Hachiro Kasuga -- Are kara Juu-nen Tatta ka na（あれから十年たったかなァ）

Last night was a bit disappointing in terms of the weekly kayo program although I could understand the timing. Instead of the usual episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）coming back after the Holiday hiatus, we got the highlight show with a small group of kayo singers simply watching and commenting on past performances over 2017. My parents' grumbling mood wasn't helped by the fact that there were one singer and one co-host that neither liked very much at all.

So, allow me to source this from the episode of "Itsuki-sensei o Utau! SHOW Gakko"（五木先生の 歌う！SHOW学校）that we caught the Tuesday before. Along with the Haruo Oka（岡晴夫）tribute, I also paid notice to a Hachiro Kasuga（春日八郎）number which I hadn't heard before.

Titled "Are kara Juu-nen Tatta ka na" (Has It Been 10 Years?), it was released in 1959, and right from the title, the nostalgia is baked right in. Written by Ryo Yano（矢野亮）and composed by Minoru Watabe（渡部実）, at first, I had assumed that the song was about a guy reminiscing about celebrating and commiserating over life with an old friend in a ramshackle boarding house a decade prior. However as I went over the lyrics some more, I believe that there was something far more romantic involved in that threadbare room with a man and a woman conducting a tryst and then perhaps reluctantly going their separate ways. Probably the same questions have popped up in the man's head about how the lass is doing, where she's living and with whom?

(23:16)

Considering that in a couple of weeks, "Kayo Kyoku Plus" will be reaching its 6th anniversary, the song may be 4 years early but I guess in a way, the number might rather fit my feelings about the blog right now.