Hibari Misora -- Jinsei Shogi（人生将棋）

 

During most episodes of the NHK morning information show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）, one of the final segments is the cooking one where some chef comes in to whip up something delicious for the hosts and guests. Yesterday was a little different though because this time around, someone came in to introduce the Finnish game of Mölkky. It was apparently introduced in 1996 and has become quite popular in various parts of the world including Japan, and it appears like a combination of lawn bowling and billiards. From what I've seen of the guys on "Asaichi" plying their hands to the game, it looks like an activity that even I could do without making too much of a fool out of myself. The above video is a Japanese explanation while the one below is in English.

Well, yesterday, when I was watching the other NHK program of "Uta Con"（うたコン）and their tribute to the Osaka Expo, Osaka kayo and even the year of 1970 in terms of music, the hosts presented some of the music that debuted in that year. And indeed, there was one song that got onto that year's Kohaku Utagassen special as sung by the Queen of Kayo Kyoku herself, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）.

And guess what? It also has something to do with a game. Misora released her July 1970 single "Jinsei Shogi" (Shogi of Life) as a most cordial parable of life as a game of shogi with each move representing an action influencing something good or bad in life. Written by Miyuki Ishimoto（石本美由起）and composed by Tetsuya Kato（かとう哲也）, there seems to be a pleasantly rustic feeling to the song as if this grand game was being played out in the countryside while Misora takes a somewhat sage and perhaps even sneaky approach on the vocals as if she were Yoda training Luke Skywalker. Compare this kayo with another earlier and more famous Misora single, "Yawara"（柔）, which likens life to a round of judo. 

"Jinsei Shogi" wasn't a huge hit for Misora, only reaching No. 70 on Oricon and selling around 19,000 records. 

Katsuaki Kitanofuji -- Bojou no Blues（慕情のブルース）

 

Welcome to Hump Day here on KKP! Although I never saw him during his active days as a sumo wrestler between 1957 and 1974, Yokozuna Katsuaki Kitanofuji（北の富士勝昭）was still someone that I knew on sight and by sound because he became a frequent commentator on the NHK sumo broadcasts.

Kitanofuji was a figure that I could recognize from his glasses and how dandy he looked in either a yukata or a tailored suit in the occasional times when the camera was focused on him during the TV broadcasts. From what I read, he could be very cordial and also very harsh in his comments on other rikishi and their actions. In the last year or so though, I noticed that he hadn't been appearing on the last few tournaments and then came the announcement in November 2024 that he had passed away at the age of 82. My condolences to his family, friends and fans.

When I think about what retired rikishi do following their illustrious careers in the ring, I usually think three options: TV commentator, chankonabe restaurant owners and singers. For example, Daishiro Masuiyama（増井山大志郎）took that third route through songs such as "Yuko no O-Mise"（夕子のお店）in 2013. For Kitanofuji, even though he was still an active wrestler, he had his few years of going behind the recording mike and putting out some enka or Mood Kayo tunes.

One such song by Kitanofuji was "Bojou no Blues" (The Yearning Blues) which is notable for its rich Mood Kayo stylings. And often in that genre, I hear a baritone sax but this is the first time that I had ever heard of a bass saxophone being played which perhaps added some further gravitas to the big man singing there. Kitanofuji did have a good voice and perhaps his spirit is blushing a bit when I say that his vocals were reminiscent of the Tough Man himself, actor/singer Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）. 

According to his J-Wiki profile, his recording career ranged from 1967 to 1969. However, I couldn't track down when he released "Bojou no Blues", so I'll go for average and say 1968 until I get something confirmed. As well, there were apparently two songs with the same title but with no singer listed and two pairs of different songwriters according to the JASRAC database. I know none of those songwriters so I'll just let that go, too, for now. 

Kobukuro -- Kono Hoshi no Tsuzuki wo（この地球の続きを）

Wikimedia Commons

 

Having regular access to Japanese television via Jme and before that, TV Japan, I've been able to keep tabs on the Osaka Expo this year which opened to the general public a couple of days ago. Other than that, I haven't heard a single thing on the event anywhere else including Canada and America. Up to this point, the advance ticket sales hadn't been great although the opening Sunday had a lot of issues with long lineups and smartphone hang-ups regarding maps and registration. Will it be a success? We'll just have to see.

I figured that there just had to be an official theme song for the event but I didn't actually hear it until today's "Uta Con"（うたコン）broadcast. I didn't even know that it was the pop duo Kobukuro（コブクロ） who had been behind it until they showed up on the program. And it was all the way back in February 2022 when Shunsuke Kuroda (黒田俊介) and Kentarō Kobuchi (小渕健太郎) were given the assignment to come up with that official theme.

Later that year in July, Kobukuro presented their theme song at the "1000 Days to Go!" Expo-related event at Universal Studios Japan with the digital single coming out the following day. "Kono Hoshi no Tsuzuki wo" (The Continuation of This World) takes listeners on a magic carpet ride with the help of a children's chorus, some pounding piano and of course the soulful voices of Kuroda and Kobuchi. With the underlying intoning of "Let's go and see the future!", it fits as the campaign song for all of those goodies within the various pavilions on display. So, "Kono Hoshi no Tsuzuki wo" was in existence long before the Expo's full bloom in the past few days but then again so was "Sekai no Kuni Kara Konnichiwa" (世界の国からこんにちは）, the theme song for Expo 1970 in Osaka which had been created back in 1967.

Osaka Songs

 

Well, the Osaka Expo is now fully underway. Back last week, I posted a Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）enka in commemoration of the event, and earlier today, NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン ）provided a song festival for Osaka in tribute as well. I realized then that I may not have put up a list of Osaka-based kayo kyoku on KKP as of yet, and checking some of the key files, I apparently have not done so. Therefore, without further ado, here are some of those songs, a few of which were featured on "Uta Con".

(1976) Senri and Mari Unabara -- Osaka Rhapsody （大阪ラプソディー）

(1986) Takajin Yashiki -- Yappa Sukiyanen （やっぱ好きやねん）

(1981) Harumi Miyako & Tadashi Miyazaki -- Futari no Osaka （ふたりの大阪）

(1982) Masaki Ueda -- Osaka Bay Blues

(1979) BORO -- Osaka de Umareta Onna （大阪で生まれた女）

And of course, we gotta pay tribute to the 1970 Expo in Osaka.

(1967) Haruo Minami -- Sekai no Kuni Kara Konnichiwa (世界の国からこんにちは）

Yukino Ichikawa -- Inochi Sakasete（命咲かせて）

 

The last time I wrote about enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）was back in May 2024 for what was her most recent single at the time "Nocturne"（ノクターン）which had come out a couple of months earlier. Some months after that, Ichikawa was unfortunately diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We hadn't heard or seen her on any of the kayo-based shows on NHK for months so we were wondering about what had happened to her, and well, we finally found out some time afterwards.

Happily though, Ichikawa has recovered and she has resumed her career after her hiatus of many months of treatment. She recently appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）and last night, she also showed up on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）to the encouragement of her fellow singers and fans and a lot of hearty yells of "Welcome back!". Not surprisingly, a lot of tears were shed as well.

For her return performance, Ichikawa sang "Inochi Sakasete" (Let Life Blossom) which was released as her 25th single in April 2015. Written by Shinichi Ishihara（石原信一）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, it's an enka tune about coming back from turmoil and accepting love once again. Considering the circumstances, it wasn't surprising that Ichikawa sung that one, and hopefully she'll continue to progress in her health and career. The song managed to reach No. 25 on Oricon.

Ryoko Moriyama -- Navigation

 

Still keeping on the Camellia Diamonds subject now that I released my Author's Picks on the songs used for their commercials, I also wanted to individually mention one other song that was also used for Camellia but hadn't been put on the blog previously. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the ad on YouTube but as I remember it, it featured a model in a white billowy dress in some desert looking distinctly nonchalant about her situation. As a substitute, I've put up a Bing AI image.

Playing in the background of all that sand was folk/pop singer Ryoko Moriyama's（森山良子）"Navigation", her April 1990 43rd single. One other reason that I wanted to have "Navigation" all on its own here was that the song was something that I had long searched for on YouTube to post onto KKP since I started the whole thing back in 2012. I'm happy to say that the search is over.

"Navigation" is truly one of the later examples of exotic kayo (or considering the time of release, it should be called exotic J-Pop?) considering most of that sub-genre popped up in the late 1970s. It feels like some very dramatic Middle Eastern adventure with a hint of South American tango. As was the case with many a Camellia Diamond jingle, I decided that I had to get the single. However, I went one better: I ended up purchasing the album that "Navigation" became a part of..."We Shall Overcome wo Utatta Hi" （"We Shall Overcome"を歌った日...The Day That I Sang "We Shall Overcome"） which was also released in the same month as the single. Incidentally, Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）and Yukiko Marimura（万里村ゆき子）were the composer and lyricist respectively.

Looks like Camellia didn't want to leave the desert all that quickly. Below is another ad from them featuring supermodel Linda Evangelista but the song is decidedly far more active. Welcome aboard, B'z!

Oh, Those Camellia Diamonds CM Songs（カメリアダイアモンド）

 

Back in the 2010s, I noted through a couple of articles that there was that series of Parliament Cigarette commercials that popped up late at night. Those were famous for showing off some classy scenes of the high life, a lot of it based in Manhattan where the beautiful people were having the time of their lives at some swanky soiree. Meanwhile, the songs used in the ads were of the Quiet Storm variety: soulful love ballads featuring folks such as Bobby Caldwell and Carl Anderson, both of whom have sadly left this mortal coil. They didn't get me to take up smoking (thankfully), but I still appreciated the commercials for their dreams of the good life.

Well, there has been another series of cool and classy commercials for Camellia Diamonds in Japan over the years, and the thing about these ads is that they have pointedly featured supermodels and female celebrities varying from Lea Thompson to Sharon Stone. The above one is showing off Canada's own Linda Evangelista to the stirring voice of Kahoku Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）. And speaking of that singer, unlike Parliament's use of American singers, Camellia was more than happy to employ Japanese singers and bands with their high-energy goods. You can take a look at the long history of those ads below, thanks to YouTuber pstexe.

So, I've opted to start off this KKP business week with some of my own choices of Camellia Diamonds commercial tunes that I've enjoyed. I hope you do, too.

(1990) Kahoru Kohiruimaki -- Moving Action

(1989) Masayuki Suzuki -- Wakare no Machi (別れの街）

(1993) Keizo Nakanishi -- You And I

(1984) Mariko Takahashi -- Momo Iro Toiki （桃色吐息）

(1987) Kiyomi Suzuki with Rats & Star -- Lonely Chaplin (ロンリー・チャプリン）

I've also put up another Camellia Diamonds song in its own article. Check out Ryoko Moriyama's（森山良子） "Navigation".