Keisuke Yamauchi -- Ai ga Shinjirarenainara（愛が信じられないなら）

Man, another cold one out there...the high today will be a frigid -16 degrees Celsius or perhaps +2 degrees Fahrenheit. No matter which side of the US/Canada border you live on, it's still frozen living. Will be heading out in a few hours to finally catch "The Last Jedi". To be honest, I don't have a lot of high expectations for it considering what I've read although one particular local newspaper movie critic is still in awe. People have told me that it's actually a bit better than "The Force Awakens" but that doesn't say much to me.

Anyways, those are my admittedly curmudgeonly two (non-existent Canadian) cents on George Lucas' magnum opus. Moving on...there are also plenty of folks (including my parents and a few friends) who griped as usual about the weirdness and unappealing participants in this past Kohaku Utagassen. I'm more sanguine about it. Musical tastes change and I'm willing to watch the various acts (well, the majority of them) with a happy heart.

Still, I'm grateful for the enka acts that can still come on. In a way, the genre is a nice connection to the past broadcasts. Plus, I didn't have to wait too long in the show for one of the big leaguers to perform. Enka bidanshi prince Keisuke Yamakawa（山内惠介）was second batter up for the White team to do his hit, "Ai ga Shinjirarenainara" (If You Don't Believe in My Love).

Released in March 2017, Yamakawa croons the familiar trope of love done wrong. The melody by Hideo Mizumori（水森英夫）has got that extra twang of electric guitar and a fairly galloping beat which, along with the broken romance theme, can put it into Mood Kayo. But there is still something about it which sounds enka at the same time; perhaps it's Yamakawa himself. Kiyoshi Matsuo（松尾潔）provides the script about the woman in Yamakawa's life who will no longer accept his courtship.

Happy to say that "Ai ga Shinjirarenainara" broke the Top 10 and made it up to No. 6. Enka may be lessening its presence on the Kohaku but it's nice to see that it still has its fans, hopefully young people among them. I know Noelle is a dedicated follower of enka and Mood Kayo as am I but if there are any other young adults out there who also love these genres, feel free to chime in.