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 haven't seen "Uta Con"（うたコン）today but according to what I heard last week and seen on their schedule, this week's episode will be the annual tribute to the Queen of Kayo Kyoku, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）, who would have been 89 years old on May 29th. Just looking at the lineup, it appears that I've already covered the songs to be performed such as the triumphant "Yawara"（柔）, so I've opted to find one of my own from her vast discography to pay a KKP tribute.
This time, I'm going way back into her career. In fact, I'll be focusing on her 8th single from September 1950, "Uramachi Paradise"(Back Street Paradise). Written by Toshio Nomura（野村俊夫）and composed/arranged by Hideo Hirakawa（平川英夫）, it's a pretty jaunty kayo kyoku about meeting that significant other and realizing that everything...even the dark and ominous streets of the city...can be filled with light and hope as a result. It's a stroll-worthy tune and let's remember that Misora was all of thirteen years of age when she recorded this.
I've been covering individual tracks from Junko Yagami's（八神純子）February 1982 album"Yume Miru Koro wo Sugite mo"（Even If The Time to Dream Passes） for a number of years now including "I'm a Woman" and "Secret Love"（シークレット・ラブ）. It's no surprise that these songs have had more than enough urban oomph to get them onto the blog on Fridays when I cover that sort of thing.
But the album begins with the title track itself and I'd say that the title track is more of a conventional pop ballad, although I'd been wondering whether I should have placed it during Urban Contemporary Fridays. Ultimately though, I opted to post it during a regular day. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with "Yume Miru Koro wo Sugite mo"; it's one of those Yagami ballads that features her alternating soaring and purring voice, beautiful contemplative piano by her, and those shimmering strings as part of the entire package. In a way, I think the ballad hearkens back to her very early days as a teen balladeer of the 1970s. Yagami and Ryuichi Kawamura（川村龍一）co-wrote the lyrics (under the pen name of Hisashi Kawamura) with the former handling the melody. Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）provided the arrangement.
I love my various sandwiches but one of my favourites is Chicken Salad Sandwich. All I need is chunks of chicken and generous dollops of Kewpie Mayonnaise along with a few more ingredients and it's time to stuff it between two slices of bread. I will be a happy camper.😋And of course, that's what I had for lunch today.
Several years ago, I introduced a 1990s pop duo with the name of Tokyo Q Channel（東京Qチャンネル）and the song "Ni-juu-kyuu-sai"（29歳）from their 1995 debut album"Switch On!". It was quite the luscious classy song about a woman celebrating the end of her 20s.
Well, from their second and final album"SandWich" from September 1996, I give you the penultimate track "Genshoku no Kuni ~ Where Shall We Go?"(Land of Primary Colours) which is mostly a simple pop love song before it goes into power ballad mode near the end. It's not quite as epic as "Ni-juu-kyuu-sai" but it still fulfills its purpose as a contemplative cool-down song near the end of the album. It was written and composed by one-half of the duo, Yasuhiko Warita（割田康彦）, with Mayumi Sudo（須藤まゆみ）on vocals.
I went out for lunch for the second time in as many days, and this time around, we didn't have to combat some very violent weather although the skies remained stubbornly gloomy for most of the day. However, I was grateful not to have my face hit with rain and winds coming in at Mach 1.
Back at home, I got to see the usual "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）and I actually heard an Akira Kobayashi（小林旭）song that I hadn't heard before. Titled "Hokkikou"(The Return North), it struck me as being one of those kayo kyoku dealing with heartbreak and the aftermath of taking that trip elsewhere to recover from the emotional trauma.
This was Kobayashi's 31st single from October 1961, and to me anyways, this was a rather wistful tune for the tough guy actor and singer to tackle, but I think he did a great job with the song. Others apparently agreed since about a year later, "Hokkikou" became the basis for one of his movies.
But there's a bit more of a story behind "Hokkikou" than the fact that it is a bittersweet song about recovering from heartbreak. Written and composed by Hiroshi Uda（宇田博）a couple of decades earlier in 1941, the J-Wiki article on the song weaves a recollection of Uda as a high school kid being a rather aimless and rebellious youth which was quite the thing in a very militaristic Japanese society bent toward war. He'd gotten in trouble with the authorities for taking some romantic liberties with a young girl outside of school and was kicked out. "Hokkikou" was his written farewell for his fellow mates in the dormitory. It became quite the popular song since that point, but once the war was over, "Hokkikou" became a bit of a mystery tune for many years for some reason...Uda's name was somehow forgotten.
In the 1960s, the song became a favourite to be sung at the local cafes whether it be by featured artists or customers (perhaps a prelude to karaoke?). And then, the record companies picked up on it and as would often happen with songs from that time, there was a mad rush of sorts to have various artists record it for sale. For example, the vocal group Bonny Jacks（ボニージャックス）had released their version of "Hokkikou" back in July 1961, three months before Kobayashi's cover came out.
Sometime during 1961 as well, the Mood Kayo group Hiroshi Wada and Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）also released their own languid cover of "Hokkikou" with their characteristic Hawaiian sound. From looking at the YouTube scroll, it certainly appears that many other singers have covered the tune over the decades.
After reading Rocket Brown's article on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）beautifully delivered but cautionary tale of seeking fame and fortune in Hollywood, "Natalie", I discovered that any signs of the original song on YouTube had been excised more thoroughly than Natalie's happiness and hope (but take a look at that article...all is not lost). 😒
However, in my search on YouTube, I did find a cover version of "Natalie" by the veteran band Sentimental City Romance（センチメンタル・シティ・ロマンス）. Now, the cordial relationship between Takeuchi and SCR has been around since Mariya's first album in 1978, "Beginning", when the band contributed to some of the tracks there. And I think there has been an affinity between the two in terms of their choice of music since both she and Sentimental City Romance have enjoyed playing and singing in the country genre. In fact, SCR vocalist Nobutaka Tsugei（告井延隆）arranged the original "Natalie" when it came out in 1981.
So I gather that it was a natural for SCR to cover the song itself many years later through the band's August 2011 album"Yattokame"（やっとかめ）. There hasn't been a dramatic change in arrangement. It's still the most laidback country and pop ballad and Mariya herself is helping out on background vocals. And indeed, it's still a lovely song about a tragic tale.
If there were a Weird Al Yankovic type in Japan, I would recommend him to give his take on "Natalie"...about a good person gone bad. However, I would also re-title it into "Anakin".
Many years ago, when I was a young(er) man, I attended film school in Hollywood. I made a lot of friends there, all with their own dreams and aspirations. One was a talented writer from the Midwest who had escaped a traumatic family situation. Another was an amateur game designer and another wanted to become the next Steven Spielberg.
They all had one thing in common: Hollywood kicked their ass.
It was pretty common to meet people from out of state who moved to California hoping to make it big. But more often than not, they ended up disillusioned by the whole thing—whether for financial, health, or cultural reasons. Sometimes it was a combination of all three.
If there were a name for a person like that, it would probably be Natalie.
Mariya Takeuchi’s 1981 ballad“Natalie”is about a young woman who moves to California to become a big movie star. Unlike my friends, she actually does fulfill her dream, but success changes her into a different person than the one she started as—and not for the better.
This beautiful country ballad is sung from the perspective of someone Natalie knew from her old life in Georgia. This childhood friend, possibly even an old lover, can see past the superficial glamour and ask Natalie one simple question:
While Natalie definitely reminds me of my friends, perhaps most of all, she reminds me of myself.
As someone who once had a foot in the door of Hollywood—and probably screwed it up, lol—I’ve experienced a lot of what the song describes: walking down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, going to Hollywood clubs, driving out to Malibu, rubbing elbows with superstars. And I let it all go to my head.
And I was just an intern, mind you. I must have been insufferable.
But much like Natalie, I eventually had to ask myself whether I was actually happy. I had to look deep and question why this life of “sex, drugs, and rock & roll” was only bringing me the blues.
“Natalie” is my absolute favorite song about Los Angeles because it acknowledges a hard truth about the city that people like to ignore: it looks great from afar, but it’s far from great. And if you get caught up in the culture, it can change you for the worse.
In a strange way, it’s reassuring to know that this was just as true in 1981 as it is today.
On a lighter note, J-Canuck once mentioned that this song would fit right into the country-themed variety show Hee Haw. After sitting through a few episodes myself, I’m inclined to agree.
On my quest to find the song on YouTube (its probably been copywrited) I found out there's a Cantonese(?) cover of the song by Priscilla Chan (陳慧嫻) which is pretty good.
It's close to the end of May so in Toronto that means that it's time for the annual Doors Open festival. This is where various establishments ranging from companies to private buildings with some style and history open up for a couple of days for the public to explore. The last time I was at Doors Open was a few years ago and since then, various things happened so that I couldn't attend, and so I was rather determined to go to the 2026 edition despite the warning of heavy rain and high winds.
Well, my friend and I made it to one Heritage building which had also been converted into a food hall filled with various restaurants so I was able to take photos and have a nice hamburger lunch. However, after waiting over an hour to get into The Toronto Star newspaper company while the elements whipped the surprisingly long line silly, we gave up (it was still another hour to go before people could take the elevator to go up) and grabbed a coffee before heading back home. Ugh!
Anyways, the inclement weather is continuing tonight so we may be unlucky enough to get hit with a power outage in the middle of me writing so I apologize in advance. We've actually got quite a lot of outages happening throughout Toronto tonight so I shouldn't be surprised if my neighbourhood does get hit with one.
All the more to bring out enka singer Kokoro Umetani's（梅谷心愛）latest single from March 2026, "Hoshizora no Ruby"(Night Sky of Rubies). It has quite the pedigree of songwriters helping out here with lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, composer Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, and there is something about this song which feels rather nostalgic in a 70s or 80s kayo way. Perhaps there is a mixture of enka and kayo in here so the New Adult Music tag may apply. And in fact, it almost feels like an Aming（あみん）or Takako Okamura（岡村孝子）tune. "Hoshizora no Ruby" reached No. 21 on Oricon.
