Kingo Hamada -- Uramado（裏窓）

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I've seen my fair share of Humphrey Bogart movies such as "Casablanca" and "The Maltese Falcon", but alas, I've yet to see anything with him and Lauren Bacall in its entirety. So, I'm still waiting my chance to catch "The Big Sleep" among others with the legendary duo of Bogie and Bacall.

I specifically referred to them over a decade ago when I wrote about Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子） "Uramado" (Rear Window), a track from her 1980 3rd album, "Monologue"（モノローグ）. You couldn't get more film noir-ish torch song than this solemn jazz ballad.

Well, "Uramado" was composed by singer-songwriter Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）and written by Akira Ito（伊東アキラ）. Hamada covered his own creation in his 1981 album "Gentle Travelin'". His take on the ballad is more refined nighttime soulful and Fender Rhodes-fueled City Pop up in those luxurious penthouse floors overlooking the metropolis and any bay that might be in the vicinity. Maybe the couple du nuit when this song first saw the light of day could have been Harrison Ford and Kathleen Turner.

Anri's History at the Kohaku Utagassen

 

With the announcement of veteran singer-songwriter Anri（杏里）returning to NHK Hall to perform at this year's Kohaku Utagassen on New Year's Eve, I just thought it might be interesting to put up her short history of her performances at the annual event.

(1983) Cat's Eye (performed in 1983)

(1989) Groove-a-Go-Go (performed in 1989)

(1978) Olivia wo Kikinagara （オリビアを聴きながら）(performed in 1996)

What Anri will most likely sing: Cat's Eye and/or Olivia wo Kikinagara

What I would love to hear her sing: Shyness Boy

Kaori Kuno -- Time is Up

 

"Takeshi no Koko dake no Hanashi"（たけしのここだけの話...Takeshi's "Just Between You and Me" Talks） was a relatively short-lived Fuji-TV evening talk show that lasted between 1988 and 1990 on Sundays, so I guess it must have preceded the music show "Music Fair". I never saw it myself but I gather that compared to some of comedian and cinematic auteur Beat Takeshi's（ビートたけし）other chaotic programs, "Takeshi no Koko dake no Hanashi" was slightly more civilized.

Takeshi's co-host was TV broadcaster and tarento Mie Yamaguchi（山口美江）, a refined and vivacious lady that I used to see a lot on the the telly in various capacities. She was very popular as someone who could handle the wilder male celebrities with a silk-and-steel approach if need be and I knew that she was also quite fluent in English. Her premature death at 51 in 2012 was a true shock to everyone.

Yamaguchi also provided the lyrics to a song that was composed by singer/saxophonist Kaori Kuno（久野かおり）for the latter's 2nd album "Sincere" from 1989. "Time is Up" also happened to be the second ending theme song for "Takeshi no Koko dake no Hanashi", and true to Kuno's discography, it's another light and classy number with bright piano and shimmering strings that could have its place in the more expensive and stylish areas of Tokyo. But I think rather than City Pop, I would put it in AOR or sophisticated pop. You can also check out another track from "Sincere", "Just Only Tonight".

Ryuichi Sakamoto -- A Day in the Park

 

I'm still in thrall to Ryuichi Sakamoto's（坂本龍一）supermarket jingle "Daiei" and his racing "G.T.", and now I've got to expand my memories to include this winner.

This one comes some years following the first two, so allow me to introduce you to "A Day in the Park", the final track on The Professor's October 1995 11th studio album "Smoochy". I'd heard of "Smoochy" before and I felt that the title made it sound a little too artsy so I never bought it. I may be regretting that decision but I'm sure a Xmas wish and a credit card will resolve that issue.

Anyways, compared to the high-octane "Daiei" and "G.T.", "A Day in the Park" is about as laid back and comfy as a real walk in the park. There are even recorded sounds of that traipse among all the greenery which makes it all the more enticing to track down your nearest patch of grass and trees. New York's jazz and R&B artist Vivian Sessoms provides the smoky vocals and the lyrics while Sakamoto comes up with the dreamy and soulful goods. There are a couple of more stars involved here: guitarist Yoshiyuki Sahashi（佐橋佳幸）and singer-songwriter Hiroshi Takano（高野寛）who's manning the electric sitar. I can easily imagine this being played at some jazz festival right in the middle of Central Park on a sunny Sunday.

Rie Nakahara -- Hero wa Anata（ヒーローはあなた）

 

Yup in about five weeks, The Avengers, The X-Men and The Fantastic Four along with other individual superheroes will meet for the first time and perhaps even the last time in "Avengers: Doomsday". Nope, I don't have an advance ticket but I'll catch it for sure somehow. 

So, of course, I've gotta come up with something with that feeling in mind and yet it's Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP. Fortunately, I did find something. "Hero wa Anata" (You're My Hero) is a Rie Nakahara（中原理恵）track (the final one) from her February 1978 debut album,  "Touch Me". The album also contains "Asa made Issho ni"（朝まで一緒に）and "Togire Togirete"（とぎれ とぎれて）.

"Hero wa Anata" has an intriguing galumphing rhythm (the best way I can describe it) that might steer it toward reggae but not quite. I would have to ask the trio of amazing songwriters for their opinion about what they were making here: lyricist Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）, composer Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and arranger Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. I bet you that it was The Professor who was on the piano in the latter half of "Hero wa Anata". But with those three involved, I was pretty assured that I would get a quality product and this is a really interesting slice of disco City Pop fusion.

Miyuki Hara -- Koishikute（恋しくて）

 

Well, so far, I have just the one Miyuki Hara（原みゆき）article and that was for her 1989 "Yude Tamago to Boku"（ゆでたまごと僕）from her album "Rin"（凛...Dignified）, and I gave it the thumbnail of a Sunset Grill breakfast plate. So, I thought, why not do the same here and place an omurice from Japan at the top?

I must admit that I had a little bit of a tough time categorizing this lovely tune which begins Hara's 1988 album "la noon". Hara was responsible for both words and music, and "Koishikute" (Missing You) has this shiny technopop sheen throughout but ultimately I also heard that familiar City Pop groove pulsating underneath that synthesized tissue, so I ended up categorizing it as both City Pop and technopop. Apparently, I hadn't been all that enthused about Hara's vocals on "Yude Tamago to Boku" but they seem fine on this particular song, and hearing them, I felt that there was something in there to remind me of Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）and Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）."Koishikute" involves the young lass missing lots of things and it made me feel like I was missing those certain musical elements of the 1980s.

The 77th NHK Kohaku Utagassen Lineup for December 31st 2026（第77回NHK紅白歌合戦）

 

For all those who have been kind enough to read "Kayo Kyoku Plus" regularly, you know that the year is coming to an end when the announcement for the lineup for the annual Kohaku Utagassen is made on NHK. I saw the lineup introduced last night on Yahoo Japan but was too tired to make the article then so I am doing so now in this special bulletin interrupting the usual Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP. The Kohaku will begin at 7:20 pm JST on the national network on December 31st 2026 at NHK Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo.

[Red Team]

ILLIT (3rd appearance)

Ado (2nd)

Anri (4th)

=LOVE (1st)

Sayuri Ishikawa (49th)

AKB48 (14th)

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (4th)

CUTIE STREET (1st)

Fuyumi Sakamoto (38th)

Mizue Takada (8th)

Chanmina (2nd)

Yoshimi Tendo (31st)

Nogizaka 46 (12th)

HANA (2nd)

FRUITS ZIPPER (2nd)

MISIA (11th)

Kaori Mizumori (24th)

Ryoko Moriyama (11th)

YOASOBI (4th)

Misato Watanabe (2nd)

[White Team]

Ayumu Imazu (1st)

Ae! Group (1st)

EBiDAN (1st)

&TEAM (2nd)

King & Prince (7th)

Sakanaction (3rd)

Junretsu (9th)

Masayuki Suzuki (7th)

SixTONES (5th)

TM Network (2nd)

T. M. Revolution (6th)

Leon Niihama (3rd)

Vaundy (4th)

BE:FIRST（5th）

Masaharu Fukuyama (19th)

Macaroni Enpitsu (1st)

Mrs. GREEN APPLE (4th)

M!LK（2nd）

Monaky (1st)

Yuzu (15th)

L'Arc〜en〜Ciel (6th)

[Special Guests]

Koshi Inaba

Your congenial hosts will be actor Masato Sakai（堺雅人）, former Arashi member/actor Kazuya Ninomiya（二宮和也）, actress Mana Ashida（芦田愛菜）and NHK announcer Naoko Suzuki（鈴木奈穂子）. The theme for the Kohaku this  year will be "Let’s move forward together in song."

Some thoughts from me:

1) Looks like the former Johnny's Entertainment acts are coming back in from the cold such as King & Prince and SixTONES.

2) The White Team looks like it has no enka singers whatsoever up to November 13th. I consider Junretsu（純烈）and Leon Niihama（新浜レオン）to be more into Neo-kayo kyoku than enka nowadays.

3) Anri（杏里）is coming back for the first time in about 30 years. I'm betting that she's going to do a mini-medley consisting of "Olivia wo Kikinagara"（オリビアを聴きながら）and "Cat's Eye".

4) There will be new acts such as EBiDAN and CUTIE STREET marking their presence on the show while this time representing the seniors are folks such as the aforementioned Anri, Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）and Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）. The one surprise omission for me isn't just male enka singers but Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）in particular. For several consecutive years, he'd been doing the annual kendama World Record thing in his Kohaku performances, but I guess the producers and/or Miyama himself decided it was time to put that finally to rest. However, I'm wondering if enka singer Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）will be doing another song to the clacking of falling dominoes yet again.

As has been the case every year, the lineup will see further additions so male enka singers may be represented. This article will be updated to the last minute on December 31st when news comes in through J-Wiki about any changes. You can also take a look at the J-Wiki article on No. 77.