Kyoko Koizumi -- Oka wo Koete （丘を越えて）

By the time I got to Gunma in the late 80s, I'd seen Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子） more as an actress than as an aidoru due to all those trendy dramas, although she was a regular presence on the Kohaku Utagassen earlier in that decade. So, it was a bit of a surprise when I caught the original video one night. There was Kyon-Kyon walking through some residential streets leading a motley young crew of musicians singing a nice little ambling ska tune.

I had first heard "Oka wo Koete" (Getting Over That Hill) as the campaign song for a Mazda car commercial before I saw the video, and if I remember correctly, the commercial tried to show the particular brand of Mazda as a good one for taking that leisurely ride through the countryside. I think Mazda Marketing picked the right song. Kyon-Kyon takes her voice down from those aidoru heights to a more relaxing register and sings about getting over that hill to finally meet that special someone.

Released in September 1990 as her 31st single, the song was written by Koizumi herself and composed by a couple of members (at the time) from Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Masayuki Hayashi（林昌幸）and Tatsuyuki Aoki（青木達之）. It got as high as No. 10 on the charts. The single is also on the album, "No. 17" which had been released a few months earlier.  I like the video since it and the singer are so down-to-earth. As far as I know, she could've just been walking over to the local conbini for a bento.