Kiyoshi Hikawa-- Tabi de Gozansu Ojarumaru（旅でござんす おじゃる丸）

 

A few years ago, I noted that the anime "Ojarumaru"（おじゃる丸）has a long-running list of theme songs to match its own longevity on television. It would seem that anyone who's anyone in the music industry has given their contribution to the purin-loving title character. Eclectic rock diva Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）is one of those people.

Well, a few weeks ago, I saw enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）provide his own song to this current season of "Ojarumaru", and though Hikawa has been dabbling into other genres over the years, he has come back to his genre roots for this one. His "Tabi de Gozansu Ojarumaru" (It's a Journey, Ojarumaru) is a spritely old-school enka tune with a nice amount of brass. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Hideo Mizumori（水森英夫）, the song takes me back when Hikawa began his career as the Boy Prince of Enka.

Ryuichi Sakamoto -- Photo Music（フォト・ムジーク）

 

Well, how about that for a coincidence? Just last week, I posted up an article regarding NHK-FM's late-night radio show "Crossover Eleven"（クロスオーバーイレブン）which focused on a lot of the popular non-Japanese music. And then just now, I discovered the radio program that immediately preceded it.

"Sound Street"（サウンドストリート）was a show which focused on both Japanese and foreign music that played in the 10-11 pm hour for about 45 minutes Mondays to Fridays. Lasting from 1978 to 1987, it was hosted by a number of folks in the music industry including the amazing Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）who held the Tuesday night slot for about five years in the 1980s. The above broadcast from June 1st 1982 had Sakamoto inviting his good friend Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）for a round of songs and laughs. Tats himself would host the Thursday program between 1983 and 1986.

The opening theme for "Sound Street" was Sakamoto's own creation "Photo Music" although I'm not sure whether it had been played right from the beginning of its run in 1978 (perhaps before its release on vinyl in 1981, there had been no official opener). Of course, that was also the same year that Yellow Magic Orchestra launched so I'm sure he and his fellow bandmates, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）, were fully in thrall to the technopop sound, and so not surprisingly, The Professor's dreamy and whimsical "Photo Music" is right up that YMO alley. "Photo Music" actually didn't get released until it found itself as a B-side to the light and fun "Computer Obaachan"（コンピューターおばあちゃん）which was released in December 1981.

Marie (folk duo) -- Orange House ni Sayonara（オレンジハウスにさようなら）

 

An orange house somewhere in Japan, eh? Well, I can think of a place with an orange sign and that would be the family restaurant Royal Host.

I was so glad that there was one right by the R&B Hotel where I stayed during my last trip to Japan almost a decade ago. Good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Well, apparently the orange house in "Orange House ni Sayonara" (Goodbye to the Orange House) was a cafe where a lass and her now erstwhile boyfriend used to frequent during their relationship. Now, she can only sneak a peek outside at her ex with a new girl on her arm in the coffeehouse. 

"Orange House ni Sayonara" was the 2nd single for the folk duo Marie（麻里絵）released in June 1977. From listening to this song whose words and music were provided by up-and-coming singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）, it's got that rather upbeat chorus accompanied by melancholy verses which I guess could represent the ups and downs of a typical romance life. Not sure if this had been used as a theme for a certain cafe (or family restaurant), although I don't think any commercial establishment would ever appreciate being associated with heartbreak. Heartburn, maybe, but not heartbreak. In any case, I had initially thought about writing on Marie's debut single "Ki ni Naru Anata"（気になるあなた ）, only to find out that I had already posted about it back in 2023.

Aya Shimazu -- Tokai no Suzume（都会の雀）

 

Enka singer Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）has been a frequent presence on shows such as "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）, and for good reason. She's one of the best chanteuses out there who also possesses a hint of soul in her delivery. But I feel a bit regretful that I seem to have usually posted articles which include her doing cover versions of other singers' songs. Maybe the last one I posted which was on a Shimazu original was "Natsu Tsubaki"（夏つばき）back in 2022.

Well, she was on "Shin BS Nihon no Uta" last night and she sang her 25th single from March 1999, "Tokai no Suzume" (Swallow of the City). Written by Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治）and composed by Masato Sugimoto（杉本眞人）, I'm kinda on the fence on whether the song is a contemporary enka or whether it's a blend of enka and urban contemporary which would then put it into the category of New Adult Music. Whichever genre I ultimately decide upon, it is a song that shows that soulfulness in her vocals

When I first heard the song last night on NHK, my impression of the lyrics was that the swallow, being a migratory bird, was a metaphor for any wayward ex-boyfriend or new boyfriend being invited (back) into the fold as it were by a lonely hope-deficient woman. However, seeing the official music video above, "Tokai no Suzume" may actually be more about a wayward buddy in arms stuck in a criminal crisis.

Midori Hara -- Aamer Jabar（アマロ・ジャバロ）

JRC, DG, ECHO, EC via Wikimedia Commons

Singer-songwriter Midori Hara（原みどり）has been a relatively recent addition to the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" family, but she's been making an impression upon me with her willingness to tackle a ton of genres including City Pop, jazz and Latin. She was even in the earliest incarnation of the eclectic SPANK HAPPY band doing some rock along the lines of YUKI from Judy & Mary. You can also take a gander at the Part 1 and Part 2 articles I posted to cover her 1988 album "KO・KO・RO・NOTE".

In 1989, Hara released another album titled "Aamer Jabar to Ieta Hi"（アマロ・ジャバロと言えた日...The Day I Say Aamer Jabar [sic]）. The title track happens to be called "Aamer Jabar" and I had to jump through a few linguistic hoops before I found out that the title originates from Indonesian. Looking through Hara's lyrics of the song, I saw the expressions "Selamat malan!" and "Selamat tinggal!" which are Indonesian for "Good night!" and "Goodbye!" respectively. Assuming that "Aamer Jabar" was also from the same language...I ran it through Google Translate but didn't get anything. However, it then suggested that I try it through Bangla which is actually spoken in Bangladesh and eastern India and I got the translation "I'm going". But if anyone who's fluent in the above languages can confirm or refute what I've found, please let me know. Terima kasih!

Well, it seems like Hara decided to go trilingual including her native Japanese to broadcast her song of heartbreak and death of romance in "Aamer Jabar". Hara's melody at least sounds quite romantic and rather exotic with a bit of R&B balladry and late 80s City Pop stylings. In a way, it's kinda like Junko Yagami's（八神純子）style of music from those late 1980s.

BEGIN -- Ojii Jiman no Orion Beer（オジー自慢のオリオンビール）

 

Summer arrived in the wee hours of this morning. It certainly feels like summer in my room since my room is traditionally the warmest in the entire home. But outside, it's not too bad out there; it's sunny but there's a nice breeze wafting through the area so the heat isn't really torrid.

In any case, to commemorate the official arrival of the hot season, I decided to see what kind of summer song I can post up today. I figure that something about beer would be nice since in both of my countries of birth and ancestry, the golden suds are absolutely beloved especially on a really hot day. 

Looking through the Net, I found this song was popping up a fair bit. BEGIN, the band of Okinawan blues, released a single in July 2002 titled "Ojii Jiman no Orion Beer" (Grandpa's Prized Orion Beer), an aural showcase for Okinawa's famous brand of beer. I've had Orion Beer a couple of times when I went to an Okinawan restaurant in Tokyo...it went down smooth enough. As the good folks put it in their lyrics, Orion is the elixir of the gods in Japan's southernmost prefecture. Not surprisingly, it became a commercial song for Orion itself.

Somehow, I don't think the Japanese needed the arrival of the summer solstice to go into happy hysterics today. But I think that a lot of beer of all brands was imbibed.

Yasuko Agawa -- She ~ Senior Dreams

 

Commenter YMOfan04 and I were conversing a bit on the melding of different genres for positive effect, and our observation was that Japanese composers and arrangers seemed to be especially enthusiastic. Anyone who has been a longtime reader of KKP has probably learned that I sometimes have trouble categorizing some songs here because the blend has been just that smooth.

Latin jazz, which wasn't invented by the Japanese by the way, has been one nice and tasty cocktail for decades upon decades. I found another fine example as recorded by jazz singer Yasuko Agawa（阿川泰子）on her 1981 5th album "Sunglow". The songwriters for "She ~ Senior Dreams" were Claudio Amaral and Jay Anthony Wagner and the result was this lovely classy tune which comes straight from Brazil but they couldn't decide on whether to have it come out as a slow bossa nova ballad or as something on the level of a fairly fast samba. So, they just opted to have it arranged into both modes. I kinda had to hold onto my desk when I heard the transition for the first time.