Ikuzo Yoshi -- Ora Tokyo sa Igu Da （俺ら東京さ行ぐだ）

As I said for Ikuzo Yoshi's（吉幾三） "Yukiguni"(1986), the song was my go-to tune at karaoke both here and in Japan. I've done the song so many times, I can safely say that I can sing it without looking at the lyrics.

But a couple of years before his (and my) trademark tune, he came out with this bizarro song. It had a complicated gestation which started all the way back in 1977 after he'd had his first big hit, "Ore wa Zettai! Presley"（俺はぜったい！プレスリー....I am Absolutely Presley). He went into a bit of a slump, but during that time he encountered the genre of rap music, and wrote and composed this rap song about this country hick from his home province of Aomori Prefecture heading to the big city of Tokyo. He went to all of the recording studios only to get the door slammed in his face; it took enka singer Masao Sen（千昌夫）to help him out to get it produced.

"Ora Tokyo sa Igu Da"(I'm Headin' To Tokyo)....the title and the lyrics are sung in a Northern Japanese dialect although J-Wiki takes pains to state that it's not in the dialect of Yoshi's hometown of Kanagi-machi, Aomori. In the song, Yoshi sings of the fact that he comes from a home that has no electricity, no piano, no television, etc....and has no idea what a laser disc is (remember, this was 1984). Basically if anyone has ever seen the old American sitcom, "The Beverly Hillbillies", the song sounds like the telling of a Japanese Jed Clampett exploring Ginza.

Initially, it seems that a number of people from the countryside were ready and willing to use the tool that Yoshi holds on the record cover....on the singer's head. Accusing him of slagging his fellow countrymen from his birthplace, the complaints poured in, although the singer himself insisted that what he had written down was true. However, the song also had its share of fans from both urban and rural areas, and over time, this demographic won out as it went as high as No. 4 on Oricon and became the 21st-ranked song of 1985.

Personally, I don't think I had ever heard of a Japanese rap enka song before. Then again, "Ora Tokyo sa Igu Da"didn't make its presence known on the enka charts. It made inroads via the Folk and New Music lists!

http://www.nicozon.net/watch/sm3669085

Well, with Halloween just around the corner, I've also included this funny mashup between this song and Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters". Apparently, this song has been popular in getting mashed up with a number of other tunes, including Sade's "Smooth Operator". Feel free to take a look on YouTube.