"Omoikiri American"(American by All Means) was Anri's（杏里） 10th single released in April 1982. It was composed by Takeshi Kobayashi（小林武）, who would later gain further fame with his association with 90s band My Little Lover; it was written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子） who also wrote Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子） City Pop classic "Crystal City" and the other American entry for July 4th, "American Feeling" by Circus, amongst many other singers.
Anri gleefully relates her solo adventures on the West Coast via that old method of air mail to her friend. She just soaks up the ambiance and joy of being in the US of A wondering which perfume to wear before heading off to that concert and almost nonchalantly waving off her buddy. Back in the early 80s, heading off to the States for a vacation was still a big dream for a lot of young Japanese women, although such a thought is quaint today in the age of the escalating yen and affordable flights across the Pacific. The song didn't quite make it up the charts but it's still one of the singer's daihyouteki tunes.
Speaking of which, one of my former students just announced that she will be making her own voyage of self-discovery from the end of July when she heads over to New York City for at least a year. It's been a big dream of hers, and so I will dedicate this song to Mikiko.
The above video is a karaoke version but I think the lady singing this is pretty darn good.
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