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.
I remember posting the late Yukiji Asaoka's（朝丘雪路）1970 song"Ame ga Yandara"（雨がやんだら）back in May 2018, only a few weeks following the announcement of her passing at the age of 82. I did write one more post regarding her since then, but it's basically been several years of nothing on Asaoka up to today.
Well, allow me to remedy this. In August 1966, Asaoka did release her 57th single"Namida no Kakera"（涙のかけら...Fragments of a Tear） but I'm here today to talk about the B-side, "Wakare no Bossa Nova"(The Farewell Bossa Nova). Written and composed by Masao Yoneyama（米山正夫）, it doesn't sound anything like bossa nova; in fact, I'd say that it sounds more Latin jazz or cha-cha. But putting that aside, it is a snazzy kayo for folks to get out and shake those hips on the dance floor. And if folks are gonna be breaking up that night, then why not do so gloriously through some good old-fashioned moves in a classy saloon?
Kayo Grace and Mr. Calico have their own distinct way of picking apples and this time or perhaps last month was the ideal time to do so. However, the first week of November has been unseasonably warm for us here in Toronto; we've been getting into the low 20s Celsius as a high. Not that many of us are complaining, mind you.
Maybe those seasonal winds have been thrilling. Ah, yes...another sledge-hammered segue by me to get into today's song "Tokimeki Kisetsufuu"（Thrilling Seasonal Winds） by the obscure but cherished group NOVA from the 1970s and early 1980s.
Strange, though. I swore NOVA was a mere duo including songwriter Kazunari Kido（木戸一成）, and yet, I see four people on the cover of that 2nd single which is "Tokimeki Kisetsufuu" from January 1978 (maybe it was a union thing...I don't know). I couldn't find out who had been behind words and music although I am pretty sure that Kido was the composer. It's quite the bouncy number by NOVA, quite reflective of those strong refreshing winds blowing in. Before this one, I'd posted my last posting on the band back in 2023 for the B-side of the single "Ai Naki Sedai"（愛なき世代...Loveless Generation）.
I am hoping that some more NOVA tunes will eventually make their way known on YouTube in the next number of months or years.
Over two years ago, I posted up an Author's Picks dealing with time travel...as exotic as that may sound on a Japanese music blog. But still, I did it and I could find a fair share of songs having to do with the premise. I gather that the Doctor isn't the only one interested in walking in eternity.
A few days ago, a lot of us in Eastern Canada had to do what we have been doing for decades on end. We put our clocks back by one hour from Daylight Saving Time to regular Eastern Standard Time. Meanwhile, a good chunk of Western Canada didn't even bother anymore. Their DST is now permanent time for them. For us here in the province of Ontario, the debate on springing forward and falling back one hour twice a year will continue to rage on until various governments finally come to sort of accommodation.
As such, I've decided to devote this space...and time...to songs whose titles include some aspect of time on the clock.
Happy first Monday in November 2026! We're kinda back into that post-Halloween/pre-Christmas (at least outside of the shopping malls) gray neutral zone for a few weeks so things might feel relaxing or a little out of sorts depending on attitudes towards the Holidays. I can easily imagine that parts of Roppongi are now covered in Yuletide-friendly LED lights already.
I recall that there was an 80s aidoru song titled "Taboo"（タブー） by Hiromi Koide（小出広美）that I first heard on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" on CHIN-FM decades ago. I would figure that a title like "Taboo" would be pretty popular within music since it deals with topics and situations that shouldn't be broached easily, and I think the arts anywhere have had a tendency to enjoy a bit of sin now and then.
Well, the pop band Ryokuoushoku Shakai（緑黄色社会）appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）not too long ago to perform their latest which is a track from their September 2026 6th album"Atamago"（あたまご）. Their "TABOO" is a fun and upbeat pop tune with a touch of funk which takes aim at so-called data-based ways to measure compatibility between potential mates in an AI-controlled world (personally speaking, there's still something to be said about having a meaningful conversation over good coffee in a stylish cafe). Created through contributions by the entire band, bassist Shingo Anami（穴見真吾）had initially gone for something more laidback and melancholy but in the end, it just became this knock-one's-socks-off number.
You may have noticed that I didn't automatically provide a translation for the album title "Atamago". Indeed, I was left scratching my head, too. However, when I read through the J-Wiki article on Ryokuoushoku Shakai's latest creation, I found out that vocalist Haruko Nagaya（長屋晴子）had opted for a Japanese portmanteau of "atama" (head) and "tamago" (egg) since she saw her songs in the same way as beloved children on the verge of coming out into the world. Still, I couldn't glean what the significance of "atama" was, but Nagaya also remarked that she had wanted a four-character title written in hiragana; noting that she hadn't desired to use an existing word, but rather to create an original name.
We do have airports as the settings for parting-is-sweet-sorrow romantic farewells. And then there are the even older seaports from which a lot of other kayo kyoku were made. I've always wondered whether there would be a Pavlovian response if any women of a certain age ever heard a boat whistle going off in the background.
The Keiko Matsuyama（松山恵子）file on KKP is still pretty short so I've decided to check out some of her earlier material. So, going through her article on J-Wiki, I found out the late singer from Fukuoka Prefecture had been on the Kohaku Utagassen a total of eight times with her first (1957) and last (1989) appearances covering the same song.
That song would be "Miren no Hatoba" (Harbour of Regret) which was actually released in May 1957 as her 27th single under the Nippon Mercury label. Yurio Matsui（松井由利夫）was behind the lyrics while Fujio Mizutoki（水時富士夫）came up with the mournful melody of a woman pleading with her paramour not to leave town on the ship. Of course, that's not going to happen in an enka song and so the lady has to tearfully wave him goodbye.
Although Matsuyama appeared seven consecutive times between 1957 and 1963 on the Kohaku, it would be another 22 years before the singer made her final appearance on the New Year's Eve special in 1989. She would die around 17 years later from liver cancer at the age of 69.
I found myself on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles just once in my life since I was on a mini-bus tour of the city back in the summer of 1989. It was just as well that I stayed within air-conditioned comfort on the bus because I couldn't even imagine stepping into any of those ritzy establishments.
Looking at the cover of singer-songwriter Hiroaki Igarashi's（五十嵐浩晃）May 1982 4th album"Wing" reminded me of Rodeo Drive for some reason although I'm not sure whether that is indeed a depiction of one of the world's most expensive commercial streets. But with those deep blue skies and the tall palm trees, it definitely strikes me as being very Los Angeles.
One of the tracks is "Because", a new urban discovery by me that I always cherish this late since the City Pop boom in the late 2010s. Written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Igarashi, it starts off feeling oh-so-80s and then the gallivanting rhythms of the genre begin racing through the streets fueled on a boppy bass. Despite the daytime album cover, "Because" is more nocturnal as Igarashi's protagonist welcomes an old flame back into the apartment after she's gone through a tough spot. He still has feelings for the lass but understands that they are just friends now. Maybe it's a bittersweet thing but more on the sweet side thankfully.
I've mentioned a few times in past articles about one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto, Kingyo. I still go to the place now and then but usually just for lunch. It was one of the great izakaya when I first visited the place on the recommendation of a friend and eventually it was often the case that our group year-end dinners took place there. However, during the COVID lockdown, Kingyo took a right turn and evolved into a half-Japanese grocery shop and half-eatery, so those dinners were no longer viable due to the lack of seating space.
Well, in the early days, in keeping with its name, Kingyo did have some goldfish in one specialized large table. Unfortunately, one night, a drunken moron opted to have some really fresh sashimi by swallowing the goldfish whole which may have signified something for the future of the restaurant.
Anyways, my memories of Kingyo were sparked by this song that I saw performed on a recent edition of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）. My family noted audibly about the whereabouts of former singer Shin Kouda（香田晋）, and more on that later. However, Kouda was the one behind this song titled "Sakaba no Kingyo" (The Goldfish at the Bar) which struck me not only as something quite kayo kyoku...rather interesting considering that this was his 16th single from April 1998, far into the J-Pop era. I figured that there was more of a hybridization of sorts in terms of genre.
Then, when I took a look at this J-Wiki profile, it showed that he sang both enka and folk songs. Maybe the jaunty "Sakaba no Kingyo" was a nice mix of the two genres or another example of New Adult Music. In any case, this was an example of songwriting pedigree with Yu Aku（阿久悠）handling lyrics, Takashi Miki（三木たかし）as the composer and Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）arranging everything. I'm just not sure whether the goldfish is an analogy for the flitting in and flitting out of customers over a usual day at this bar or whether real goldfish are just living their aquarium lives while human drama is playing out outside of the water.
On seeing the thumbnail of the video above, I could recognize Kouda as someone that I used to see on television a fair bit. Kouda was born Koji Washizaki（鷲崎孝二）in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1967, In 1985, young Koji was scouted by famed composer Toru Funamura（船村徹）after the teenager had sung in a karaoke contest held via the composer's radio program. A few years later in 1989 after having served as Funamura's apprentice, the new Shin Kouda debuted with "Otoko Doushi"（男同志...Male Comrades）. In 1994, he would even get onto the Kohaku Utagassen to perform "Yume Ichido"（夢いちど...Dream One Time）.
However, after releasing his 40th single in October 2011, Kouda basically fled show business in early 2012. Through a magazine interview, he admitted that he had decided to retire without any official announcement due to pent-up stress which affected his ability to sing. At the time, he felt that he was being pushed into becoming more of a TV personality which wasn't what he wanted to be. In the end, he had to seek psychiatric care. Kouda is now very much a past name for Wakazaki and after marrying someone outside of the entertainment industry, he is now a Buddhist monk, helping to run a restaurant and a wellness studio. His only regret is that he couldn't give an official explanation to his fans.
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