Yuiko Tsubokura -- San-byaku-rokujuu-go no Yoru to Hiru（365の夜と昼）

The above photo is one I took on Tokyo's Yurikamome Line going through the bayside Odaiba district back in 2014. Odaiba has remained one of my favourite places in the capital and I'm proud to say that I was one of the earliest visitors to the area when it was being built in the mid to late 1990s. The Yurikamome was already running but the only thing that was erected at the time was the humongous Meccano set that would become the new headquarters for Fuji-TV. Everything else was sand quarry.

Now the area is just chock-filled with shopping malls, hotels, convention facilities, restaurants and a Gundam robot with the Yurikamome coursing through the area like an aorta. Plus, it will be getting the Olympic Village constructed nearby in the next year (I hope). All of it is on a combination of reclaimed land and garbage which, as signs everywhere tell visitors, will liquefy in the event of a major earthquake. Basically, the government is telling us that we have been warned. Lovely.

Anyways, I just want to devote this space to the lovely vocals of Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）via "San-byaku-rokujuu-go no Yoru to Hiru" (365 Nights & Days). It's not the cool City Pop that a lot of us have heard her sing on "Tsukanoma Yotogi Bito"（一瞬夜伽伴侶）which has garnered a lot of popularity on YouTube, but it is reflective of the urban contemporary music which was coming out during the turn of the decade from the 80s into the 90s. Perhaps it can be an example of that Quiet Storm that I was talking about last night.

"365 no Yoru to Hiru" was used as one of the many ending themes for the TV Asahi midnight news and information show, "Tonight"（トゥナイト）. From my more-than-occasional viewings of the show from my futon, it seemed to enjoy placing these mellow numbers at the end, I guess, to act as a lullaby for those late sleepers. The song was also the coupling tune for her 3rd single "Koufuku Game"（幸福ゲーム）which came out in June 1990. As with that song, "365 no Yoru to Hiru" was composed by Hiroshi Terao（寺尾広）but the lyrics were provided by none other than Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）. I realize that Nakajima didn't have anything to do with the melody but still the song struck me as being of a type that I wouldn't have usually imagined as one of hers.

If you like, you can enjoy this before you head off for slumberland yourself.