Akemi Misawa -- Ashita wa O-Tachi ka?（明日はお立ちか）

 

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.