Yukino Ichikawa -- Hagurebana（はぐれ花）

A few days ago, someone was asking about featuring some of the more contemporary enka singers including Toshimi Tagawa（田川寿美）and Aiko Moriyama（森山愛子）.

Well, another name that cropped up was Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）who has become a regular face on the kayo programs on TV. I have put up an article on her hit "Kokoro Kasanete"（心かさねて）, but now I would like to present her March 2017 song "Hagurebana" (Wandering Flower) which immediately followed "Kokoro Kasanete".

A pretty philosophical ballad about the vagaries of life and love, "Hagurebana" is given the tender delivery by Ichikawa. It was written by Koyomi Asa（麻こよみ）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）with the typical enka arrangement in mind, but I've also noticed that somewhat haunting whistling in the background as if there were something even more spiritual in the sylvan setting. It's the type of song that would well accompany a person walking over that ancient arched bridge under the blossoming cherry trees.

"Hagurebana" has so far become Ichikawa's most successful song in terms of Oricon rankings as it peaked at No. 11. On the enka charts, it was her 6th song to reach No. 1.