Kayo Kyoku Plus: Masayuki Suzuki & Momoko Kikuchi -- Shibuya de Go-ji (渋谷で5時）

Met up with an old friend last week, and we spoke on our Tokyo experiences. He's just visited there.... I lived there. And he was quite gaga over one particular area. He remarked that Shibuya was just this electrifying power spot. Of course, for me, it was one of the many urban neighbourhoods that I had walked through.... for several years, on a weekly basis.... but I can understand what he's talking about. I've gone there with friends on a Friday or Saturday night, and it's awfully hard to imagine that Japan has been through 2 decades of recession when I go through there. The good times are still rolling in one of the most crowded areas in one of the most crowded cities on Earth. Also, with Tower Records and a number of small CD shops, Shibuya has helped me build up my kayo kyoku collection, and thus this blog.

Shibuya is known as Japan's Teen Mecca, but the unlikely duet of Martin（鈴木雅之） & Momoko（菊池桃子） sing "Shibuya de Go-ji"(Shibuya at 5) as the urban paradise of the more adult young. Just imagine Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannsen scooting around Shibuya in "Lost in Translation". I've enjoyed this song over and over for Martin's soul and Momo's breathy vocals. By 1996, I think Momoko had pretty much graduated from her singing career and was more into acting by that point, which might explain why she had the bigger role in the music video. As for the video, the beginning scene had the lass looking very uncertain when invited by Suzuki for a meet-and-greet at a Shibuya cafe to help him out on the song; she even asked, "Isn't he kinda scary?". I guess when one looks like a Japanese mob enforcer, those questions may be inevitable. But afterwards, it was definitely a meet-cute situation.

The song itself had actually been first released back in January 1994 as a B-side solo to the A-side's "Chigau, so ja nai"（違う、そうじゃない.... No, That's Not It) which had gone as high as No. 9 on the weekly charts. But then a couple of years later, the duet was released in February. Strangely enough, despite the video scenes, the two only recorded their parts separately. And in subsequent onstage performances, Suzuki ended up singing the song with various former aidoru such as Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）and former Morning Musume member Maki Goto（後藤真希）. It wasn't until a full decade later on a Fuji-TV music show that the originals finally got together to sing together. Ah, I did forget about this aidoru helping out as well.