Eri Hiramatsu -- Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi （部屋とＹシャツと私）

This is one of the sweetest songs I have ever heard by any Japanese singer. I used to hear "Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi"(The Room, Your Shirts and Me) a fair amount at the karaoke boxes both here and back in Japan, and I can imagine the fiancee pulling this out for her future hubby. I've got a few of Eri Hiramatsu's（平松愛理） CDs on the shelves, and this is probably her most representative song. But I just found out that Hiramatsu had created it in response to an old Masashi Sada（さだまさし）classic, "Kanpaku Sengen", .a new husband's laying down of the law in his house to his wife.

When I first read the J-Wiki article on "Kanpaku Sengen" and came across the paragraph that a number of singers had come up with "answer songs" to one of Sada's most famous tunes, I first thought "Uh-oh....he probably got quite the tongue-lashing" despite the half-joking way it was delivered. But then I came across Hiramatsu's trademark song in that list. As I said, I have listened to "Heya to Y-Shatsu to Watashi" a number of times and didn't get anything defiant from it.

And it isn't. Instead, although I don't know about some of the other songs, Hiramatsu's response is adorably understanding. If Sada had been the imperious husband, and Hiramatsu the wife, then after listening patiently to the "Sengen", Hiramatsu would have answered sweetly, "I understand, dear, but....." According to the lyrics, she would allow 3 straight nights of her husband coming home roaring drunk but half-jokingly warns him that she knows when he lies and that if he ever cheats on her, he should be careful about what might go into his soup at dinnertime. All she asks is some nice clothes from time to time, and she'll keep the titular items in proper order. I can imagine Sada's husband character going "Uh....well, OK then..." It's also interesting that near the end of the song, Hiramatsu also refers to the inevitable eternal parting just like "Kanpaku Sengen" did. It's almost as if the two songs were mutual vows.

The official music video for the song is also one of those examples of "Awwwww...." Probably at the right moment, it could easily elicit that lump in the throat, and at this time, there are no less than 3 samples of that video uploaded onto YouTube. The song itself was released in March 1992, peaked at No. 4 and became the 17th-ranked song of the year on Oricon. It also earned Hiramatsu a Japan Record Award for lyrics. It was also a track on her 3rd album, "My Dear", that had actually been released all the way back in December 1990. Interestingly enough, the song was her 8th single; "Kanpaku Sengen" was Sada's 8th single.