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.
Commenter mopuchino2 reminded me of the Eriko Tamura（田村英里子）file when he left his thoughts on one of her singles "Process"（プロセス）a few days ago.
I hadn't posted an Eriko song in many years so I decided to take a look at the song "Soyokaze no Prologue"(Breezy Prologue) which mopuchino2 had recommended. It is a track on her 2nd album from February 1990, "Myself", and hearing it for the first time, it reminded me how fresh and optimistic she sounded through other songs that I had heard by her. Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）was behind the lyrics and Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, under his pen name of Mark Davis, composed the melody as a synthpop-driven aidoru tune of the times although some of that rumbling made me wonder about throwing in the Eurobeat tag.
Didn't want to write this at the beginning of the article since I would be bringing the atmosphere down a ton but as a longtime "Star Trek" fan, I was absolutely gutted on hearing of Sir Patrick Stewart's death earlier this afternoon. It was bad enough that we lost Walter Koenig a few days ago and now we lost him. Not only was he Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise but he was also Professor X in "X-Men", two huge characters in pop culture. Catching "Avengers: Doomsday" is gonna feel very different now.
I will try to pay tribute to him tomorrow. Nope, he doesn't have anything to do with Japanese pop music but I'd like to call my choice a "Captain's Prerogative".
Well, think of that while you're listening to "Obake Nante Nai sa" (There Ain't No Such Things as Ghosts) as sung by chanteuse Mieko Hirota（弘田三枝子）in a way that you've usually not heard her sing. You may have her jazz stuff when she was a teen and then some sultrier tunes later in her career, but over here, she sounds just like a boy stubbornly refusing to believe that he'd be scared of the supernatural...and perhaps failing a tad. Written by Minori Maki（まきみのり）and composed by Yo Mine（峯陽）, there is something of the cute Disney-esque arrangement here, not surprising considering that it was broadcast on an NHK "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）episode from 1966 for about a month in the summer.
"Obake Nante Nai sa" has been covered over the decades by a number of other singers but the first one I discovered on YouTube was Kaela Kimura's（木村カエラ）take on the song through her September 2015 22nd single"Egg". Kimura's version of the song has more of a slightly anarchic and technopoppy marching band vibe as if she were leading a Halloween parade.
Well, we're just a couple of sleeps away from Halloween 2026. I figure that it'll be chaos at Shibuya Crossing again and the kids will be trick-or-treatin' in the local neighbourhoods while the grownups will be planning their own cosplay debauchery. Of course, it also means that it's another Halloween-themed Reminiscings of Youth today.
It was in March 1988 when the first "Beetlejuice" hit movie screens, and in retrospect, I have to say that it'll go down as one of the most star-studded horror comedies that has ever existed although some of the cast weren't all that well known back then. But now, when I mention Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder among others, folks may gasp. There were many highlights in the movie but one of the funniest was the cast rendition of "Day-O". I was lucky enough to have caught the flick in the theatre in its first run.
For Keaton, I think "Beetlejuice" was probably his final movie as him being known primarily as a comedic actor. Once "Batman" and one other movie with him came out the following few years, he was heading into dramatic territory along the same lines as Robin Williams and Tom Hanks. Composer Danny Elfman was even less known to me at the time. The New Wave band Oingo Boingo was known to me only by name since I was never a fan of theirs but Elfman was the lead vocalist and songwriter.
Elfman then became a soundtrack scorer for movies from the middle of the 1980s, and the score for "Beetlejuice" is the one that first impressed upon me his mix of old-style oom-pah-pah Eastern European circus marching band and early 20th-century heroic classical overtures. The "Beetlejuice" theme is perfect for October 31st for its silliness and sinister overtones...and it even includes a prelude of the "Day-O" hijinks to come.
What else was coming out in Japan in that month of March 1988?
As a PS, allow me to introduce something related to another wonderful Halloween theme, "Ghostbusters", which has already gotten onto the ROY file. In the last several days, a YouTuber by the name of Bill McClintock has managed to create a great musical mashup with the famed Ray Parker Jr. song as the base. You can also see Elfman hamming it up as well.
From time to time, old memories of my tokusatsu-viewing hobby bubble up now and then, and earlier today, the Japanese TV hero "Jumborg A"(Jumborg Ace) popped up in my head. However, this was only in manga form since that's the only way that I got to know him.
The quizzically titled "Jumborg A" (the producers must have really wanted to get that voiced velar stop between "jumbo" and "ace") showed up on NET (the future TV Asahi) for one season between January and September 1973 as another gigantic and weaponized tokusatsu hero to protect the Earth from all monstrous invaders; I gather that the Ultraman family couldn't hog up all of the airwaves.
I must admit that the opening credits aren't exactly the most compelling that I've ever seen in a tokusatsu show...it's just actor Naoki Tachibana（立花直樹）as mild-mannered delivery pilot Naoki Tachibana（立花ナオキ）in his beloved Cessna flying in the sky. But the thing though is that due to the intervention of a suspiciously Ultraman-like mentor, Tachibana and the Cessna merge to form Jumborg A! Wait a minute, so a human gets infiltrated by technology to become a...Borg! Things that make Trekkies go Hmmmm!
The opening theme "Jumborg A" is sung by Akira Tani（谷あきら）who is really veteran Masato Shimon（子門真人）who has made tokusatsu theme songs his specialty. For some reason, he's had a lot of different names in his career such as Koichi Fuji（藤浩一）and Motomi Tsubaki（椿もとみ）. Plus, for any tokusatsu theme, the kids chorus group is essential so this time, Tokyo Arakawa Shonen Shojo Gasshotai（東京荒川少年少女合唱隊...The Tokyo Arakawa Boys & Girls Chorus Group） was backing Tani up here. Not surprisingly, "Jumborg A" has plenty of brass punch and vocal exhortation to encourage the hero to continue the good fight. The song was composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）and written by Kazuho Mitsuta（満田かずほ）.
Shigesato Itoi is one famous personage in Japan who has worn a number of hats in his long career: copywriter, essayist, lyricist and TV personality.
And that includes popping up on commercials such as the one he did decades ago with a very young Chisato Moritaka（森高千里）for Pocari Sweat.
I've read that Itoi also has a share of ownership in Nintendo's "Mother" games, and he provided the catchphrase "Otona mo, kodomo mo, oneesan mo"（大人も子供も、おねーさんも。...From adults to kids...even older sisters [or young ladies]）. The above is one such commercial from 1994 starring SMAP's Takuya Kimura（木村拓哉）.
Itoi was born in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture's capital city, in November 1948. 1968 was when he first entered the copywriting business...having to come up with the right copy for anything from cars to department stores, and according to Wikipedia, starting from the 1980s, his profession gained more prominence because the man himself gained more prominence. Perhaps one reason is that one of the first songs that he actually provided lyrics for, Kenji Sawada's（沢田研二）"TOKIO" in 1980 was a huge hit. Itoi could have been working for the Tokyo Board of Tourism because of this one.
Looking at it made you feel like you were going to die
With your cigarette in your mouth, you cried
Tokio, the town where a gentle woman sleeps
Tokio Tokio flies through the night
Although Itoi's contribution to "TOKIO" was only the lyrics, it was often the case that he provided not only a commercial jingle's words but also the slogan to the particular ad itself. One example is Tetsuo Saito's（斉藤哲夫）"Ima no Kimi wa Pikapika ni Hikatte" (いまのキミはピカピカに光って...You Are Sparkling) , also from 1980, on behalf of the Minolta X-7. The title and the slogan are the same. The translation is through Musixmatch.
You are now shining brightly
It's shockingly wonderful
Accept my passion (dance round and round)
If I had you
(If I had you)
It's always midday
The sun that the moon and stars are in awe of
Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子）1981 "Harusaki Kobeni"（春咲小紅）was the first Yano song that I fell in love with because of that famous twitchy technopop sound with some slight Asian influences. Yup, Itoi was the one behind the lyrics here, too, and he was in charge of the Kanebo Cosmetics account that provided the Lady 80 Mini Kuchibeni（口紅...lipstick） whose campaign was titled "Harusaki Kobeni Mini Mini" which were incorporated into the lyrics. Some cute little pun work there as well. Translation is provided by the Hello! Project Lyrics Wiki.
Look, the little red blossoms in spring,
come and come and come and see
My heart
floats in the breeze
Wondering when they'll bloom, waiting for the day
Might have been counting down on my fingers
The smile that delivers my response
Has a little bit of red color in it
If you met me, you'd understand
Though it's strange to say it myself
Somehow today is beautiful
Had to go search the time stamp for the above which is a multitude of Kanebo ads over the years, but you can find Sky's "Kimi ni, Kurakura"（君に、クラクラ...Getting Dizzy Over You） at around the 3:00 mark right after the Yano "Harusaki Kobeni Mini Mini" ad. Now in this case, Itoi had nothing to do with the song itself but he was the one who came up with the slogan "Kimi ni, Kurakura" for this particular cosmetic. The one other observation about Itoi's songwriting career thus far is that he didn't really have a huge breadth of songs probably because he was doing so many other things such as appearing on TV shows. However, he had a regular list of clients on file such as Yano and Sawada.
"Nama biru ga aru janai ka, aru janai ka!"（生ビールがあるじゃないか、あるじゃないか。...There Is Always Draft Beer, Isn't There?）is most likely the slogan that gets most Japanese right in the heart...and down the throat. Especially during the torrid summers that Japan is notorious for, Itoi hit the nail on the head when he came up with the slogan for Kirin Lager Beer in 1991. Of course, he would also write the song accompanying the series of ads campaigning for the suds, "Oenka, Ikimasu" (応援歌、いきます...Here Comes the Fight Song) by enka legend Takashi Hosokawa（細川たかし） as described by KKP writer Noelle Tham over a decade ago. In a way, Itoi broke the 4th wall with his lyrics since every verse would end with a poke at each of the three celebrities involved in the campaign, actors Masatoshi Nakamura（中村雅俊）, Honami Suzuki（鈴木保奈美）and singer Hosokawa. The translation is by me.
Aaah aah aah
No matter if you're lucky or not
No matter if you're on a roll or not
The fish who gets away is good at swimming
Even if you're down in the dumps, don't lie to yourself
Ah, ah
There is always draft beer, isn't there?
There is always draft beer, isn't there?
Let's chug it down,
Mr Nakamura!
One other client of Itoi that I hadn't mentioned was Studio Ghibli. Itoi also came up with the slogans for many of the studio's movies over the years. For example, there is "Kono henna ikimono wa mada Nihon ni iru no desu. Tabun."（このへんないきものは まだ日本にいるのです。たぶん。...These strange creatures are still in Japan. Probably.） Strangely enough, Itoi himself voiced the father in "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）.
I remember when Yosui Inoue's（井上陽水）classic "Shonen Jidai"（少年時代）first appeared on television. It was a ballad that was so infused with sigh worthy nostalgia that one's hands probably would have gone sepia-coloured on prolonged contact with the CD.
Then, I came across this song by 80s aidoru Yuki Saito（斉藤由貴）titled "Shojo Jidai" (Girls' Generation) that was a track on her 6th studio album"PANT" from March 1988. It begins slowly as if I were going to get Saito's take on "Shonen Jidai" but then the tempo perks up quite a bit and the melody by Southern All Stars'（サザンオールスターズ）Yuko Hara（原由子）rolls onto a speedier and happier beat. The lyrics are also provided by Hara and the arrangement by Satoshi Takebe（武部聡志）is a mix of contemporary pop and synth classical pop for a court dance in a castle somewhere. "PANT" itself peaked at No. 4 on Oricon.
Hara herself would cover her own creation within her 1991 album"Mother". Instead of the languid intro on Saito's original, the keyboardist goes straight into the lyrics while the song, which retains its happy-go-lucky pace, has a slightly different arrangement which sounds more like Christmas toy store than palatial surroundings. Interestingly enough, this "Shojo Jidai" was used as an ending theme for the long-running NTV anime "YAWARA!". I must have stopped watching the series by that point because I don't remember ever hearing this song. As with Saito's "PANT", Hara's "Mother" would also score a No. 4 ranking, ending up as the 20th-ranked album for 1991.
I'm not sure about this, but along with the trendy inclusion of 50s rock-and-roll into Japanese pop music in the late 1970s going into the early 1980s, I also wonder whether good old-fashioned jazz was also making it into the mix. I distinctly remember a few songs such as "Jazz Singer" which was first sung by its creator Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）and then covered in a torch song style by Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）way back when.
Then, we have Masami Urabe（うらべまさみ）, a recent discovery by myself, who has been up for a number of genres. For the title track of her 1982 album"Kanashimi yo Chotto Doite Choudai" (Hey Sadness, Down in Front), we've got something that sounds as if it should have been created some sixty years beforehand. Written by Hiroyuki Sumino（住野裕之）and composed by Yoshinori Yonehama（よねはまよしのり）, this is a cheery and bluesy honky-tonk jazz number that would be perfect in a smoky speakeasy while Urabe up on the tiny stage and under a piercing spotlight sings openly to chase those blues away. My previous song regarding Urabe, "Tomadoi"（とまどい）, is also included on the album.
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