Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Kenichi Mikawa -- Harumachi Zaka(春待ち坂)


As I said in recent articles, pops lyricist Takashi Matsumoto(松本隆)was the guest of honour at last week's "Uta Kon"(うたコン). However, there was one singer who kept up the enka side of things: veteran Kenichi Mikawa(美川憲一).


Late in the broadcast, Mikawa came up with his most recent single, a gentle song of encouragement titled "Harumachi Zaka" (The Hill Waiting For Spring). The song was released in February this year and coming out on "Uta Kon" after the landslide of Matsumoto's works (which I did enjoy), it made for a nice contrast.

Written by Koyomi Asa(麻こよみ)and composed by Hideo Mizumori(水森英夫), it struck me as being a good old-fashioned enka number, no particular whiz-bang arrangement or flashy fashion visuals included. Mikawa in the shortened video above comes out in traditional Japanese dress and despite the scenes of 21st-century Tokyo, the song seemed to take me back a few decades.

(karaoke version by sasaki)

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