiko Kaminaka（紙中礼子）and composed by Yuhei Hanaoka（花岡優平）. After listening to it, I realized that this particular song was the type of kayo that I would usually hear on "Shin BS Nihon no Uta", but I wouldn't classify it as either enka or Mood Kayo. For me, this is in that genre middle ground known as New Adult Music sprinkled with Latin. And in the music video above, Yuasa even pulls off some tango moves.
There are so many well-known songs born from the collaboration between Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）and Yumi Arai（荒井由実）, beginning with "Sotsugyo Shashin"（卒業写真）and "Chuo Freeway"（中央フリーウェイ）, but it's been difficult to put a definitive finger on a City Pop song by them. "Hoshi no Stranger" is a song that has the triple punch of a solid melody, a performance reminiscent of Tin Pan Alley and those characteristic Hi-Fi Set harmonies, and so when it comes to their discography, this song has more of Tin Pan Alley coming to the fore here.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).
Not sure where Kayo Grace and Mr. Calico are boogeying it up, but I hope that they are getting some air conditioning in the dance club. It's still plenty steamy in Tokyo these days and I've been hearing a lot of people there via NHK that they are begging for the autumn to come sooner rather than later.
As has been the case with Takao Tajima（田島貴男）and Original Love, vocalist and songwriter Kai Takahashi（高橋海）has also become a solo project when it comes to his Lucky Tapes since last year. Hope he is doing well. But let's go back when Lucky Tapes was a three-piece band. In September 2017, the group released their 2nd EP, "Virtual Gravity", and one track was "Boogie Nights". Written and composed by Takahashi, it has a fair bit of that wacka-wacka 70s R&B and even some of that rock and disco in there. Love the bass and the horns.
Although I think JTM is the expert on Japanese police dramas from the 1970s and 1980s, my impression about them has been that their opening credits for each of those shows liked to have the majority of the detectives running at full speed around the city while the older and more seasoned veterans could afford to just look serious and do something more peaceful such as talk into the walkie-talkie.
This was no different from the TV Asahi cop show "Dai Tokai Ni-Juu-Go-ji"（大都会25時...Big City 25:00）; the cast of characters was running about as if Hannibal Lecter had been set loose onto Tokyo. However, one major difference was that it had a very short run of only 5 months between April and September 1987. Another point that set it apart was that "Dai Tokai Ni-Juu-Go-ji" focused on two squads within one division: one was a by-the-book and competent group while the other team consisted of a bunch of misfits (probably a mix of comical and rebellious types). Not sure what the format was; did each episode focus on one squad per week or was there some sort of gritted-teeth cooperation between the two squads? It was a new way of treating the typical cop show.
From the cop shows that I've seen, this is the first time that I've ever heard of one band taking care of both the opening and ending themes, and for "Dai Tokai Ni-Juu-Go-ji", the producers picked the rock band SHOW-YA."Mizu no Naka no Toubousha"(Fugitive in the Water) was the band's 5th single from May 1987 and it's a pretty cool and melodic rock theme with those wailing electric guitars and sparkling synths that had me thinking about Santana and Bonnie Tyler. I think it does make for that energy pickup for the cops running all over the place in the opening credits. After all, there is never a boring moment in Japan's largest city.
Then, the B-side is the ending theme "Fermata" which is more of a cool-down City Pop tune and it's played against the backdrop of a typical Tokyo intersection through a day, perhaps signifying while the two squads are fighting the good fight, the rest of the populace can go about their business in safety. Maybe the cops can actually stroll to a fashionable bar near the station while listening to this one. For both songs, the big guns were called in: lyricist Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranger Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）. "Mizu no Naka no Toubousha" was also included in SHOW-YA's 5th album from November 1987, "Immigration" which hit No. 12 on Oricon.
The above is my copy of Junko Hirotani's（広谷順子）2nd album"Blendy" from 1981 and though I've enjoyed it quite a lot, it doesn't contain a couple of other pleasant songs by the late singer-songwriter who passed away in 2020.
Both songs make up her 4th single from August 1980. I've already covered the A-side, "Koi Moyou"（恋模様）, which is a Resort Pop song that brings to mind a very nice vacation along the Riviera. The B-side,"Anata no Iru Keshiki"(The Scenery Where You Are) is another similarly-themed song of fine life that's slightly peppier in tempo. Maybe the site this song invokes is more local, let's say somewhere in Hakone, Japan. Wherever the scenery is though, the couple is having a lovely and sophisticated time over brunch. Hirotani came up with the melody while Yumi Morita（森田由美）was the lyricist and Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）was responsible for the relaxing arrangement.
Hello and welcome to another Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP. Hopefully, everyone is having a good end to their work week.
I've seen this 1979 album with the blurry cover of a woman sitting somewhere in blue jeans and open-toed shoes before. Titled "Sky Rocketting" (sic), it is a compilation of the award winners from the inaugural Toshiba Express Singer-Songwriter Contest. I never took a dip into the album myself but then providence provided an opportunity.
One of the tracks is "My Honey" by singer-songwriter Yumiko Ohsugi（大杉弓子）who apparently had entered the 8th Yamaha Popular Song Contest back in 1974 and also came up with a song for Sandii from Sandii & The Sunsetz, but that's the only information that I have for her thus far. But getting back to "My Honey", it is a pleasantly breezy City Pop/AOR tune that was written and composed by the singer which brings to mind highway drives with the top down. Would certainly like to try hearing some of the other tracks on "Sky Rocketting".
Last week, I posted an article on the Anzen Chitai（安全地帯） release that should have been their debut album instead of their official one as a major act, "Remember to Remember"(1983). "Anzen Chitai ZERO" consists of tracks that were probably made in the late 1970s when they had changed their name from Invader to Anzen Chitai as an amateur group. From what I could glean from a few Ameba blogs, the tracks were produced and performed during their concerts with tapes containing the songs being sold there only. For some reason, Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）and company perhaps decided that they were no longer worth the time and effort to bring them aboard for their major debut and jettisoned them to find that new sound that would come in the early 1980s; it might explain why Tamaki and/or the powers-that-be haven't really made any effort to take down the YouTube video showing these fascinating early works. However, listening to the first five tracks in Part 1 of the article, I have found them eminently listenable and worthy of the band name.
Anyways, let's start up "Anzen Chitai ZERO" again with Track 6 at 17:02, "Oki Tegami"（置き手紙...The Letter Left Behind）. Beginning with what sounds like a circus accordion, Tamaki tenderly tickles our ears with a lovely ballad that also utilizes a lot of strings, so I think the band was already showing some ambition in their arrangements and choice in musicians. Having the ability to draw tears from a piece of granite has always been Tamaki's stock-in-trade and "Oki Tegami" is one tablet to show his vocal ability.
At 21:24 is "Moegiiro no Snap"（萠黄色のスナップ）which was Anzen Chitai's debut single from 1982, and I actually wrote about it all the way back in 2019. Back then, I noted that this was the song that didn't get onto "Remember to Remember", but it is here on "ZERO" so its history does go back to at least 1980 perhaps.
Track 8 is "ROMENAPONCHI" at 26:35. Try as I might, I couldn't find any rhyme or reason behind the meaning of the title; maybe it's Tamaki's version of Phil Collins' "Sussudio". In any case, it seems to have something to do with baseball with perhaps Tamaki himself playing the play-by-play announcer. The song begins with a saucy guitar solo and a stubborn bass beat before Tamaki has a bit of fun with his voice...perhaps in a New Wave sort of way? As the song continues, the arrangement decides to have that fun as well. I was even tapping my heel as I was listening.
At 31:09 is "Dakishimete mo"（抱きしめても...Even Holding You）, I got some cool Electric Light Orchestra vibes for this pop/rock track. There's a nice guitar solo and along with "ROMENAPONCHI", I thought that "Dakishimete mo" was an example of Anzen Chitai stretching out their wings a bit more from the typical Anzen Chitai sound, although admittedly, the members themselves may not have known what their sound was back at the time. Maybe it was more along their old Invader ways.
The final song at 34:49 is "Tsubuyaki"（つぶやき）and nope it has nothing to do with Japanese tweets as in the former Twitter (we're talking about decades ago, after all). Back then, the word meant "murmurs", and the short song here is an apt track to finish the album off as a calming guitar ballad backed by those shimmering strings and some wonderful harmonies.
So, what do I think of "ZERO" overall? Well, it's no zero by any means, and if I had a chance to talk with Tamaki, I would probably say that he had been a bit harsh in ditching these nice early works, if that is indeed what did happen to them. It doesn't have quite that nocturnal moody sound that the band became famous for within their second, third and fourth albums, but it does contain what I would later hear in the epic multi-LP "V" on certain tracks in terms of their rocking-out tunes and ballads, so I have a different take on these songs that I'd assumed were them spreading their wings but now believe were them going back to their original stylings. Not surprisingly, they were also a bit experimental back then trying to search for their identity so just on that alone, it would be worth a purchase if "ZERO" ever gets an official release on streaming or even old-fashioned CD or vinyl.
When it comes to the oeuvre of singer Akemi Ishii（石井明美）, I've always pictured her as being someone resolutely linked with the mid to late 1980s. For that matter, her music usually had me thinking Eurobeat or something with some Latin pizazz. "Cha-Cha-Cha" and "L'Amant"（ラマン）come to mind.
"Celebration" is a song that I first heard on a BEST compilation by Ishii so I had initially not known about where it originally came from. It is a coupling song from her 11th single from October 1993, "Anatarashiku Ite"（あなたらしくいて...Stay As You Are） so that is one personal trope broken about her. The other trope broken is that I'd often associate her works with cover versions of Eurobeat songs and "Celebration" sounds as if this would be another one although the arrangement doesn't show off the Eurobeat all that strongly.
However, "Celebration" is a homegrown product with Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）handling the melody and arrangement respectively while Ikki Matsumoto（松本一起）is the lyricist. But, as one commenter on YouTube has pointed out, "Celebration" does have some similarity with Cutting Crew's big 1986 hit "(I Just) Died in Your Arms".
Yesterday, I posted an article on singer and seiyuu Emi Shinohara's（篠原恵美）"Wasureru tame ni Koi wo Shinai de"（忘れるために恋をしないで）on hearing of her untimely passing a few days ago. This was on top of the news that actor James Earl Jones had also died on September 8th at the age of 93. He had been in so many different movies such as "Dr. Strangelove", "Field of Dreams" and "The Hunt for Red October", but of course, I'm always going to know him as the voice of one of the greatest movie villains, Darth Vader from "Star Wars".
As a kid, I'd always wondered who that was inside the armour to be able to voice Vader in that iconic way. That breathing, the basso profundo, and the elegant but threatening delivery (and a talent for asphyxiation) that struck awe and fear in not only mouthy Imperial commanders but millions of theatregoers. We would later find out that it was a tandem operation with David Prowse as the Dark Lord of the Sith in body while the voice was provided by Jones.
The two of them worked together to create this master bad guy who received as many cheers as did Luke, Yoda and Obi-Wan. When "Star Wars" became this huge phenomenon in 1977, the characters including Vader showed up everywhere including the ABC music-variety show "Donny & Marie". I remember seeing that specific episode with the kitschy spoof involving Donny Osmond, sister Marie and actor Kris Kristofferson along with C-3PO and R2-D2. Darth Vader even showed up (though he was voiced by someone else) in sketches to literally rip apart settings such as a gym locker room through his Sith ways.
I remember when "The Empire Strikes Back" premiered in 1980 at the University Theatre in downtown Toronto. It was absolute joyous mayhem as the lines snaked around the cinema like a naruto. It took two tries over as many days, but my brother and I finally got into the theatre to see the sequel and the cheering and clapping were incredible. All of us especially wanted to hear Jones speak out those words as Vader and we got them, accompanied by the new epic "Imperial March" theme. It was always a moment to hear him speak, and for me, some of my favourite quotes were: "I find your lack of faith disturbing", "The Force is strong with this one", "You have failed me for the last time", and of course, "I am your father". All of my condolences go to Jones' family, friends and fans...may the Force be with him.
As a tribute to him, my weekly Reminiscings of Youth article will be on this song connected with the franchise. Interestingly enough, as much as I have raved about John Williams' theme for "Star Wars" in its own article from 2022, I have to confess that the original Williams Main Title isn't the first version that I ever heard. That award has to go to Meco's"Star Wars/Cantina Band" which was part of his album "Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk", released in the summer of 1977, only a few months after the movie had gotten into theatres.
Rona Barrett's"Good Morning America" feature on the original movie which included the famous TIE fighter vs. Millennium Falcon scene was the first that I'd ever seen of "Star Wars", but a few months later, I heard this snazzy disco epic or Meco-ized version of the Main Title, the Cantina Band jazz and even a bit of the Jedi theme on K-Tel commercials or even ads about the movie itself. For some reason, I didn't hear it too much on the local radio, though. I'd assumed that the mononymed Meco was some flamboyant artiste from European discos but he actually hails from Pennsylvania.
Yeah, I know disco is all about the dancing but I'd never seen people dance to Meco's "Star Wars" until today. Just listening to it was good enough for me; such was the genius of John Williams. By October 1977, it hit No. 1 for a couple of weeks in the United States and in Canada, it was also a chart-topper. Eventually, I would hear the original Main Title and then in 1979, my father finally took me to see the movie itself, two years after its premiere. The Fairview had been showing "Star Wars" every day for those two years and yet there were still lines snaking all over the place and people were still exploding in delight when the Death Star blew up.
During my years living in the Tokyo area, my friends and I had walked through the famous or infamous Kabukicho district in Shinjuku in the day and at night. Once, I even walked through the shuttered streets of the area all by myself in the early afternoon since those establishments had more nocturnal business. I remember getting stared at by a few unsavory types and thinking "This will be the last time I stroll on this particular laneway!".
Although over the years, I've heard students telling me that they try not to go through the area beyond a certain prime-time hour, I've actually walked through Kabukicho at around midnight and it wasn't too bad. There are probably neighborhoods in Toronto and other major cities around the world that are far more dangerous, but obviously one has to keep one's wits about them such as not following the tuxedoed tout into the mystery bar unless one has a major desire to lose a lot of stuff such as money.
Fuji-TV has been showing a comedy-drama established in Kabukicho over the past few months. In fact, according to J-Wiki, it's supposed to be wrapping up tonight. "Shinjuku Yasen Byouin"(新宿野戦病院...Shinjuku Field Hospital) is all about the hijinks and drama of operating a medical facility within one of Japan's wildest neighborhoods, and considering that I first translated the title as "Shinjuku MASH", I was wondering whether there would be the droll humour of the the legendary movie and TV series in America. Probably not.
For something like "Shinjuku Yasen Byouin", the theme song and the band behind it would have to be things that would fit the unfurled chaos and fascination of not only the show but also of Kabukicho. Of course, it would be Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）and their 7th digital single"Koi no Boogie Woogie Night" (Boogie Woogie Night of Love) which was released in June 2024. It's been categorized with the genres of rock, disco and EDM, but for me, I think it's more with funk and pop along with the synths.
Watching the music video, it's pure SAS...Keisuke Kuwata's（桑田佳祐）sultry coolness as the MC of the proceedings along with plenty of sex appeal. He could be the King of Kabukicho himself and the video reflects the area from all angles: traditional, modern, gaudy, straitlaced, sexy. The two stars of "Shinjuku Yasen Byouin" even show up to dance a bit.
"Koi no Boogie Woogie Night" peaked at No. 3 on Oricon's digital single chart. Although I don't think Kabukicho has ever needed any help in gathering a lot of tourism, I kinda wonder whether the drama has gotten more tourists to see what all the fuss is about.
For this week, I had been expecting to give a tribute to a recently departed star in pop culture tomorrow during the regular Reminiscings of Youth article. However, last night I discovered that regrettably I have to give another one right now. Seiyuu and singer Emi Shinohara（篠原恵美）passed away on September 8th at the age of 61. Of course, she's been known for many roles in anime but the one that I will always associate her with is Makoto Kino（木野まこと）, aka Sailor Jupiter, within the original "Sailor Moon" anime series of the early 1990s.
Mako-chan was a most interesting character within the five main Sailors since her character fused a couple of typical personality types together: the tall, tough and just girl who could wipe the pavement of many a thug and a lass who loved to cook, admire cute things and happily fall in love with any guy. Initially striking me as being the most serious warrior, she also got her chance to partake in the goofy world of Usagi Tsukino（月野うさぎ）, aka Sailor Moon.
All of the seiyuu in "Sailor Moon" were also involved in singing and in 1994, during the second season of the original series known as "Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon R"（美少女戦士セーラームーンR キャラクターソング）, there was a CD single series known as "Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon R Character Songs" in which each of the seiyuu put out their own songs under their characters' names. Shinohara's own CD came out in March of that year with the final track being "Wasureru tame ni Koi wo Shinai de" (Don't Fall in Love Just to Forget).
Sung softly by Shinohara and as the character of Makoto Kino, the song fits her and her circumstances to a T as Mitsuko Shiramine's（白峰美津子） lyrics describe Mako-chan, having broken up with a boy recently, makes her slow recovery though she still has feelings for the lad. The synthpop arrangement is very plucky in a nearly Shibuya-kei way and more importantly, it sounds hopeful for the future. The melody was created by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本俊明）who came up with a lot of pop songs for other artists including a couple of Xmas outings for Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）in 1990 and then Misia in 2000.
My condolences to Shinohara's family, friends and fans.
Living in the Tokyo area in the 2000s, I was accustomed to regularly seeing R&B conglomerate m-flo on TV with his various buddies hip-hopping, rapping and grooving. My question is where did they all go, although as for the core, I'm happy to say that they are still around. In fact, they released something just last month.
However, let's go back those two decades to October 2003 when m-flo's 15th single was released. "miss you" with the singers for this one being Ryohei Yamamoto（山本領平）and Japanese-American singer Melody Ishikawa, stylized back then as melody. (not to be confused with the aidoru group Melody). Ryohei would also collaborate with Verbal and gang a few years later on "Summer Time Love".
I remember "miss you" because of its music video which is a conveyor belt of MC Verbal, DJ ☆Taku, Ryohei and melody. having fun and acting out a romantic relationship working out some issues inside what looks like an IKEA storeroom masquerading as a movie script read-through session venue. Between Verbal's pointed hip-hop banter and the two main singers cooing at each other, I'm also enjoying melody.'s soft grooving voice. The song managed to hit No. 8 on Oricon and it's also included on m-flo's May 2004 3rd album"Astromantic" which peaked at No. 2 and ended up as the 42nd-ranked album of the year, going Double Platinum.
One piece of trivia I found out regarding melody. is that she's married to musician Miyavi.
It's been a little over six months since the passing of singer, songwriter and seiyuu Tarako and I've still been plumbing through her discography back in her early years of the 1980s.
This track from her June 1983 debut album"Totteoki no Shunkan"（とっておきの瞬間...Special Moments） is an interesting one. The brief Tarako file on KKP that I've had up to now has shown her tackling the City Pop genre. But her "Anata dake no Natsu" (A Summer Just For You) is a very different animal in that it sounds just like a jaunty country tune. Written and composed by Tarako herself, the song seems to describe a nice life out in the rice fields or cornfields and her voice is quite a bit higher when compared to her vocals for "Only Goodbye" which had been the most recent song that I wrote about shortly after her untimely death.
So, I recently joined the fan club of an early Showa singer-songwriter from King Records who was known for jazz and created works for Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎).
Yes, that's right, I joined the Hayashi Isao Shinobu Kai (林伊佐緒偲ぶ会).
Wait, what?
No, I did not glitch out. I really did join Isao Hayashi's (林伊佐緒) club, making it the third posthumous fan club I've joined in the span of four months. This is in addition to Hachi's and Bin Uehara's (上原敏)... Y'know, I feel like it wasn't too long ago when I was lamenting about how hard it was to find and join these shinobu kai (posthumous fan clubs). I certainly did not expect a membership speedrun.
To give a bit of context, I'd been offered the opportunity to enter the club from its chairman, Toru Yamane (山根徹), with whom I'd been interacting with from time to time on social media through a shared interest inAkira Matsudaira (松平晃). Thinking that it'd be a good experience, I quickly agreed to it. This would give me the chance to learn more about the long-lived artist and his illustrious career, and perhaps even see what Hachi was like through the perspective of the Hayashi fan club. Plus, it would give me the excuse to finally visit Yamaguchi prefecture for those Hayashi exhibitions.
Anyways, I wouldn't say I know next to nothing about Hayashi, considering his huge presence (both metaphorically and physically) in the kayo world, but I currently only know the following basics about Hayashi besides the fact that he was a composer behind Hachi's hits:
1. He is dubbed Japan's first singer-songwriter.
2. He was the Japan Singer Association's 4th chairman.
3. He dabbled in jazz-minyo.
With regards to 3, that was exactly how I got to know of him ages ago. I somehow came across his funky "Mamurogawa Boogie" (真室川ブギ) and marveled at the wild mixture of the cosmopolitan Western jazz and countryside Japanese minyo. The latter was never easy for me to stomach (even now), so Hayashi essentially added the sugar to make it go down. He was my first introduction to this combination way, way, way before I even registered the existence of Tadaharu Nakano (中野忠晴) and Ryoichi Hattori (服部良一). Joining the club gave me the impetus to re-open Hayashi's treasure trove of jazz-minyo that I'd unwittingly forgotten in favour of Mr. Nakano.
Hayashi had been mixing up the two genres since the prewar era, but only became more recognised for it in the postwar era, the aforementioned "Mamurogawa Boogie" being the primary example. Another one of this postwar creations I just dug up and took a keen liking too was "Konpira Swing."
"Konpira Swing" was released in January 1954. I think this was around when the postwar jazz and Kasagi Shizuko (笠置シヅ子)Boogie-Woogie craze was cooling off, but it didn't stop Hayashi from making this snazzy, dance-worthy number.
"Konpira Swing" was based on "Konpira Fune-fune," (金毘羅船々) a minyo native to Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku. This folk song originally centered around the town of Kotohira, known for the Konpira Daigongen (金毘羅大権現) deity. Besides the J-Wiki, I was reading up on the tune via this old Shikoku Shimbun project detailing 110 cultural "objects" of Kagawa. You can look it up here.
From my understanding, the Konpira Daigongen, which resides in the Kotohiragu temple on Mt. Zouzu, was quite the popular religious pilgrimage spot, and there were ferries that brought you to Kagawa from Osaka. The minyo was based on this ferry route, the boats literally called the Konpira Fune (Konpira Boat), which began service in 1744. The recognisable "shura-shu-shu-shu" bit is supposed to be onomatopoeia for the tail wind catching the boat sails and sending you straight to Kotohira. The Naka no Gori region mentioned in the lyric seems to point to the modern-day Kagawa Nakatado-gun district where temple is. On top of this, "Konpira Fune-fune" used in zashiki asobi, or private geisha entertainment, back in the Edo and Meiji periods and sung while playing little party games. It's still used today at the likes of festivals and cultural exchanges.
Re-working the lyrics to fit Hayashi's raucous arrangement was Yano Ryo (矢野亮). Yano kept to the source material in the first stanza, but immediately took a sharp left into humourous territory. This has Hayashi taking us on a whirlwind ride of randomness in his carefree, breezy style, from frying a variety of tempura to strolling the streets of modern 1950s Tokyo. Interestingly, I think the original folk song's signature "shura-shu-shu-shu" found application in the Yano's seemingly bizarre mix of situations. The tempura bubbling in the hot oil, the kite (bird of prey) swooping around eyeing the young tofu seller's aburaage, slurping up sake and whiskey on a magically empty wallet. These sound like they'd go "shura-shu-shu-shu" too, don't they?
One of the reasons why I like the fusion jazz kayo/minyo/zokuyo from the 1930s to the 1950s is the element of humour - the singers themselves sounding like they were having fun recording it too. "Konpira Swing," as I had just described, is a great example of that, I think.
( ﾟдﾟ)
Admittedly, even I didn’t expect to join Hayashi’s fan club because I didn’t consider myself a big enough fan of the musician. Those around me expressed surprise too because I rarely, if ever, bring him up in my kayo rambles. But, I think this will be a good experience and I look forward to getting to know Hayashi better.
Right, then. Time to dig around for some Hachi-Hayashi compositions.
Due to various factors, I'm providing my usual second of two articles fairly late at around 11:00 pm tonight. So I figure that I would finish off this KKP Monday with something soothing for the bewitching hour.
The ballad "All of You" by Anri（杏里）was something that I first heard on her 1987 self-cover album"Meditation" which I've always considered to be the gateway with her City Pop past behind her and then her more West Coast dance-oriented R&B in her future. Originally though, "All of You" made its first appearance on her June 1986 9th original album"Mystique".
Written by Yumi Yoshimoto（吉本由美）and composed by Anri, it's a summer's-end beach sort of ballad about a woman who can no longer follow her boyfriend's dreams overseas and decides reluctantly to head back to Japan, but perhaps if he were to come back home, maybe there is a chance at reconciliation (that last part is just my hope). The song is lovingly arranged by Jun Irie（入江純）although its rush to become a power ballad near the end kinda dents things a bit, also because Anri's voice couldn't quite soar here for some reason like it did for other songs such as "Windy Summer".
A new version of "All of You" was released as Anri's 30th single in June 1994 with Derek Nakamoto as the arranger. This version has a slightly faster tempo and more of that straight R&B feeling. The single peaked at No. 27 and is also available on another self-cover album "16th Summer Breeze" which came out a month after the single. That power ballad part in the original has been switched out with something a little more softer and gospel-oriented which works out better for me.
Tokyo-born Tadashi Tanaka（田中唯士）was in his early 20s, having graduated with a degree in telecommunications engineering and then teaching computer science when he made the quick switch into music from 1971. He participated in the Poland Music Festival as a composer and then after traveling the world for a while, Tanaka became an editor at a music magazine, before going to the United States as a foreign correspondent for the Yamaha Music Foundation in 1975. He got into the emerging punk music scene through venues such as CBGB in New York City and when he returned to Japan, he launched his own punk movement through the Tokyo Rockers project which promoted punk and New Wave.
Tanaka himself would get behind the microphone in 1981 with an album "Mato"（魔都...Bad Metropolis） and a single "Saku Saku"(Crunchy) under his stage name of S-KEN. It's a boppy New Wave number with an arrangement including flying saxophone that reminded me of some of those tunes that I heard in the late 70s and early 80s as a teenager. There's a bit of a flair also reminiscent of The Tubes. Meanwhile, S-KEN's slightly restrained devil-may-care vocals have me thinking of a milder Plastics or a slightly less croon-y Hiroshi Tachi（舘ひろし）in his early rock-n'-roll mode.
I haven't gotten into all of Tanaka's history but it looks like he has definitely lived the life a lot of music men would envy. If I do another S-KEN article or even a new one in one of his other projects, I'll have to relay some more information.
Doesn't do much for you? Something a really proud farmer would say?
Well, try the Japanese version and say it three times fast: nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago! （生麦生米生卵）
If you were able to do that without dislocating your tongue, congratulations! You've entered the world of hayakuchi kotoba（早口言葉）. Basically, these are the Japanese equivalent of tongue twisters.
Indeed, Japan has its version of "Peter Piper picked a peck of peppers!". My mother once showed me a picture book filled with hayakuchi kotoba...fairly stumbled around those so I gave up quickly. However, I saw the pros handle it like pros when I watched the comedy group The Drifters（ドリフターズ）and a few guests do them all to a funky beat on "Hachi-ji da yo! Zen'in Shuugo"（八時だよ！全員集合）back in the 1970s.
Commenter Rob recently informed me of a couple of bands who had opted to dive into hayakuchi kotoba through song as well. There is the guitar pop-rock band MONO NO AWARE whose raison d'etre is playing around with the sounds and meanings of words, and so this particular song of theirs must have been right up their alley. In fact, their "Kamukamo-Shikamo-Nidomokamo!"(It Might Bite, It Might Bite!) was something that I'd heard on the NHK kids' music segment "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた） some months ago. And yep, pretty much all of the lyrics consist of hayakuchi kotoba so great learning for students of the language. The song was a track on their third original album"Kakegae no nai Mono"（かけがえのないもの...Irreplaceable Things） from October 2019.
MONO NO AWARE is a four-piece band with vocalist and guitarist Shuukei Tamaoki（玉置周啓）, guitarist Seijun Kato（加藤成順）, bassist Ayako Takeda（竹田綾子）and drummer Yutaka Yanagisawa（柳澤豊）. They've been around since 2013 and their band name comes from the Japanese idiom talking of the impermanence of things.
According to Rob, the Osakan pop-rock band Haku（ハク。）also gave their cover version of "Kamukamo-Shikamo-Nidomokamo!" in the last month or so, and may I say that vocalist Ai could have topped Tamaoki at the rapid fire rattling of those twisters. Maybe there could be a battle of the bands involving those two in the same ol' Drifters' way. Many thanks to Rob.
Mata kimashita yo, Bin-san. Genki ni shiteimashitaka?
In July 2023, I went to Odate, Akita, to pay my respects to Bin Uehara (上原敏) on my own. In July 2024, I went to see Bin-san again, but this time, it was with the Uehara Bin Tsudoi (上原敏集い).
I was actually moderately on the fence about heading to Akita again for summer vacation this year for the Ruten Ki (流転忌). As much as I love Bin-san, it was, admittedly one of those soft "Yeah, I'll do it," situations, mainly because I've just been going to Tohoku so much and I'd been wanting to explore different parts of Japan. But as July 2024 drew nearer and having Bin-san grinning at me from my shelf, the idea of heading up north again became more tangible. And then came an update about the memorial and the Tsudoi's festivities from history researcher who'd done work on Bin-san, Yuta Inoue (井上裕太). Seeing that the memorial would start at 10 am, in other words, attendable if I stayed in Akita City or Aomori, and knowing that there are post-memorial activities, I knew I had to go. Or, rather, it cemented my resolve to go.
"Oiwake Dochu" (追分道中) (1939)
And so, immediately after a movie-music event, I headed up to Tohoku once again. Actually, I even had to leave earlier, otherwise I'd miss my train... Oh, Bin-san, what I'd do for you.
Y'know, I'd chosen to stay in Hirosaki, Aomori, for its closer proximity to Odate - besides also wanting to see the famed Nebuta Festival, of course. I took one of the early trains and reached Odate station from Hirosaki on the morning of 29th of July with ample time to spare. But sometimes, things just don't work out as planned. Bus mix-ups and rain happened, so by the time I reached Keijo Park, it was about 10 minutes past 10 am. In other words, the Ruten Ki with its sing-a-longs just ended... I won't let myself live this down, but, there's always a next year. Bin-san, ireisai ni okurete gomenasai.
"Ruten" (流転) (1937)
I know "Ruten" is the theme for the memorial, but I didn't need a ruten experience of my own...
Mishaps aside, I still got to meet the wonderful Uehara Bin Tsudoi and its members. Leading the Get-Together was Matsuyama-san, a former high school English teacher, at a spritely 84 years-old. There were about 6 or so other members who'd been in the club since its establishment in the 1980s who showed up. As expected, most members were pushing or over 85. However, there were a few members who managed to bring the average age down a little by being below the age of 45. Besides Inoue-san, there was also Ogawa-san, both of whom I mostly knew as online presences - it was great to finally see them in the flesh and put faces to the names. But what surprised me the most was the attendance of Muroya-san, who was the same age as me and highly knowledgeable about Bin-san's discography. This was apparently his first appearance at the memorial as well.
"Toori Ame no Uta" (通り雨の唄) (1939)
It was raining in Odate and I'd mentioned rain songs, so Muroya-san recommended this. I ended liking this a lot.
Besides the Bin-san Tsudoi members, in attendance were also a couple of members of the from Bin-san's senior Taro Shoji's (東海林太郎) fan club, and Taro-san's museum chief Sasaki-san. It was an honor to be in the presence of not just the Bin-san club, but even the Taro-san one.
"Shunkoden" (春香伝) (1939)
After the self-introductions and news press interactions, it was time to pack up and begin the post-memorial events. As with this sort of memorials, Bin-san was showered with sake and beer (I read that he loved his alcohol), as well as some snacks on on the side. On top of that were a few bouquets of flowers. To not let these items go to waste, they were split among the members. I got one of the bouquets. Ordinarily, it's you who's supposed to bring the flowers for the dearly departed not receive them when you go to memorials. Plus, it was pretty obvious that the bouquet I received was one meant as grave visitation offerings (chrysanthemums). But I found that to be highly amusing. More than anything, though, I loved it very much. Why? Because I took it as Bin-san's way of showing his appreciation for visiting him again. A bouquet from him. Making that "Bin-san is my Muryu-sama" fantasy of mine a reality, HUH?
Sadameshi kimi wa tada hitori
Anyways, the post-Ruten Ki events included a visit to the next door Akita Dog Museum, followed by around of karaoke at a local karaoke box. I have to say, meeting fans of a singer you love IRL is one thing, but singing his songs with them is another. It was absolutely surreal when every single song was more a group sing-a-long than an intimidating solo. There was this member, this sweet and chatty grandpa (I am so sorry, but I forgot his name), whose favourite Bin-san tune was "Hatoba Katagi" (波止場気質). That also happened to be my favourite Bin-san tune. So, we sang it together, which was wild because I'd yet to meet someone who liked "Hatoba Katagi" and had bittersweet memories tied to it until that moment.
Namaji kakeru na usu nasake Yume mo wabishii yoru no hana ~
Considering it was just a standard karaoke machine, Bin-san only had six songs in the system (including two duets). So, after Bin-san's numbers, there were some Taro-san tributes as well, and even an Akita prefecture anthem (??) But there was still some time remaining before lunch. I had made it clear early on that while I love Bin-san, Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎) is my main priority. The folks promptly registered that information and I was encouraged to do some Hachi numbers: "Otomi-san" (お富さん) and "Uramachi Yakyoku" (裏町夜曲). That was my first time being a Hachi ambassador, if you will, at such a music gathering and that was absolutely surreal.
When all was sung and done, it was time to adjourn for lunch. I went with a katsu don. Katsu don is generally uncharacteristic choice for me, but it's something I choose once in a blue moon for maximum energy replenishment, which I needed after the morning I'd had. This wasn't just a regular katsu don, though. It was Hinai Chicken (Hinai Jidori) katsu don... So, basically some chunky fried native Odate chicken slathered in sweet-savory egg. Bin-san looks like he approved of the choice.
While it had been an incredibly fun morning of activities, after lunch was where things took on a more serious tone as the future of the club was brought to the table. A reason why I wanted to partake in the posthumous club's activities was to experience how these clubs functioned and better understand the problems they face in the new decade. The post-lunch meeting very clearly showed me that.
It was obvious from the few members in attendance, but membership of the Uehara Bin Tsudoi and its nationwide branch has been steadily shrinking. This is due in part to the members getting on in their years. Many have already left the mortal coil, or find it increasingly difficult to attend the Ruten Ki because of their age. As is, Matsuyama-san also admitted that it's getting harder for him to take charge of the festivities. And so, much of the responsibilities has also been shouldered by the much younger Inoue-san, who'd been in the club for quite some time.
"Otoko Hare Sugata" (男晴れ姿) (1941)
Also, Bin-san has been gone for 80 years at the writing of this article and had a short career of eight years with comparatively fewer objects to remember him by. The passing of time thus making it more and more difficult to keep him relevant in current society. Inoue-san's research on Bin-san's and Taro-san's club activities, as well as his efforts to spread the awareness of these clubs via social media and the local press, and wrangling up us young fans, has been to ensure the survival of not just these clubs. It was also to also ensure that the achievements of these singers who contributed much to the world of Japanese pop music will not be forgotten. Still, it is an uphill task, and various methods of club survival and Bin-san awareness were discussed. I personally liked the Bin-san portrait plus QR codes of his background and hits at Odate station (or maybe the Akita Dog visitor center) idea.
But, despite the gloom and the worry over Uehara Bin Tsudoi's future activities, Grandpa Hatoba Katagi said something that tugged at my heartstrings. It went something along the line of:
It doesn't matter if there are activities organised after the memorial. I will still go to [Keijo Park] every year on this day to pay my respects to [Bin-san]. Having activities isn't that important - I just want to be able to see everyone. The activities aren't a must. I'll just be happy to see if everyone's doing well.
My professor at school mentioned that music plaques (in Okinawa) have the capability to facilitate community building, among other uses. Going by Grandpa Hatoba Katagi's words and having now experienced the Tsudoi's activities firsthand, I believe Bin-san's plaque serves the same purpose. I believe that, on top of preserving the memory of the long-deceased but well-loved singer, the Get-Together brings people together. Not just long-time fans and folks who grew up with the music, but new fans, younger fans in search of a community built around an artist who plays a big role in their lives.
I cannot thank the Uehara Bin Tsudoi for allowing me to join their activities and Inoue-san for spreading the word and the invitation. If you're wondering, yes, I did become a member of the Uehara Bin club. The entry procedures were easy: Just say that you are a member of the club, and there you go - Bin-san club member.
"Hatoba Katagi" (1938)
This year, Bin-san had two fans below the age of 30 visiting him. This is despite the fact that that he had been gone for 80 years. I would like to think that he is happy, where ever he is.
Honni ano (hito) no shiawase wo Ureshi namida de inoru no sa
P.S. I'd wanted to get this out on Bin-san's birthday (26th August), but I ended up not finding the time to do so... Because I was at Kasai Rinkai Koen looking at fish and doing oshikatsu instead. Also, that photo card was made by none other than PC maker Ms. C.
