The Works of Shigesato Itoi（糸井重里）

By Stephen Georg via Wikimedia Commons

 

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.

The translation comes from "Megchan's J-Pop Lyrics":

Flying through the sky, the city flies

Through the clouds to become a star

Flames tearing through the darkness

The super city flutters up

Tokio Tokio, embracing the two of us

Tokio Tokio flies through the sky

You said it was

A bubble of light floating on the ocean

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）.

Yuki Saito/Yuko Hara -- Shojo Jidai（少女時代）

 

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.

Masami Urabe -- Kanashimi yo Chotto Doite Choudai（悲しみよ ちょっと どいてちょうだい）

 

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.

So Long, Walter Koenig (1936-2026)

Wikimedia Commons

It's been a tough 24 hours for all those into pop culture worldwide. I was remarking in the past that 2026 has been another year of a lot of famous folks leaving this mortal coil, and just yesterday, I got word that another three people passed away. 

First came the news that Scarborough-born (right in the Toronto area) voice actor Eric Bauza had passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 46 from heart disease. I didn't know his work very much but heard that he had been voicing a lot of beloved Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, characters that I had known as a child when they were being voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc.

Then this morning as I was watching NHK News, I found out that manga illustrator Tetsuya Chiba（ちばてつや） had died on the 22nd due to myelodysplastic syndrome at the age of 87. My anime buddy and I had been coincidentally talking about him and his tempestuous friendship with Leiji Matsumoto（松本零士）, the manga artist behind "Uchuu Senkan Yamaoto"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト） just last night. Chiba was responsible for a number of manga, especially "Ashita no Joe"（あしたのジョー）.

But the one obituary that hit me harder than the others was the one given for Walter Koenig who played Ensign Pavel Chekov on the original "Star Trek". He passed away from old age at 90 on the 25th. I was whistling or humming the famous theme by Alexander Courage from time to time yesterday on hearing the death of everyone's favorite Russian Starfleet officer.

When I first got into the original series as an elementary school student in the early 1970s, some years after it had been cancelled by NBC, some of the kids in my apartment building set up a "Star Trek" club. Joining it for a short while, I kept hearing the character's name of Ensign Chekov who I hadn't been aware of. I knew the captain, the pointy-eared science officer and the grouchy doctor nicknamed "Bones" but who was this Chekov? 

Well, I would eventually realize that Chekov was the fresh-faced junior officer brought onto the USS Enterprise to man the Navigation station from the second season onwards after several other navigators had their time there in the first season. Whether Koenig was brought on the series as a response to USSR complaints that there was no proper representation of a Russian on "Star Trek" or he was the new guy to attract the young female audience (Chekov kinda looked like a Beatle or a Monkee although Koenig was already in his thirties when he was hired), he as the newest and most adorable cast member made an impact as an officer who loved his Russian heritage to a fault and as a crew member who could scream his head off.

Following the original series, I remember seeing him guest star on the Canadian TV sci-fi series "The Starlost" and then he would show up in the "Star Trek" movies starring the original cast. I remember when Koenig, James ("Scotty") Doohan, George ("Sulu") Takei and Nichelle ("Uhura") Nichols were due to appear at a special 25th anniversary celebration in 1991 at Toronto's City Hall (the same year that the old cast's final movie together "The Undiscovered Country" was released). It seemed that thousands of Trekkies showed up at Nathan Phillips Square in front of City Hall but due to some airplane scheduling problem, the four "Star Trek" actors didn't show up on stage until several hours beyond their scheduled time of late afternoon. At one point, I was worried that the fans would erupt like many Vulcans during the worst of Pon Farr.

But they finally did show up at around sunset, much to everyone's joy and relief. I think one reason that I'm writing this heartfelt message about Koenig today is that out of the four who showed up at City Hall, Koenig was the one who struck me as being the most grounded and relatable. Not that there was anything wrong with the other three...it just seemed that they were a little flighty in the Hollywood way (maybe it was the plane problem and some extra alcohol). Doohan created quite a buzz when he gave out his old address in the Toronto neighbourhood of Don Mills to thousands of fans; all I could imagine was the current residents of the house looking horrified seeing Starfleet officers and Klingons all kneeling in front of their domicile.

When it was Koenig's turn to speak, he spoke in his own voice (it was the first time that I realized that he didn't speak in a Russian accent), and it was like listening to an old buddy at the bar. His imitation of William Shatner's gestures brought the house down and I just said to myself "Yeah, Koenig's my choice of Trek Cast Member of the Day."

I never got to meet Koenig in person although I was able to get that photo-op with Takei over ten years ago at the annual Fan Expo here. However, it was great to hear his voice one more time a couple of years ago on the final episode of "Picard" as he portrayed Chekov's son, United Federation of Planets President Anton Chekov. This he did in his real voice although he brought a little of the ol' Pav when quoting his father.

"Star Trek"-related YouTube channels are providing tribute to Koenig and I'm sure that folks in the Los Angeles area have been placing wreaths on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For me, I can only give my personal regards through this blog. My condolences go to Koenig's family, friends and many fans along with the two surviving cast members, Shatner and Takei.

With this special elegiac Reminiscings of Youth, I think I'll go with Japanese singers who shared the same birthday with Koenig: September 14th.

(1960) Pappara Kawai（パッパラー河合）of Bakufu Slump（爆風スランプ）

(1986) Ai Takahashi（高橋愛）of Morning Musume（モーニング娘。）

(1996) Motoki Ohmori（大森元貴）of Mrs. GREEN APPLE

Junretsu -- Namida no Ginza-sen（涙の銀座線）

By Syohei Arai at Wikimedia Commons

 

Ahh...the good ol' Ginza Line. Used that quite a lot right from my early days living and working in the Greater Tokyo Area. When I was teaching at NOVA Asakusa Branch for those first two years, I used to transfer to Nihonbashi on the Ginza Line and then take it all the way up to Asakusa at the end. Some years later, when I was teaching a couple of ladies on Mondays, I would go the other way all the way down to Shibuya.

As I mentioned in my previous article regarding one guest, I had been watching "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）on NHK, and one of the semi-regular guests was the veteran vocal group Junretsu（純烈）. I'd first known about them when they had already gained quite a lot of prominence and popularity through hits such as "Propose"（プロポーズ）. 

So I was intrigued when I learned that the song they performed last night was their debut single from June 2010, "Namida no Ginza-sen" (Tears on the Ginza Line). Of course, it was a bit jarring to see how many members were in Junretsu on the original single cover compared to their currently pared-down number of three. And back then, the group was being promoted more as a contemporary Mood Kayo and very shibui kayo kyoku unit...Junretsu seems to be more into the general upbeat kayo stuff now.

Written by Jun Kashima（鹿島潤）and composed by Kotohime（琴姫）, "Namida no Ginza-sen" is indeed a contemporized Mood Kayo with some of that Latin spice and most of the instruments being synthesizers aside from a Latin guitar (I think). Still, the old feelings of nighttime Tokyo are fully expressed and I guess it's probably the most dramatic trip I've ever heard of a commute on the Ginza Line. A lot of shoutouts to the stations on the line.

Junretsu didn't show up on the Oricon charts until 2014 when they came out with their 4th single "Starlight Sapporo"（スターライト札幌）when they ranked in at No. 41. It was then upwards and onwards for the guys.

Maajuu -- Karma（歪青）

 

Last night, "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）was on, so we got to see the usual semi-regulars such as Junretsu（純烈）and a few new faces. One was Maajuu, the new stage name for Maju Arai（荒井麻珠）. I'd never heard of her before...at least, all by herself. However, up to 2017, she had belonged to the vocal group Little Glee Monster since it first formed in the early 2010s, so she can be seen in music videos for songs such as "Seishun Photograph"（青春フォトグラフ）.

Her first song under the new name is "Karma" and she performed it on the show last night. Well, it definitely stood out from the usual kayo since it struck me as being very similar to Ringo Shiina's（椎名林檎） booming and buzzy rock from the early days along with some soul. In fact, the melody seemed to wrap around an echo of the traditional "Sakura, Sakura"（さくらさくら）. Speaking of echoes, Maajuu's own voice still had me thinking of her time with Little Glee Monster.

As for the accompanying 「歪青」, it didn't bring in any meaning or pronunciation when I punched it into the usual engines. So I could use some help there. Maybe it's originally Mandarin?

Kenji Sawada -- Romantic wa Go-Issho ni（ロマンティックはご一緒に）

Wikimedia Commons

 

There has been that analogy of a person trying to weigh options when making a fateful decision so the angel and the devil show up on each shoulder making their arguments for and against. I realized that perhaps in the early 1980s, as far as Japanese pop music was concerned, the angelic Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ） portrayed the angel while the more sardonic Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）sported the pitchfork and horns.

Through two specific appearances on the Kohaku Utagassen (1981 and 1982), I'm sure there were viewers who were going "What fresh hell is this?!" when they saw him come out to perform the glam rock "Stripper" in 1981 and then the New Wave "Rokubanme no Yu-u-u-tsu"（６番目のユ・ウ・ウ・ツ）the following year. But for others, it was a welcome bolt of freshness into the traditional proceedings.

"Rokubanme no Yu-u-u-tsu" from September 1982 was all about a fellow going through his staid hell of ennui. Meanwhile, its B-side of "Romantic wa Go-Issho ni" (Let's Be Romantic Together) sounds like a frenzied love affair taking part somewhere in Eastern Europe or Turkiye. There is something of the exotic kayo in this New Wave-y tune but at the same time, despite the frenzy, Sawada insists to his "dance" partner that things shouldn't be rushed; he needs the romance to be savored like a fine sipping whiskey. Well, when it's Julie leading, it's hard not to acquiesce. Indeed, Sawada took care of the music while Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）was the lyricist.