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 was just this morning when I saw commenter Brian Mitchell noticing that there were indeed a lot of songs in Japan with the word kanashii（悲しい）or kanashimi（悲しみ）or some variant. They refer to sadness or loneliness and it would fit in with the kayo kyoku tendency to bring up a lot of sad stories within the lyrics albeit the music supporting them has often been quite cheerful. Well, I've opted to show off an Author's Picks (not complete by any means) of these songs which are mostly upbeat except for one. I refused though to post a thumbnail of a sad face...I went with something more symbolic, namely a Wikimedia Commons photo by User Kenlin of someone pouring some sake for someone having the blues.
Despite all the bright lights and big city that you see in Basile Morin's captivating photo of Kabukicho at night, there was a time early in my Japan residency when Tokyo, one of the largest cities on Earth, was a city that actually did sleep. It had a curfew...much to the surprise and dissatisfaction of many a lively night owl there. Public transportation tended to go to bed at just a few minutes after midnight and it was often the case that I and dozens of other commuters were dashing for the final subway on the Tozai Line before the clock hit the witching hour.
According to the YouTube channel Happy Hour with Matt above, things have probably not changed all that much. Trains, subways and buses most likely still finish their routes perhaps earlier than their counterparts in other major world metropolises, including my own hometown of Toronto. And those who miss the final ride are either going to have line up for cabs at higher rates or spend the night somewhere in Tokyo (maybe a manga kissaten or Internet cafe). All I can say to Matt and others is that if you thought 2026 in late-night Tokyo was bad, you should have seen it thirty years ago.
However, I do have this luminous and highly active song by Nu Disco and Future Bass master from Yokohama, Dirty Androids. Titled "City Never Sleeps", maybe the fellow was referring to places like New York City or London when he came up with it as a bonus track for his April 2016 album"Moments". In any case, this is like a listenable Red Bull to get you off your duff and moving around on the dance floor or the sidewalks at the very least thanks to some popping percussion. Will Tokyo ever become an insomniac? Time will tell.
For all of the scenes I've seen on shows such as "Enka no Hanamichi"（演歌の花道）and all of those karaoke videos, I'm not sure whether there are actually a fair number of people who hit the fancy bars and izakaya to drown their sorrows in drink. It just seems rather depressing to see and it may not be all that good for business according to the bartender/owner.
But the trope happily exists in music...specifically, enka, Mood Kayo and New Adult Music. And we have another example with Kye Eunsook's（ 桂銀淑）5th single"Yoidorete" (Drunkenly). Released in April 1989, the South Korean singer grandly invites alcohol to take her away from all that is currently ailing her, which probably means heartbreak (her lover's wife finally found out).
Written by Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治）and composed by Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）, I would have labeled this as European enkaback in the very early days of the blog but perhaps I can tag this now as enka and/or New Adult Music because there is something in the arrangement that gives "Yoidorete" that extra urban kick although I wouldn't say it was City Pop. Peaking at No. 28 on Oricon, the song also won the singer a slew of awards including a Gold prize at the Japan Record Awards. She even got that invitation to appear on the 1989 edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen.
Well, speaking of "Enka no Hanamichi", here is Kye Eunsook singing "Yoidorete" right on that legendary show.
Commenter Fireminer thankfully and recently reminded me of a song that I hadn't heard in a few decades...basically since I used to watch rental videotapes of "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）.
The chorus is what got the memory engrams going. I'm talking about Keisuke Kuwata's（桑田佳祐）"Kanashii Kimochi"(Sad Feelings) or the official English title of "Just a Man in Love". Released in October 1987 as Kuwata's debut single as a solo singer, this comes some time after putting a hold on Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）and Kuwata Band activities, so I'm sure that there was a lot of attention on the leader of those two bands about what he would come up with.
Although Kuwata's lyrics are about heartbreak, his melody is supremely upbeat Motown, something, according to a couple of interviews via the J-Wiki article on "Kanashii Kimochi", where he had wanted be a little more personal.
"I wanted to do something more personal, both musically and spiritually. Specifically, I wanted to revisit the feelings and music from when we were in high school. It wasn't about imitating the sound of that era, but rather returning to that state of mind."
In that way, I think Kuwata was perhaps following folks like Billy Joel ("An Innocent Man") and Donald Fagen ("The Nightfly"). At the same time, he seemed to be following the usual kayo line of happy melody and sad lyrics.
One would think that "Just a Man in Love" was used for some trendy drama back in those 1980s. However, it was actually used for a number of different commercials over the years. The hit for Kuwata reached No. 2 on Oricon and ended up as the No. 46-ranked single of 1987 and then went even higher the following year, when it reached No. 38. It was also a track on the singer's July 1988 solo debut album"Keisuke Kuwata" which resided at the top of the charts for two weeks in a row.
Speaking of Kuwata and Fagen in the same breath, I recall seeing a video on YouTube featuring the former in concert as he sings the latter's classic "I.G.Y.". Alas, the video has disappeared.
I have to admit that I've not come across the combination of apple tea and peanuts before although I've enjoyed both of them separately. Maybe they make a good remedy toward improved blood circulation. Hard to say.
But that combination is indeed the title of singer-songwriter Atsuko Nina's（二名敦子）track from her 1987 album"Teibou"（堤防）. I wrote on the title track back in 2018 and compared to the late 80s sophisticated pop of that one, "Apple Tea to Peanuts"(Apple Tea and Peanuts) is a samba-driven tune written and composed by Nina that goes at a pretty fast clip...and during a bright sunny and breezy day. The singer definitely sings the praises of apple tea and peanuts (her personal favourite, perhaps?). Motoki Funayama（船山基紀 ）took care of the arrangement which also involved guitarist Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）and percussionist Pecker（ ペッカー）.
It's indeed a Friday night as I type this so I'm sure younger and more energetic folks than I are enjoying their time dining, dancing and drinking somewhere out there. Temperatures are more reasonable and seasonable in the evenings now.
A few years ago, I posted an article regarding the band Lucky Kilimanjaro and their 2021"Ame ga Furu nara Odoreba Ii ja nai"（雨が降るなら踊ればいいじゃない）, noting that vocalist and songwriter Yukimaru Kumaki（熊木幸丸）and his guys love to bring in the Neo-City Pop and disco. Well, one of their earlier songs from their one and only mini-album as an indies act, the July 2015"FULLCOLOR", can be said to the ideal mix of those two styles. "Burning Friday Night" which was written by Kumaki and composed by the entire band has a hint of an old song by The Emotions but through the gauzy filter of Sakanaction（サカナクション）. So, maybe no disco strings per se but the beat is certainly disco-friendly.
Ahhh...the community swimming pool, an environment of chlorinated intrigue, romance and strategy. (Young) People are conglomerating in different cliques within or without the water admiring from afar or, if they are brave enough, communicating up close and personal. And once in a while, there may be some actual swimming taking place. But always beware of the "chocolate bar"!
But to get away from that horrifying scene, I can introduce you to singer-songwriter Satoko Shibata（柴田聡子）and her June 2026"Pool". With those Latin dance beats and conspiratorially whispery vocals in there, there is plenty of fun and intrigue as a saucy young lady is enjoying the facilities of the pool (especially the shower) while driving her boyfriend up the wall by ignoring him. In a way, she reminds me of another songstress, bird.
Hailing from Sapporo, Shibata is also a musician and poet who started her career in 2010 with at least a dozen digital download singles and seven albums under her belt.
