Shoji Koganezawa -- Arigato...Kansha （ありがとう…感謝）

I guess I was picking up quite a few songs on NHK's "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）today. Not only did I find a nice kid's song on the program but there was also a so-sentimental-it-hurts number that I discovered from one of the other participants.

This would be Shoji Koganezawa's（小金沢昇司）"Arigato...Kansha" (Thank You...With Gratitude). Released in September 2003, it may have been released in the 21st century but there is something quite old-fashioned and sepia-toned with the melody by Meiyu Otani（大谷明裕）. Even though, I still categorized it as an enka number, there is something American 1960s with that music since it reminded me of old pop songs such as "Where The Boys Are" and "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing".

In any event, the lyrics by Yuriko Shima（志磨ゆり子）are pretty much what it says in the title....about someone who wants to give thanks to everyone in his life who put up with him and helped him out through the tough times. I wouldn't be surprised by its karaoke use at a wedding reception in Japan or perhaps at a retirement party. Considering how hard Koganezawa worked to get where he is today, I'm sure that it wasn't too difficult for him to put his own feelings into the song.

Otani and Shima also collaborated for one of Koganezawa's other songs, "Negai, Ichijomodori Bashi"（願・一条戻り橋）.