Kinki Kids -- Jet Coaster Romance（ジェットコースター・ロマンス）

Never liked amusement park rides although I know that there are far more people who enjoy them during the summer. For me though, the rides are basically massive wood-and-steel invitations for me to show fellow park visitors what I had to eat in the past 12 hours. "Ma'am...I'm very sorry that my partially digested kielbasa sandwich splattered you in the eye, but really, it is that good, and you can get it for $5.85 at the stand behind the roller coaster."

All that gruesome prelude is to introduce another one of KinKi Kids' trademark hits, "Jet Coaster Romance" (Roller Coaster Romance) from April 1998. Written and composed by the big tandem of Takashi Matsumoto and Tatsuro Yamashita（松本隆・山下達郎）, this song indeed is fully imbued by the breezy sea winds and bright sun of summer along the Japanese coast...especially obvious considering that latter fellow.

Yet, the jet coaster of the song is merely a metaphor for the thrilling ups and downs of romance during the hot season. Matsumoto and Yamashita had also created KinKi Kids' first big hit, "Garasu no Shonen"（硝子の少年）the year before but I think unlike that debut single, the Kids' 3rd single doesn't seem to have that hint of yesteryear or classic Yamashita. Mind you, there is that feeling of disco in the first couple of seconds, but otherwise, "Jet Coaster Romance" does sound like an independent animal for the Domoto boys.

Selling 500,000 copies in its first week, "Jet Coaster Romance" hit No. 1 with a bullet train, and not surprisingly, it became a million-seller, eventually becoming the 18th-ranked single of 1998. It was also used as the campaign song for All Nippon Airways for Okinawa in that year.