Hisao Ito & Akiko Futaba -- Oshima Sentaro Tabiuta (お島千太郎旅唄)

Besides the usual YouTube, another way I make musical discoveries in the enka-yo department is through natsumelo karaokes. Lately I'd found another kayo haunt in the sleepy town (except when politicians go around blasting their promises) of Kasumigaseki, Saitama, which I now reside in, and on my first couple of visits, I had the pleasure of meeting this fellow, let's call him Uncle S. His singing and guitar skills are the best I've heard thus far from my karaoke romps. However, what threw me for a loop was not only is he a huge fan of Hachiro Kasuga, but, what are the odds, his favourite Kasuga-bushi is the same as mine (currently), "Ore wa Nora Inu" (俺は野良犬)! He seemed more floored than I was, though.

Well, but anyway, eventually finding out I'm a fan of matatabi enka, Uncle S was game to do a proper duet (up to that point we'd just been alternating stanzas for regular tunes from time to time), and he chose "Oshima Sentaro Tabiuta" simply after I said I knew the ryukoka singer Hisao Ito and somewhat recognized the characters' names of Oshima and Sentaro (admittedly, I had thought it was just one name). But, you see, I had no idea of the existance of such a song, and it had some strange transitions a typical enka song wouldn't have, so I wasn't able to wing it. 'Twas from then on when I decided learn it for a second shot at it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen Uncle S since, but I'm ready to redeem myself when he does reappear. Man, this is like the redux of Grandma K (whom I had finally met up with a couple of weeks ago in Sugamo).

Coming to the "Oshima Sentaro Tabiuta" itself, what I had initially thought was a song simply about the trials a roving actor and his wife face on the road turned out to be something quite a lot darker and more dramatic. This song (circa 1947) gets its plot from a popular novel "Jahime-sama" (蛇姫様) and is but one of its many adaptations (music and film-wise). The great Yaso Saijo (西條八十) lyric-fies the story of our hero Sentaro, who, after tragically having his sister and father murdered, goes into hiding by joining a roving theater troupe. Life's tough for Sentaro, and you can hear it in Teikichi Okuyama's (奥山貞吉) forlorn score, but his silver lining comes in the form of Oshima, one of the troupe's members. I don't really know much other details besides that, but long story short, they fall in love and live happily ever after and continuing this more or less ronin-style of life. Playing the role of Sentaro in "Oshima Sentaro Tabiuta" is the aforementioned Ito, and Akiko Futaba (二葉あき子) plays Oshima.

In the way of popularity, "Oshima Sentaro Tabiuta" definitely isn't one of either singers' renowned hits, and, for that matter, it's not even a well-known adaptation of the novel in spite of it being the theme song to the "Jahime-sama" film in 1947. It seems like Hibari Misora's (美空ひばり) own "Oshima Sentaro" that was tagged to the "Shin Jahime-sama" (新 蛇姫様) movie she starred in from 1965 was a lot more well-received (understandably so). Anyways, the second video here is a shorter rendition of "Oshima Sentaro Tabiuta", and it was sung by an under-the-radar enka singer called Sumiko Matsumoto (松本寿満子). I don't know who the male singer is, but I actually like this rendition more because of its slower tempo. I find that it sheds more light into Sentaro's struggle. Also, the snippets of movie with the song are from the aforementioned '47 movie.

P.S. The other folks at the Kasumigaseki joint didn't really know it either. Just last week, I had intended to sing it on my own, but the mama-san insisted that I partner-up simply because "Oshima Sentaro Tabiuta" is a duet. Grandpa 1, who was keen on doing a duet with me waved the white flag for he had no knowledge of this at all, and the key was too low for him. As a result, the mic was dropped on Grandpa 2. He was a good sport, in spite of not knowing the song completely. Ah, well, until Uncle S shows up again.