Dark Ducks/Yukiko Tama and Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars/Yukiko Noji -- Kitakami Yakyoku（北上夜曲）

NHK's "Utakon"（うたコン）was back at its new slot of 8:30 pm Tuesday nights on TV Japan. The theme for this episode and next week will be those famous Heisei Era hits before the nation enters the minty-fresh age of Reiwa.

In the meantime, though, I want to take things back a tad. I was attracted to this 1993 performance of a song called "Kitakami Yakyoku" (Kitakami Nocturne) by venerable vocal group Dark Ducks（ダークダックス）. For the lack of a better phrase, I think that this is a wonderfully mournful ballad of remembrances of love lost somewhere in the Tohoku region of Japan. I've never been to the northeastern part of the island of Honshu but my images of certain cities there involve foggy nights lit romantically by 19th-century-style street lamps overlooking quiet canals, and so I can imagine a lonely fellow revisiting that particular area reminiscing over happier times.

Dark Ducks recorded "Kitakami Yakyoku" originally back in 1961 and this was also the case for the famed Mood Kayo group Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）as a duet with singer Yukiko Tama（多摩幸子）in the same year. As usual, that Mahina Stars' steel guitar is in there along with their distinctive harmonies.

Norimi Kikuchi（菊地規）was the lyricist with Mutsuo Ando（安藤睦夫）composing the melody. "Kitakami Yakyoku" was a big hit for both groups according to a book on Dark Ducks, "Nihon no Utsukushii Uta ~ Dark Ducks no Hanseiki"（日本の美しい歌―ダークダックスの半世紀...Japan's Beautiful Songs ~ Dark Ducks' Half-Century）, and in fact, the group performed the song for their 4th appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen that same year. Incidentally, they appeared on the Kohaku a total of 15 times between 1958 and 1976.

Yukiko Tama is a Tokyo native who made her debut in 1958 right after her graduation from the Toho College of Music. Although she had initially retired in 1966 due to marriage, she apparently resumed her singing career some years later.

"Kitakami Yakyoku" has been covered by a number of singers but one other singer that caught my attention with her cover of the song is Yukiko Noji（野路由紀子）. She does have a J-Wiki entry identifying her as a singer but for some reason, there is no discography although there is a list of TV programs that she has appeared on, and apparently, she even made appearances on a couple of dramas. As the eldest daughter of a fishmonger in Fukui Prefecture, she had long admired Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）which sparked her interest in becoming a singer.

Noji made her debut in 1971, and in 1972, she released an album "Kita Shinano Zesshou"（北信濃絶唱...Superb Songs of Northern Shinano） which includes her version of "Kitakami Yakyoku". Her take on the song is a bit more wistful, innocent and folksy. Although I think this version sounds like something between folk and kayo, Noji's vocals strike me as being quite enka-like.