Kahoru Kohiruimaki -- On The Loose

The news over the past few days on NHK and, presumably, on the other commercial TV stations in Japan has been about this fugitive Junya Hida（樋田淳也）who managed to escape from the Tondabayashi Police Station in Osaka Prefecture by bashing through the clear partition in the meeting room where he had met with his lawyer. And apparently, no one was keeping an eye on the guy. Anyways, he's been on the loose for close to a week as of this writing and allegedly committing a new rash of purse snatchings in the area, while the police are desperately trying to bring him to ground. Not surprisingly, the residents are very worried since Hida has already been indicted on theft and rape.

The Hida case has gotten me to remember this Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）single which was released on New Year's Day 1988, "On The Loose". For those Kohhy fans who first discovered her music at around the turn of the decade such as "Dreamer", "On The Loose" is more reflective of her pop-rock days when she first started. And to me anyways, it almost sounds like it could have been arranged with the 1980s James Bond in mind. Whether it be pop-rock or R&B, Kohiruimaki and her vocal chops could handle the genres with aplomb. I don't think I've ever said this about her in my previous articles, but there is something rather reminiscent of Pat Benatar in her.

"On The Loose" was her 8th single which was written by the singer and composed by her longtime collaborator Yoshiaki Ohuchi（大内義昭）. It got as high as No. 15 on Oricon and was also a track on Kohhy's 5th album "So Real" which I've already written about.

In any case, I hope the police do finally catch up to this fellow.