Well, we talked about Seiko Matsuda(松田聖子) the night before...let's talk about her legendary predecessor, Momoe Yamaguchi (山口百恵）. Born in Ebisu, Tokyo (now a pretty trendy area) in 1959, she tried out for a TV talent show called...prophetically, as it were..."A Star Is Born"(スター誕生....Star Tanjou) in 1972, and from there was launched her 8-year career in show business. Her earlier hits were infamous for some very suggestive lyrics but by the time the above song came out, her voice had deepened dramatically and she was going for some more complexity in her musical choices in terms of both lyrics and melody.
The very first time I'd heard about Momoe-chan was when she sang the sultry "Imitation Gold". However, the tune that got my attention was "Ii Hi Tabidachi" (A Trip on a Fine Day) when I heard it as the first tune on "Sounds of Japan", that Toronto radio show on CHIN-FM. It's memorable for the trumpet solos at the beginning and in the middle, and Momoe's singing is wistful and lonely. According to the writeup on J-Wikipedia, the song, which deals with a woman taking a solo journey, presumably post-breakup, has become a favorite at graduations and weddings for some reason! Even the composer/lyricist of the song, Shinji Tanimura (谷村新司)of Alice(アリス) fame, once scratched his head about its popular usage in supposedly celebratory events. Since my comprehension of Japanese lyrics at the time was basically negligible, I blissfully enjoyed the song.
Released in November 1978, it rose as high as No. 3 on the Oricon charts. And its legacy is strong; it has been covered by many J-Pop artists up to the present day.
Pointing out anotehr song, and it might as well go here as anywhere since it's co-written by Tanimura. Ichie was written by Yamaguchi (lyrics, under her Megumi Yokosuka alter name) and Tanimura. It was technically not her last single, as it was released after her retirement (on her wedding day to be precise), and her record company released another after this, but it's commonly recognised as her last. Strangely, it was not included on her last albums, one of 2 songs from her last concert that didn't appear on any of her albums (the other being Spring Introduction, the B side of Carnival).
ReplyDeleteThe song's lyrics, from what I can make of the google translation, seem to be about dedicating herself, presumably to her future spouse. There are a number of puns, ranging from the title itself which both refers to a shinto tradition and her own name Momoe, to the last line of the song, which both declares herself a woman, and bearing in mind when the song was released, also declares herself a married woman (which I think onna can also mean). Her alter name of course is also a pun on her own name, and can be taken to mean Momoe from Yokosuka. She seems to be fond of that trope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fOAbbxK2BM
Hello there, and thanks for the comments on "Ichie". I had heard the song before since I've got it on one of her BEST albums. I hadn't known about the meaning behind the lyrics, though, and now that you've informed us, I gather that Momoe's words were basically a musical "I RESIGN" for everyone concerned. Years ago, I read somewhere that Momoe took a very practical approach with her career in that she didn't sing for the joy of singing, but it was the way for her to earn money for her family. Once marriage was in sight, I think she was quite happy to leave the business.
DeleteI grew up in Japan listening to likes of Yamaguchi Momoe and her contemporaries, but I’ve always thought that Ms. Yamaguchi rarely looked like she was enjoying her own performance. Part of the reason is that most of her songs are really “serious” songs compared to the current pop songs, even that in Japan. Another is that she never felt this was her lifelong passion.
DeleteI think it's become well known that Yamaguchi soon tired of the media and the salaciousness of the early songs that plagued her. By 1980, she was more than happy to flee show business and into domestic life (although she wrote songs for others for a while) with her new husband Tomokazu Miura. Still, both of them had to fend off persistent reporters for several years afterwards.
DeleteThe English translation of the title (A Trip on a Fine Day) is literally correct, but reading into the entire lyrics of this song, that translation sounds way too perky. In this song, this lonely and somewhat depressed person is LEAVING somewhere for good for a new start, hoping to meet someone, somewhere. It almost sounds like this person does not even have a clear idea where he/she is going. I think a better English title would be "A Good Day for a Departure."
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I thought it is somewhat interesting to see that that line "Nihon no dokokani watashio mattteru hitogairu," instead of "Sekai no dokokani watashio matteru hitogairu." Part of it is that this song was promoted by the Japan National Rail (domestic travel). Another is that much fewer Japanese people did any international travel back then in the 70s.
They still play this jingle on Tokaido Shinkansen (which I was on last week). I have no idea if any of the younger riders, even Japanese, have any clue about the song, though. (I'm in my 50's and grew up in Japan until I moved to the US in 1983).
Hello there and thanks for your comments. Yeah, I'd agree with your opinion on the title translation and the contents of the lyrics. Between the time that I posted this and now, I've been realizing that there is a certain type of kayo kyoku that deals with traveling outside of the city to someplace further away to deal with heartbreak. I just kinda wonder how busy it gets along the Tsugaru Strait in the fall.
DeleteYes, as I recall, the 70s were the decade when the Japanese were not quite ready to afford air travel but they did dream about it since they were beginning to save up the money they've earned over many years.
I'm not sure myself but my feeling is that the younger generations in Japan have a slightly stronger affinity for the old music when compared to their equivalent number in the US and Canada. By the way, where did you grow up in Japan?
(I just set up my profile.) Hi. I wasn’t sure if you were going to reply this quickly!
ReplyDeleteI was just visiting my folks in Kyoto earlier this month, and realized that some of the Shinkansen routes still play the jingles from this song.
I thought it was starting to age poorly, since the whole cultural expressions of younger Japanese people have changed since the 1970’s. As you know, a huge majority of “traditional” Kayokyoku, especially up to the 80’s, don’t sound all that happy. There are songs along the different gradations within this sad/almost-happy spectrum, but I can’t really think of any that is purely happy.
Both of my parents are Japanese, and my older sister and I were born in Kyoto in the late 60’s. All 4 of us moved to the US in 1983. My sister returned, permanently to Japan 15 years ago, and my parents did the same 10 years ago. I’m still in the US. It is interesting to note that my sister, who is, culturally, more Japanese than me, thinks this song is very hopeful and positive, while I find it rather depressing. I personally fell like “journey” of subject of this song is not going to end well.
Anyways, I personally think the message the Japanese national rail was sending (and I guess it is still sending), to me, sounds a bit irresponsible, for the lack of a better word. To me, the song is telling sad/depressed/desolate/desperate person without a plan to leave his/her present location and travel aimless to hopefully find someone (nice) and happiness. No compentent mental health professional would recommend that to anybody.
Anyways, I was happy to find this blogspot so I can really reminisce about what I was hearing during my formative years in Japan.
Hello, old kyoto and glad to make your acquaintance. Usually I try to respond within a couple of days. :)
DeleteI think there are enough kayo kyoku with those cheerful melodies and melancholy lyrics that the genre has been pegged as such. I've mentioned this sometimes in articles that the Japanese rather liked this sort of structure, but to your point, perhaps by the 1980s, songwriters were getting tired of this and so came in genres such as City Pop, technopop and the aidoru tunes in the Golden Age.
Another thing that I've pointed out in articles over the past fourteen years that KKP has been in existence is that I hadn't been much of a lyrics guy...one reason of course being that I hadn't been able to understand much Japanese within the lyrics at the time I got into Japanese pop music in the early 1980s. So when I listened to songs like "Ue wo Muite Arukou" (aka the "Sukiyaki" song) and "Ii Hi Tabidachi", I had initially thought they were just happy to wistful tunes. But doing the blog helped educate me on what was actually going on in those lyrics. I've often heard the term "setsunasa" (切なさ). I didn't really understand what the term meant at the time, but I've come to see it as "misery" and "pain", and apparently, the Japanese (especially those of the older generations) have often expressed this in somewhat "beloved" terms when it comes to the oldies. Maybe there is a bit of masochism involved. 🤷
I was born in the mid-1960s so we're not too different in age and so we may know and possibly cherish some of the same tunes. By all means, take a look through some of the other articles at your leisure and let me know what you think of them. Anyways, good to talk with you.
Another song that I head snippets of while I was visiting my folks in Japan last month was a super popular Miyako Harumi enka from 1975 titled “Kita no yado kara.” After reading the lyrics from that song side-by-side with “Ii hi tabidachi,” I see somewhat of a reverse “cause and effect” relationship between two songs.
ReplyDeletePresumably, the subject of the Momoe song is traveling “north” to hopefully find “happiness” and “someone.” One potential outcome of this somewhat ambitious plan is that he/she would find neither. On the other hand the subject of the Miyako Harumi song is literally stuck in an “inn up north” with inadequate heat, writing a letter to someone, very depressed/disappointed and suicidal. I doubt Mr. Taniumra was writing the “cause” part of this debacle, when he was writing the Momoe song, however.
Hello, old kyoto. I wrote up an article on "Kita no Yado kara" back in 2013, so you might want to take a read of that one:
Deletehttps://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2013/01/harumi-miyako-kita-no-yado-kara.html
I actually did a few days ago.
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