Miharu Koshi/Yuko Kanai -- Hashire Usagi （走れウサギ）

This was actually the very first Miharu Koshi（コシミハル） song I heard, thanks to Volume 2 of the "Good Times Diva" series that I collected years ago. As I mentioned in one of the earlier articles on this most chameleon-like of Japanese pop singers, I'd seen her interesting CD covers on the shelves in the various shops: one cover for her collaboration with Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣） looking like a slinky sexy French gamine, another later album showing her dressed up like a Can-Can dancer. So I naturally wondered how she sang, especially if Hosono was involved.

Then, I heard "Hashire Usagi"(Run Rabbit) which came from her mid-80s period as a techno chanteuse via "Good Diva". The song was written by copywriter Shigesato Itoi（糸井重里） and composed by Hosono himself, and I found it appealing in a quirky way. The synths are bounding across the plain like the titular lapin as Koshi sings in that new high voice she introduced to us when she took on that new persona from 1983 through her 4th album, "Tutu". "Hashire Usagi" is a track on her 6th album from 1985, "Boy Soprano" which seems to be a good title considering that high register she was singing at. And when you take a look at the YouTube video above, get a load of that new look on the album cover.

In this song, Koshi takes on that musical trope of the aftermath of a crashed relationship as she sings about getting on that Vespa and racing through the streets (of Rome, perhaps?) throughout the night, like the proverbial rabbit, trying to rid herself of the memories of the lost love. I rather wonder if this is what Princess Anne from "Roman Holiday" fame did after she gave her final goodbyes to Joe Bradley (y'know, if she could escape from her royal minders a first time...). I think the way she delivers the lyrics, it almost sounds like a technopop operetta of sorts.

As an extra, I've thrown in a brief performance by Koshi of "Ryugu-jo no Koibito"（竜宮城の恋人....Ryugu Castle Lover）.

Yup, this is a real rabbit. In October 2011, my friends took me
to a Rabbit Cafe in Harajuku. Very pleasant experience although
there were plenty of bunny "land mines"on the floor, if
you know what I mean.

February 3 2015: I found out by happenstance that Koshi's version was actually a cover of the more City Pop original by lyricist/singer Yuko Kanai（金井夕子）. Her "Hashire Usagi" was found on her February 1982 4th album, "ecran". The technopop is still in there but Kanai's lower vocals and the overall arrangement make it sound less whimsical and more Tokyo downtown.