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.
When I first got to know singer-songwriter Mitsuko Komuro（小室みつ子）via the blog some years ago, it was through her City Pop songs from the early 1980s including her "Highway Rendezvous"（ハイウェー ランデブー）. However, most recently, I did listen to her take on "Get Wild", the song that she made alongside composer Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉） (and yes, there's no familial connection between the two of them oddly enough) which has become one of the most popular anison. Her cover also contains some of that pop-rock edge.
Now, I've gotten a few listens to her 7th single from June 1991, "Beginning", and it's also something that takes a different direction. It's a power pop ballad that sounds like it could have been created for one of her namesake's earliest clients, Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）, and in fact, Mitsuko herself sounds a bit like Misato in her delivery. The arrangement also lends itself to that theory. The singer-songwriter provided words and music but also had some help from Issei Yoshioka（吉岡一政）; that first name can be read in four ways according to Jisho.org and since I couldn't find a romanized version of the name, I just went with "Issei", but if someone can confirm or deny my choice, please let me know.
Several years ago, I posted a song by an 80 technopop group called Kidorikko（きどりっこ）whose sound as far as I could get from their April 1985 debut single"Momoiro Kingyo"（桃色金魚）reminded me a lot of the collaborations between Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）in the early 1980s. It sounded quite zippy and fresh.
Well, in the last couple of days, commenter YMOfan04 contacted me regarding a very rare creation by the group consisting of keyboardist/composers Kimitaka Matsumae（松前公高) and Ryuichi Sato（佐藤隆一）along with vocalist/lyricist Chiyumi Ten（てんちゆみ）. According to Kidorikko's J-Wiki article, they released several self-produced albums via audio cassette between 1985 and 1990, the third one being the September 1985"Tamatebako"（玉手箱...Pandora's Box）. The tape managed to squish in 28 tracks on both sides so although I haven't heard the entire album, it strikes me as getting bits and bites of songs instead of whole pieces.
One of the tracks that YMOfan04 recommended was the light and classical "Shitsuren"(Heartbreak) above (at 18:33 on the album itself via the link) which only seems to last a minute and a half before it abruptly smashes into the next track. I would have liked a fuller version since again that feeling of Ohnuki/Sakamoto popped up.
"Penelope" is actually the second track on "Tamatebako" at 2:25 on the album but uploader cydthezombie wanted to focus on this one because they thought it was so good. This one is of a much longer and more reasonable length and is a whole lot peppier in arrangement. Again, I get some of the Ohnuki/Sakamoto feelings but at the same time, I also feel that there is YMO floating around in there. In fact, I think this might be an example of a hybridized City Pop/technopop creation.
I was posting up my usual five articles for Urban Contemporary Friday including the anniversary ones when I got word online that Toronto-born-and-raised comedian, actress and screenwriter Catherine O'Hara passed away rather suddenly today at the age of 71 in Los Angeles. As has been the case with a number of celebrities who had worked with her and her fans who had enjoyed her work over the decades, I was absolutely stunned since she's been so well-known as one of the funniest ladies I've ever seen on the telly.
Although I didn't know who she was at the time, in retrospect, I did see O'Hara for the first time in my life when she was featured in a commercial for headache medicine. Although the title mentions that this was filmed in 1979, I have to go with one commenter underneath the video and disagree. I think I saw this much earlier in the decade. All this time, I'd assumed that O'Hara's companion in the ad was fellow "SCTV" alumna Andrea Martin but I was wrong there.
Of course, in the years since, O'Hara has become famous for her roles in "Home Alone" (even Japanese media has mentioned her passing because of her role as Kevin's mother) and "Beetlejuice". And even more recently, she gained a lot of acclaim in the sitcom "Schitt's Creek" and in the hit program "The Last of Us". All throughout the past few hours here in Canada, various stations have had tributes to the comedian and interviews with those who worked with her with one question being a common denominator: "What will you remember her best for?". Of course, depending on the interviewee, the movies came up and "Schitt's Creek" but for me, it will always be "SCTV" which started in the mid-1970s. For those who have been steady readers of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", you may already know that I have never hidden my love for the show and have even devoted ROY articles indirectly to it such as for Joe Flaherty who passed away a few years earlier and my favourite theme by Ira Newborn among the different themes used for the show
I literally grew up with her and laughed at her when she was doing some of her celeb impressions (Lucille Ball, Kate Hepburn, etc.) and her original characters for the "SCTV" network such as Lola Heatherton and the exasperated English teacher, Lucille Hitzger. I can sympathize with Ms. Hitzger to a certain degree.
I had heard of the CBC sitcom "Coming Up Rosie" which had a two-year run starting from 1975 but never saw it myself. O'Hara and the late John Candy were already working on the earliest iteration of "SCTV" at the time at Global Television Network, but they also had recurring roles on "Coming Up Rosie" as well.
My condolences go to the O'Hara family, friends and many fans. It will be a very sad few days in Canada, but I hope that Catherine will give all of our respects to John, Joe, Tony and Harold wherever they are now.
In the dozen years since I first posted about the City Pop band Piper, there's been more information about this group which started up in 1980 including a J-Wiki article at last. I've learned that vocalist Keisuke Yamamoto （山本圭右）and company did release five singles between 1980 and 1986 and seven albums including a live album that came out in April 2024.
Even since my first posting, I don't consider myself a Piper expert by any means, but I did read that there had been some Early Installment Weirdness in their 1981 debut album "I'm Not In Love" in that there was a whole lot more singing there when compared to their later efforts which had a lot of instrumentals. Still, one of the tracks "Dance" is very pleasant on the ears. Written by George Hikidashi（疋田ジョージ）and composed by the aforementioned Yamamoto, it's about as comfy as a warm woolen blanket on a cold winter's day with that arrangement of City Pop from the late 1970s going into the early 1980s. Yamamoto's vocals sound a little reminiscent of 60s doo-wop and it may be the first time I heard both the Haze effect of the 1970s and the Evian bottled water effect of the 1980s in one tune. A baton being passed?
I started thinking about the anniversary day's plans including the cover versions for "Memory Glass" a few weeks back, and so finding the covers, I then thought about some of the other songs that singer-songwriter Jun Horie（堀江淳）had recorded in the decades between now and the 1980s. It wasn't particularly easy since "Memory Glass" was the one big hit for him.
However, I did find one song which was some years after "Memory Glass". There was his 1993 maxi-single or mini-album titled "Tokyo"（東京）which for some reason doesn't exist in his J-Wiki discography but exists on Apple Music. One of the tracks is "La Regina" which has that urbane feeling of 1990s Tokyo and sounds like something that could have been a theme song for a J-Drama suspense during a weeknight. Horie's high-pitched voice is unmistakable.
For a brief period in my childhood, I had a fascination with labyrinths or mazes whether they showed up in puzzle books or in huge parks. So, you could imagine that one of my favourite old-timey game shows from the 1970s was "The Money Maze" which was hosted by Nick Clooney who was none other than George Clooney's father. You'd be surprised at how much faster a human being could be over a mouse when $10,000 is involved.
I recollect that there was a Hall & Oates' song "Method of Modern Love" which was a big hit in the mid-1980s. Strangely enough, I've come across this opening track from jazz singer Eri Ohno's（大野えり）1985 album"L'eveil"(Awakening) which is titled "Maze of Modern Love". I think a maze of modern love would be truly messy and complicated (more so than a method) but I'll just leave it at that.
Written and composed by Joe Rinoie under his pseudonym of（李家毅）, "Maze of Modern Love" has some of that City Pop but I think it also makes use of some of those upbeat American pop arrangements of that particular time in the 1980s. I keep thinking of Melissa Manchester and Madonna because of those rhythms.
Seeing that today is KKP's 14th birthday, one more thing that I've decided to post to celebrate is a short list of some of our regular singers' 14th singles.
Fridays are usually reserved for the urban contemporary music but today also happens to be January 30th 2026, aka the 14th anniversary of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Grace and Mr. Calico are celebrating up above so we will, too.
I just wasn't quite sure how we were going to commemorate and celebrate fourteen years of Japanese music blogging. However, for starters, I opted to search for cover versions of the song that became the point of the very first article on KKP back on January 30th 2012, and that was Jun Horie's（堀江淳）big hit "Memory Glass" from 1981. For example, I found this urbane version by Ms. OOJA that she recorded for her April 2024 album"Nagashi no OOJA 3 ~ Vintage Song Covers"（流しのOOJA 3～VINTAGE SONG COVERS～...Strolling OOJA 3）. I don't know who arranged it but they apparently went for the Old City Pop rather than the Neo-City Pop which is perfectly fine for me. There's even more of an urge to drop in at that hotel top bar for a cocktail now.
Decades earlier...in fact, in the same year that Horie's original was released in 1981, veteran chanteuse Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）recorded her own take on "Memory Glass" via her November album "Hotarubi"（螢火）which can be translated as either "Firefly Glow" or "Embers" (depending on how romantic you feel, you can pick either one). Fuji's take is much closer to Motoki Funayama's（船山基紀）original arrangement of the song.
It's been sunny the last few days which we are all grateful for but it's also been bitterly cold after Snowmageddon on Sunday. And apparently we're in for a really cold night tonight with the wind chill factor going into the -30s Celsius. I might leave the taps slightly ajar tonight.
Anyways, I should bring something with some summery warmth to the proceedings here. I only discovered this song by chanteuse Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）several weeks ago. "Love Arabesque" is the B-side to Iwasaki's May 1979 17th single"Natsu ni Dakarete"（夏に抱かれて）which I posted all the way back in August 2013.
I mentioned in the article for that A-side that "Natsu ni Dakarete" is the first Hiromi song that didn't involve lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）or composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. Well, Tsutsumi is back for this one while Yoko Aki（阿木燿子）, the songwriter behind a lot of Momoe Yamaguchi's（山口百恵） hits in the latter half of her career, provided lyrics. Unlike the tropical and breezy City Pop feeling of "Natsu ni Dakarete","Love Arabesque" has more of the adventuresome exotic kayo(supposedly Mediterranean, Middle East, Central Asia vibes) which was a type of kayo kyoku that was also making itself felt to a smaller degree at the time. It does have those disco strings and bass in there, though.
Well, we're well into 2026 and I figure it's time to bring in the first Nash Music Library entry for the year. I think the last time I wrote about music maker NML was back on Christmas Eve last year when I had something seasonal.
This time around, today's NML entry doesn't have a particular seasonal purpose. "vi vi vid" is quite the title for this track which originates from the February 2020 collection "Neon Town". Even though it doesn't seem to have any special designation, it does have some spicy Latin rhythm along with a spacy electro melody. I can't help but think of some cute cartoon characters on a comically secret mission somewhere and making tons of mistakes along the way.
I heard this one for the first time in a long while on the car radio last weekend. Definitely reminiscing here.
When this song originally came out near the end of October 1989, I had already been a few months into my two-year stay in Gunma Prefecture on the JET Programme. The thing is that the first time I got a good listen to Janet Jackson's propulsive "Rhythm Nation" single, it was via a Japan Air Lines commercial in which I got to see Ms. Jackson strutting it up with her squad in military uniform in an airport.
It wouldn't be for another several months before I finally got to see the award-winning and eye-widening music video. Music videos featuring a ragtag group of rebels attempting to bring light into a dystopia were nothing new by the end of the 1980s but I don't think anyone had ever seen anything this amazingly choreographed. Certainly not by me...before then, I'd only known Janet as Michael's kid sister and a cast member of "Diff'rent Strokes" on NBC.
The song and the video had such an influence on Japanese viewers that singer Akiko Wada（和田アキ子）practiced and performed the "Rhythm Nation" dance on the annual New Year's Fuji-TV program "Kakushigei Taikai"（かくし芸大会）which features celebrities of all stripes tackling feats that they normally wouldn't do. In Canada, "Rhythm Nation" made it No. 6 on the charts while in the United States, it peaked at No. 2.
So, what was coming out as singles in Japan in October 1989?
Man, those were quite the hey days for Hello! Project（ハロー!プロジェクト）, the huge Tsunku-created female aidoru umbrella under which resided the mightyMorning Musume（モーニング娘。）. And entering the 21st century from the 1990s, other groups and solo acts germinated such as singer Miki Fujimoto（藤本美貴）and the relatively recent OCHA NORMA.
I also recollect there being a few groups under Hello! Project that also had the name Musume. Except for a relatively few exceptions, I didn't dig too deeply into these other groups, but one group's name has stayed with me, Country Musume（カントリー娘。）. Unfortunately, the one reason for that is due to a tragedy that befell them. Country Musume was to have debuted as a trio: Rinne Toda（戸田鈴音）, Azusa Kobayashi（小林梓）, and Hiromi Yanagihara（柳原尋美）. However, just before the release of their debut single (which had already been recorded) in July 1999, Yanagihara was killed in an auto accident with Kobayashi departing the group after its release.
Toda stayed on as a solo act representing Country Musume and as such, she released the group's 2nd single"Yukigeshiki"(Snowscape) in November 1999. It stood out for the fact that not only did Tsunku（つんく♂）compose the song but Chisato Moritaka（森高千里）provided the lyrics. Heavy with the country music vibe, the Sapporo-born Toda sings about how frustrated she's been getting with the endless amounts of snow around her but making the best of a seasonally frustrating time by getting together with the boyfriend and hitting the slopes with a snowboard. That's right...take a negative and turn it into a positive!
What I hadn't known about Country Musume is that the group underwent a lot of personnel changes (but then again, Morning Musume was no stranger to that either) including the entry of some Morning Musume members with that Hokkaido lineage, continuing until 2009. Then in 2014, the group returned but experienced a name change going from Country Musume to Country Girls after which they continued for about another five years before calling it a day in 2019.
In the post-Snowmageddon days, the one thing that I've had to endure are the rocky and slippery unplowed sidewalks. My leg muscles have gotten quite sore from the workout they've been getting trying to navigate the streets. It may be the only time that I have something in common with professional speed skaters...and hey, we've got the Winter Olympics coming up, don't we?
Anyways, keeping up with the winter theme, let's take a listen to this B-side from the late singer-songwriter Kozo Murashita's（村下孝蔵）August 1983 single"Odoriko"（踊り子）, "Fuyu Monogatari"(Winter Story). In contrast to the fairly jaunty A-side, "Fuyu Monogatari" is a beautifully arranged piano ballad of still pining for a past love. The song sounds as if it had a setting of somewhere in Europe but there is mention of a clock tower at least a couple of times in Murashita's lyrics, so I'm wondering if he'd been walking through Sapporo in Hokkaido instead.
The protagonist in the song has apparently been without his now-ex-paramour for over a year so he's been through the emotional wringer. I can only ask him to find a stylish cafe somewhere close by and get some cocoa to alleviate his symptoms.
On the J-Wiki article for "Odoriko", I found out that "Fuyu Monogatari" had been covered in 1987 by Hong Kong singer Sandy Lamb. It's known as 「也許當時年紀少」.
Some years ago, I mentioned a band by the name of The Last Show（ザ・ラストショウ）which was set up to act as backup for folk-rock singer Shigeru Izumiya（泉谷しげる）back in 1974 and then went on their own way from the latter half of that decade. However, following their 1978 album"Last Show 2", nothing more was heard from Koichi Matsuda（松田幸一）and his group.
But then in 2010, almost forty years later, The Last Show got together again and provided a new album in January called "Ieji ~ My Sweet Home"（家路）followed by a live album a few months later titled "The Noise From 80’s". I've already written about the title track and now here's a ballad from the album called "Tomo ni Genki" (Fine Together).
I dare you not to get all gooshy inside after listening to this one. Written by Kenji Kadoya（門谷憲二）and composed by band guitarist Hirofumi Tokutake（徳武弘文）, it sounds contemporary but there's also a feeling of an anchor to the past via some of those 70s slow love songs in a Boz Scaggs way. I don't know for certain who sings the male part, but it might be Rina from the band indigo blue as the female half of the duet here. You may want to have a tissue nearby.
Y'know...I should have posted this one up right on New Year's Day almost a month ago, but then again, I was rather busy with family stuff on January 1st. But I digress. This year is once again the Year of the Horse; people who were born in that year are supposedly responsible, confident and agreeable.
As such, I'm not sure whether I can find any kayo kyoku that are responsible, confident and agreeable, but at least I can find some songs that have some sort of relationship to horses.
I realize that this last one may not have anything directly to do with horses, but dang it, the rhythms here just remind me so much of taking a running ride on a steed through the countryside!
Considering yesterday's massive snowstorm, I can imagine commuters who had to take the car or public transit this morning on this Monday were closing their eyes in resigned realization of their immediate working needs. Fortunately, a few of my friends work from home so they have been off the hook.
If I mention the name Keiko Matsuzaka（松坂慶子）, I believe that a lot of Japanese folks would remember her in her capacity as an actress, TV personality or commercial pitchman. However, she did have that hit back in 1979, the saucy "Ai no Suichuuka"（愛の水中花）. But she had been putting out music for several years in the form of singles and albums starting from the mid-1970s well into the 21st century.
One album was the February 1984"Hitomi wo Tojite"（瞳をとじて ）and the track which started off the B-side of the original LP was "Close Your Eyes" which is the direct translation for the album title. Written and composed by Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）, who came up with a lot of Momoe Yamaguchi's（山口百恵）hits back in the 1970s, "Close Your Eyes" is something quite different. For one thing, it's quite the haunting technopop tune thanks additionally to Matsuzaka's vocals, and it feels like something that came out of France although I can also imagine the band Blondie tackling this one.
We have the apple pie up there which means that this is another All-Points Bulletin article, the first one for 2026.
Last September, YouTuber Neff Sang contacted me regarding a few Chinese covers of Japanese songs that he couldn't identify so he asked us for some help. Eventually, most of them were identified. However, he's contacted me in the last couple of days for a song by Cheng Lin（程琳）that was released above in 1983 which can be found at 21:57 of the above video containing the album "Little Conch"（小螺号）. The song title is 「春水湾湾」but he would like to know what the original Japanese song is.
Neff gave me an additional tidbit in that the original song was created by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）. He's also provided the same song down below albeit under a different arrangement although he's stated that it was also from the same year of 1983. Unfortunately, I couldn't identify the song but if any of you take a listen and can identify it, please let us know.
Well, that was the entrance to my building this morning after Snowmageddon 2 walloped the Greater Toronto Area all throughout yesterday. I think we may have gotten as much as two feet of snow by the end and though the main streets have been plowed, the sidewalks were still pretty treacherous (and probably will remain that way for the next few days).
It was an interesting time at the local mall this morning when I was out doing the usual grocery shopping. Just when I was ready to head for the cashier, the alarm began whooping and then we got the announcement ordering us out of the supermarket immediately. So I was out with my basket of groceries waiting for half an hour outside of the now-sealed store. Apparently, on the other end of the mall, the ceiling collapsed just within the entrance and the fire department had to come in and check the structural integrity for all of the ceiling within the mall so since I couldn't wait, I just returned my groceries to the nearest staffer and headed on home. Meanwhile, there was a three-car collision in the mall parking lot. But hey, at least it was sunny.😎
In commemoration of the second major snowstorm to hit Toronto in the last ten days, I've decided to find something suitable to begin this business week's round of KKP articles. I already spoke on storm-related songs several days ago so I was wondering how I was going to pull this off today when I remembered a lady whose first name literally stands for "blizzard": Fubuki Koshiji（越路吹雪）.
The late chanson singer released a single that would be perfect for yesterday's sturm und drang. "Yuki ga Furu"(Snow Falls) might sound something of an understatement considering the amounts that we received but I can live with that. Released in 1963, this was a cover of Belgian singer Salvatore Adamo's own hit, "Tombe la neige", from earlier in the year. Originally composed and written by Adamo, both the Japanese version which was given lyrics by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）and the original reflect a less stormy and more composed if resigned state of dealing with the loss of a lover...and the winter in Japan at least likes to reflect emotional devastation regarding romance. Parting can be so beautiful and horrifyingly sad.
Of course, over here in Toronto currently, it's not just the snow but the ceiling which falls.
I have to say that singer-songwriter Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）was about as imaginative as Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）when it came to the design of her album covers. One example is the one for her August 1983 album"Miracle" which hit No. 20 on Oricon. I mean, can anyone psychoanalyze this one?\
"Bad Boy, Bad Girl" is one track on "Miracle" which is surprisingly steamy for a Japanese pop song of the 1980s. I have heard some Mood Kayo tunes at karaoke that can get rather liberal with the sex quotient (along with the soft porn videos to go along with them) but I think this might be one of the only times that I've heard something like this in a regular pop tune, although no one in American R&B or hip-hop will need to drop their jaws in awe here.
Ozaki was responsible for words, music and arrangement with "Bad Boy, Bad Girl" (as she was for all of the other tracks on "Miracle") and she does a duet here with jazz bassist Akira Okazawa（岡沢章）who's got some of Hiro Tsunoda（つのだ☆ひろ）vibes in his vocals. The melody has that somewhat woozy mixture of nocturnal pop and reggae rhythms thrumming throughout as if a lot of alcohol (and perhaps other stuff) were being imbibed in the storyline of the song. I guess whatever happened in this setting probably stayed in this setting.
I've had takoyaki, the great Osakan street food, from time to time when I was living in the Tokyo area and have even tried the Toronto variety. Of course, I'm no expert on it but I believe that the ideal takoyaki is piping hot and creamy on the inside while the outside is pleasantly doughy with all of the nori, mayonnaise and thick sauce covering the balls. We've got commenters on this blog who live in Japan, so would like their input on the ideal takoyaki. One other point that I'd like to add is that whenever NHK shows tourism in Osaka, they always put up scenes of the folks navigating their palates through the searing hot snacks.
Now with the Holidays over, regular programming has continued to return. "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）is another NHK stalwart that has come back onto screens this week and the crew was in Takatsuki this time around. One of the songs that an old couple performed was indeed takoyaki-themed.
Well, you can't get more obvious than the title of "Takoyaki Biyori ~ Fuufu Yatai" (A Good Day For Takoyaki ~ Husband & Wife Stand). This is a duet between enka singers Yutaka Oe（大江裕）and Hiromi Yamaguchi（山口ひろみ）, the latter of whom is getting onto the blog for the first time and for the former, it's about the earliest in his discography that I've come across. Released in December 2015, it's a grand old enka about the ups and downs of a husband and wife making their way through life and finances by cooking up and selling takoyaki. They sing and speak so sugary sweetly at each other in their Kansai dialects that I figure that there must be something behind the heavenly veil, and sure enough at the very end, I get to hear some of Yamaguchi's razor-like tongue.
"Takoyaki Biyori" was written by Miwa Ito（伊藤美和）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）. As for Yamaguchi, she hails from Osaka and her mother and aunt were a postwar comedic duo named Kamogawa Kamome and Chidori（加茂川かもめ・ちどり）. While in university, Yamaguchi was introduced to the enka legend Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）and shortly after became one of his many apprentices with her debut in 2002. Up to last year, she has released 29 singles and a couple of original albums.
Summer days are as far away as they can be right now when the temperatures outside of my home are closer to Absolute Zero and the winds are bearing down on us at about Warp One. It would be really nice for some of that sun and warmth to return but we'll probably have to wait a few more months.
Anyways, another vicarious attempt at the hot season will be granted here via the 2000s pop duo metro trip. "Summer Days" was written and composed by one-half of the pair, musician Taka Aoki（青木多果）, while his partner, vocalist Tomoka Hino（日野友香）, has a fine time singing the melody influenced by bossa nova and samba. And there is no hint of snow or ice in there at all. 😀The song shares track space with my first exposure to metro trip, "BABYBABY" on their debut full album"Tsuki to Drive" （月とドライブ...The Moon and The Drive） from January 2006.
Kids, you might want to recheck your seating in the car there!
If you are reading this on your computer terminal surrounded by sand, palm trees and blue sky, then you have my envy. This morning, I woke up to a -20-degree Celsius forecast and mandatory layers of clothing. Spring is still two months away.
Well, at least I can enjoy a tropical vacation vicariously through music. Case in point: Yukari Kato's（かとうゆかり）3rd single"Neppu Hankyu"(Hot Wind Hemisphere) from April 1983 which is a blast of that titular wind through Latin and disco. It was used as a campaign song that year for what would later become Japan Air System, and the melody loudly invites travelers to head on south.
Speaking of that melody, it was composed by Takashi Watanabe*（渡辺敬之）with Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）on lyrics. The Aichi Prefecture-born Kato was a singer and tarento who was active in the mid-1980s and was apparently discovered while singing at a Roppongi live house. Her J-Wiki bio states that she had usually preferred 1960s pop over the contemporary stuff but "Neppu Hankyu" certainly wasn't an example of that. Kato would release five singles up to 1985 and one original album in 1982.
*That first name's kanji has too many readings so I took a stab at it. If anyone can correct or confirm the reading, please let me know.
That is one mighty happy young photographer flying about in zero gravity on either the ISS or a space shuttle. If it were me, I would most likely be heaving all over the place.
Anyways, my final article tonight deals with the laidback sounds by Uwanosora（ウワノソラ）. "Mujuuryoku no Photographer"(Photographer in Zero Gravity) initially launches with some fairly happy piano-driven AOR that is reminiscent of the Doobie Bros before the speed ratchets down slightly to something more relaxing The song first appeared on the band's August 2020 2nd maxi-single"Kurage"（くらげ...Jellyfish） but also popped up as the coupling song to "Heart no Tekagami"（ハートの手鏡) from October 2021.
It's also nice that "Mujuuryoku no Photographer" and "Heart no Tekagami" share space on the same disc for comparison. There is the cafe-worthy former paired with the Seizo Watase（わたせせいぞう）City Pop of the latter.
It was a few years ago that I discovered the band Nulbarich which has been put alongside Suchmos and Yogee New Waves as one of the relatively new breed of Neo-City Pop bands, although perhaps they would rather be called something more on the lines of J-R&B. Anyways, Nulbarich's "Tokyo" from 2021 has that groove with some added synthpop.
Now, I'm going a bit earlier to their debut year of 2016 with "New Era" which was a track on their first album"Guess Who?". From the title, one might guess that the song could be about a better time for Earth and its citizens, but really, it's a whole lot more intimate with a man finally coming out of his shell to share love with that significant other for the first time in a while. There's that appealingly sunny funk and groove accompanying Jeremy "JQ" Quartus' soulful vocals.
I can always count on singer-songwriter Ryohei Yamanashi（山梨鐐平）to come up with something that is urban, urbane and stylish with some jazziness. His fashion sense certainly shows the same thing.
"Hidarikiki no Onna" was a 1982 single as well as a track on Yamanashi's debut album from the same year, "Tweed". Apparently, its English subtitle is "Woman in the Rain" from the singer's lyrics but it can also be translated as "The Left-Handed Woman" or even "Woman Who Loves Her Drink"; that latter meaning was something that I hadn't known before. In any case, the potential double meaning in the title merely adds to the sultry mystery that the song provides. I do love those tight horns, the disco strings and the jazzy saxophone. This can only be a nocturnal pop song of the city.
I have another new face to bring onto the blog. Her name is Kazumi Ouchi（大内和美）and this is another singer whose information is very sparse indeed. In fact, I could only get what I could from Discogs and apparently, she released about 6 singles between 1983 and 1988 with no idea whether she also released any albums. As well, she changed her professional name to Hitomi Mitsui（三井一美）in late 1984.
In June 1983, Ouchi released her second single "Yokohama Shock". Written and composed by Kuniko Fukushima（福島邦子）with added lyrical assistance by Akira Inami（伊南岳）, it's a pleasant City Pop/sophisticated pop concoction with some of that bossa nova flair. Yes, I did give the song that hybridized categorization since I can also feel that there is some of that kayo kyoku in there. I mean, if it had been released a decade later, I could have even said that it was a form of New Adult Music.
One of the highlights of my time working as the receptionist at the old International Student Centre at the University of Toronto was when the building was chosen to be one of the filming sites for the 1993 movie "M. Butterfly" starring Jeremy Irons and John Lone regarding forbidden love between the two main characters. Many of our rooms were used as certain areas within the French Embassy located in China. Of course, there was a lot of excitement of an actual Hollywood movie being filmed in my workplace.
Apparently, the grand staircase was the final factor that got us selected by director David Cronenberg. I actually got to meet the famous director when he came in one day to take a look at the ISC. He was very friendly and a fair bit shorter than I'd thought (basically the same height as me at about 173 cm). I have a few stories about the "M. Butterfly" era but for brevity here, I'll just relay the part where a lot of Chinese students came to the front desk like happy puppies and asked whether Lone would be filming his scenes at the centre. Alas, I had to tell them that he was filming his scenes half way around the world while Irons would be filming within the centre. Didn't quite get the enthusiastic reception there.
I have to say that although I never saw the entire movie, I did marvel at how well Lone was able to play a woman, fooling and bewitching Irons' character. Apparently, something like that happened in real life in Japan in the 1980s. Hokkaido-born former thespian and TV personality Rumiko Matsubara（松原留美子）was a "New Half"（ニューハーフ）...a Japanese term that could describe either a transgender woman or a drag queen (the impression I got from the J-Wiki article on her was that she may have even been the originator of the term). While she was working in Roppongi, Tokyo, she was actually able to convince clients at a hostess club that she was a real woman. She was even selected to be the image girl for the "Roppongi Beauty" campaign without anyone finding out that she was a man. A couple of people involved with a movie saw one of her posters and recruited Matsubara to be the star and were absolutely flabbergasted when Matsubara told them that he was actually a guy.
Fame soon followed and when fame follows anyone in Japan, that means it's time to cut records. And Matsubara did release a couple of singles in 1981 and 1982 with one album coming out in 1981. Plainly titled "New Half", one of the tracks is "Wakare"（Parting） although the actual kanji is read as "Fujitsu" (Insincerity). Written by Yoko Katsura（桂葉子）and composed by Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）, it's quite the languid City Pop number which is performed with a very light touch by the singer. Melodically, it could describe the night life in the buildings filled with hostess clubs in the livelier areas of Tokyo.
Matsubara was gainfully employed in front of the camera for at least half of the 1980s but eventually the phone calls to her dried up and she returned to her work as a hostess. But she faded from view completely by the 1990s.
What was once the tallest free-standing structure on Earth, Toronto's own CN Tower, had the world's highest disco called Sparkles. It was also one of the smallest discos but for us in the Japanese-Canadian Students' Association at the University of Toronto, it was one of our go-to places although not to the extent of The Copa, The Diamond or karaoke bar Kuri. Had our fair share of cocktails and snacks at Sparkles, but I have to admit that I never went to the revolving 360 Restaurant. I did hear that it's a bit of a tourist trap but if anyone would like to correct me...🙏 Regardless, Happy 50th Birthday to the ol' CN Tower!
And we come to the song for this article, "Yozora no Menu"(Menu of the Night Sky). Written by Hiroko Tania（谷亜ヒロコ）and composed by Yasuko Kawakami（川上泰子）, this was recorded by aidoru Yukiko (Yuyu) Iwai（岩井由紀子）on her 4th and final album to date, "Kotteru ne!"（こってるネ!...You're So Particular!）, from December 1988. It's quite the high-flying romantic song and it has a smooth and refined arrangement by Ryo Yonemitsu（米光亮）that almost had me thinking City Pop. I just hope that the happy couple don't have any vertigo issues. As for the album, "Kotteru ne!" scored a No. 49 ranking on Oricon.
I know that musician, songwriter and former member of Happy End, Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, has been continuing to make his way through the music industry to the present day. However, up to now, I'd usually seen him as a fellow making the good stuff in the 1970s such as the song I noted only a few weeks earlier "Brandy Wine".
Only recently have I discovered some of his music following the decade of disco and early City Pop. One such example is his "Kaiyuu" from his 1998 album"Kujira no Umi"（クジラの海〜Living Whales）. "Kaiyuu" can mean "excursion" but it can also be defined as "seasonal migration" for sea life such as fish. Considering the album title, Suzuki could have been referring to the migration of whales themselves. But whatever is moving around out there in the grand blue, Suzuki means it as a very languid and relaxing fusion number that kinda hovers around jazz and pop...maybe it's more accurate to say New Age. Let us lie down in those deck lounge chairs, shall we?
It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since music icon David Bowie left this mortal coil. Perhaps it's a mere guess from me, but I think fans and people who are just discovering Bowie are probably going through his discography and perhaps even his filmography right now to view his creations.
As I mentioned in my first ROY article on Bowie, "Ashes to Ashes" was the first time I'd seen him in a music video, following my first ever sighting and listening to him on the Martin Sheen-hosted "Saturday Night Live" episode. Bowie Boy, did he make an impression! Music videos were just at the beginning of their lifetime as a pop culture force and this one for "Ashes to Ashes" was kinda like one of my dreams if I had a little too much spicy food the night before.
I will leave the interpretation of the song to better people at Genius and Wikipedia, but suffice it to say, it was something that left me somewhat shaken considering that I'd seen it on some video show late at night and it was something that I'd never seen before with all of those special effects and Bowie taking on multiple characters. I also read that "Ashes to Ashes" has been lauded for its distinct structure and I could attest to that with the melodic shifts in direction knocking me around for an absolute loop. Art pop and art rock were the right labels for this one, along with New Wave. At the time, I was ready to use avant-garde.
"Ashes to Ashes" was released on August 1st 1980. It did OK in Canada by scoring a No. 35 ranking on RPM and in the United States, it actually hit No. 21 on the Billboard Disco chart, but it reached No. 1 in the UK and France. Let's see what was up at the top of the Oricon charts a few days later on August 4th.
I just wanted to leave things off with Jason Shulman's wonderful paean through his video for Bowie's 1972"Starman". The song wouldn't fit for ROY because I frankly didn't hear it for the first time until much later into my adulthood but this video probably has had fans weeping for joy.
As I mentioned in the previous article, "Uta Con"（うたコン）was back after several weeks of hiatus due to the Holidays. One of the guests was enka singer Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）who, back on New Year's Eve, managed to pull off another Guinness world record of sustained kendama catches (there are actually other snakes of people doing this sort of thing?!) on the Kohaku Utagassen.
It seems as if Miyama is taking after another famous enka legend by the name of Hiroshi (Itsuki) and becoming quite the Renaissance man or Swiss Army knife. He not only sings but loves kendama, breeds Rhinoceros beetles and handles the drums with aplomb, and those are the things that I remember; there were a few other hobbies that popped up on the screen but I forgot what they were.
Anyways, Miyama was on the drum set last night as he performed his latest single which was released only a couple of weeks ago and which makes the song the second one to be listed under the 2026 label here on KKP after this particular tune. "Hana to Samurai"(The Flower and the Samurai) is an enka song with a bit of a jazzy/rock n' roll twist so I guess I can also place this under the category of New Adult Music as well. Written by Haku Ide（いではく）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, it's all about remembering and engaging in all of those Japanese ideals such as being faithful to duty and family. I gather that it's the added genre panache that kinda softens the doctrinaire in "Hana to Samurai".
One additional thing that I discovered in Miyama's Wikipedia page is that his vocals have been called the Vitamin Voice because fans have claimed that his golden tones have provided a sense of security and vitality. So, he's the tonic that rejuvenates...something that will always be welcome in enka.
Wow! All this time knowing the song "Akai Sweet Pea"(Red Sweet Pea) by Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and the above 1910 painting is the first time I get to see a real red sweet pea. This is by Edward H. Mitchell (1867–1932) and it's in the public domain according to Wikimedia Commons.
One other thing that I found out on the first episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）in 2026 last night was that "Akai Sweet Pea" is celebrating its 44th anniversary today since its release in 1982. Well, of course, I wrote up an article on one of Seiko-chan's evergreen hits all the way back in 2012 so I can't really repeat myself. However, I did look up the many cover versions of "Akai Sweet Pea" via J-Wiki and found this one.
It is indeed a very sweet version via the December 2020 album "VOICE ~ Seiyuu-tachi ga Utau Matsuda Seiko Song ~ Female Edition"（VOICE〜声優たちが歌う松田聖子ソング〜 Female Edition...Voice Actresses Sing the Songs of Seiko Matsuda）. As the title says, a whole bunch of the big guns in the anime voice actress industry came together to provide their own versions of Matsuda's music. Their take on "Akai Sweet Pea" is the 12th and final track on the album and it is an appropriately stately but adorable cover sung by all of the seiyuu involved in the project to wrap things up: Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, Maaya Uchida（内田真礼）, Ayane Sakura（佐倉綾音）, Miku Ito（伊藤美来）and Momo Asakura（麻倉もも）. Probably not a dry eye in the house.
Anyways, all hail "Akai Sweet Pea"! All hail Seiko-chan!
I see that "Uta Con"（うたコン）is back in the saddle again on NHK after several weeks' Holiday hiatus. I'll have to take a look at that later tonight, but it'll be nice to see and hear some of the ol' kayo kyoku again.
Reading that enka veteran Akemi Misawa（三沢あけみ）is 80 years old, I can't imagine that I would see much of her on television again. However, she can be active on YouTube via her long discography of music. One such song is her November 1964 single"Ashita wa O-Tachi ka?" which literally translates as "Are You Standing Tomorrow?" (OK, let's not giggle too much here, eh?) but I think it's likelier that it means "Are You Leaving Tomorrow?". I did hear some references in Takao Saeki's（佐伯孝雄）lyrics that the young fellow will be departing by sea.
I gather that this would be another parting-is-such-sweet-sorrow type of enka with the melody by Shunichi Sasaki（佐々木俊一）and arrangement by Masanobu Tokuchi（渡久地政信）. However, there is something rather interesting in there with the inclusion of what sounds like a steel pedal guitar for that Hawaiian feeling. Usually, I'd hear that most Polynesian of instruments in Mood Kayo but it's actually included in an enka tune. Maybe the fellow is headed off to the Aloha State for an undetermined period of time.
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