Noriyuki Makihara -- Mou Koi Nante Shinai （もう恋なんてしない）

After enjoying Noriyuki Makihara's（槇原敏之) breakthrough hit, "Donna Toki mo"(どんなときも....already profiled) in 1991 just coming back home from 2 years in Japan, I saw an opportunity to get his 3rd album, "Kimi wa Boku no Takaramono"（君は僕の宝物...You Are My Jewel)in 1992. The English-language Japanese pop culture magazine, "Eye-Ai" offered readers to buy J-Pop CDs through its own mail-order program. So as soon as I saw Mackey's album, I got to the bank, drafted a money order and sent it with my application form. About a month later, I got the disc with his face plastered with his goofy smile on it. Yup, that was the state of trying to get Japanese music back 20 years ago. No Amazon, no PayPal, no Internet shopping.

The big single from the album was "Mou Koi Nante Shinai"(I Won't Fall In Love Again). Compared to the optimistic urban rush-rush of young people in "Donna Toki mo", Makihara's 5th single is also musically uptempo but a bit more laid-back, perhaps reflective. And the lyrics are sadder as the video shows a young man played by the singer himself trying to and not yet quite succeeding at getting over the end of a romance. The tune does get me back in a nostalgic mood, and the video certainly has quite a lot of sepia in it. The whole idea behind the song came as Makihara's attempt to cheer up his then-keyboardist, Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）, who was getting over his own breakup. Honma is now a producer of other artists such as band Pornograffiti and Ayumi Hamasaki.

Released in May 1992, "Mou Koi Nante Shinai"was Makihara's 2nd million-seller as it peaked at No. 2 and became the 7th-ranked song of the year. It was also the theme song for an NTV drama, "Kodomo ga Neta Ato de"（子供が寝た後で....After the Children are Asleep).