Miyako Chaki -- Azami no Gotoku Toge Areba（あざみの如く棘あれば）

Back in the days of detective shows of the 1970s, it seems as if every detective featured had to have some sort of distinguishing aspect or habit. Of course, there is Lieutenant Columbo, who's beloved in Japan and America and Canada, with his self-deprecating schleppiness hiding a genius mind. Then, there are the private eyes from the Quinn/Martin family such as the elderly Barnaby Jones, the larger-than-life Frank Cannon and suave Theo Kojak.

Perhaps not in the same numbers, mind you, but Japanese TV had its share of distinctive sleuths. One of them was Kosuke Kindaichi（金田一耕助）, an eccentric-but-brilliant detective with a seemingly chronic case of scalp itch created by mystery novelist Seizo Yokomizo（横溝正史）and played by Ikko Furuya（古谷一行）in the 1970s in two seasons of "Furuya Ikko no Kindaichi Kosuke Series"（古谷一行の金田一耕助シリーズ...Ikko Furuya's Kosuke Kindaichi Series）.

The theme songs for both seasons were performed by folk/City Pop singer Miyako Chaki（茶木みやこ）. It's the theme song for the second season that grabbed my ear. "Azami no Gotoku Toge Areba" (If There are Thorns Like a Thistle) entranced me with that spacey intro helped by the clanging percussion and what sounds like a mandolin. True to the nature of the story, there is a feeling of melancholy and exotic mystery imbued into the arrangement which makes the song stand out. It's definitely not City Pop but not too folksy either. Probably New Music might be the closest label.

Chaki came up with the music while legendary lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）was responsible for the words. It was released as a single in March 1978.