Saburo Kitajima/Hachiro Kasuga -- Hakodate no Hito (函館の女)

Haaaaru baru kitaze Hakodateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ~

Just a couple of months ago, I happened upon the popular food-related manga, and subsequently, TV series "Shinya Shokudo" (深夜食堂), otherwise known as "Midnight Diner", via its second movie when returning from my trip to the US and Canada. This sort of anthology series centers around the characters, ranging from AV actors and yakuza to your run of the mill salary men, who patronize a nondescript late night diner in a little, grubby alley of Shinjuku run by a middle aged fellow only known as Master. There isn't much else known about Master besides his motto of preparing any item requested by the customer as long as it's within his means.

Nothing insane happens in the anecdotes told in "Shinya Shokudo", especially when compared to the other seinen manga I read, the gore fest that is "Berserk", but its quaint charm, warm atmosphere, and realism of the characters and their predicaments without excessive exaggeration drew me to it. The shout-outs to pop culture are an added bonus. I have since read the first three volumes (in English) online, and purchased their Japanese hard copies from Kinokuniya soon after.

At the moment, one of my favourite chapters from "Shinya Shokudo" comes from the third volume. Titled "Butter Rice", it features a butter rice-loving nagashi* (流し) and a food critic in what may as well be the comic adaptation of Saburo Kitajima's (北島三郎) "Hakodate no Hito". There was even a section where the elderly nagashi, Goro (ゴロー), "sang" said song, as you can see from the picture above. Plus, the design of the food critic, Masao Toyama (戸山正夫), reminds me of a certain Masao in enka history.

Masao Koga Toyama

Anyway, this leads me to the topic of the article, "Hakodate no Hito". J-Canuck already wrote an article on it so you can check it out for more details on the song. Moving on, I had been aware of Grandpa Enka's jaunty smash hit well before reading "Butter Rice", but never listened to it in its entirety - just the first line was all I really knew - till after the comic was read so I could get all the references throughout the chapter. Don't get me wrong, I like "Hakodate no Hito" and its signature belted-out intro has a penchant for getting stuck in my head, but for some reason it didn't occur to me to listen to it fully until then.

When I finally went to look up "Hakodate no Hito", I went for Hachiro Kasuga's (春日八郎) version first before the original since I'd heard pieces of the latter on multiple occasions and I was curious as to how the late enka veteran handled the song that has also been covered by a myriad of other singers.

I must say that their individual deliveries give "Hakodate no Hito" different vibes. Sabu-chan's sounded more "grass roots", like a common man and his guitar dedicating his love for his (Hakodate) sweetheart, or just like in "Butter Rice", a nagashi taking on a customer's request in an uramachi. On the other hand, Hachi's take was more polished, like a professional singer in a tux standing before a stand mic performing for a large audience. In that sense, I find Sabu-chan's delivery to be best suited for "Hakodate no Hito". However, I ended up preferring Hachi's rendition for his smooth and deeper vocals... Objectively speaking, of course. Kasuga's version can be found in his 1973 cover album "Enka Hyaku Sen" (演歌百選), where he did self-covers and covers of hits from the pre-war period up to the late 60's.

P.S. Y'know, reading and watching "Shinya Shokudo" has made me realised how easily persuaded I am by food - except beansprouts and ginger, that is. One chapter about chicken karaage and suddenly I have to have it. I'm not even a fan of fried chicken... Or at least I wasn't.

Master

*Nagashi are those wandering performers, most common back in the day and rare now, who'd go to bars with their guitars/shamisens to sing requested songs from the bars' patrons. They've been the topic of many older enka tunes, like Hachi's own "Nigate Nandayo" (苦手なんだよ).