Seiko Matsuda -- Shiroi Parasol （白いパラソル）

32 years ago, my Japanese Language School graduating class landed into the steam bath that was Metropolitan Tokyo to head over to the Tokyo Prince Hotel. 24 years ago, my fellow Canadian JETs and I got to understand the concept of profuse sweating when our bus drove in front of the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. Yes, July in Tokyo is not for the meteorologically faint of heart.

But back in that July of 1981, while we kids were broiling in our polyester/cotton blazers and shirts, Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） was just starting on that steamroller to superstardom. Her 6th single, "Shiroi Parasol"(White Parasol) was released in that month. Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, former member of Happy End, and composed by Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫） of Tulip, the song is a clean and refreshing happy little aidoru tune....it seems a bit more stripped down instrumentally, perhaps a couple of synths and the ubiquitous strings that backed up many an aidoru in those days. And Seiko's long notes in the refrain just put a smile on my face.

"Shiroi Parasol" was her 4th straight No. 1 in her long streak of hitting the top spot on Oricon. And it became the 23rd-ranked song of the year. It later became a track on Seiko-chan's 4th album, "Kaze Tachinu"（風立ちぬ） which was released in October.

Earlier today as all of us here in Toronto entered the first heat wave of the year, a CTV reporter interviewed a middle-aged lady walking down the street with a huge parasol. The conversation basically took on the tone that the lady would be seen as a bit of a freak sporting a frilly umbrella in this day and age in North America's 4th-largest city. Well, even now in Japan, a woman carrying a parasol is seen as being perfectly normal, and is one of the typical signs of summer. Seiko carrying that white parasol is downright nostalgic!