Takao Kisugi -- Eien no Toki（永遠の瞬間）

Folks, let me talk to you about real estate!

Well, not to sell you any...since I couldn't sell a square centimetre of gold-flecked dirt. First off, I've seen plenty of real estate commercials on TV here in Canada and usually it's about how these companies can do the best job of selling houses with their newfangled formulas and tactics. Meanwhile in Japan, their TV ads of real estate take a much softer approach showing nothing but beautifully photographed condos or neighbourhoods filled with new attractive houses while a quiet song (new or old) plays in the background. No hint of sales representatives and SOLD signs...just happy residents coming home to happy families and happy food.

So I gather that Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.（三井不動産）had the right idea when they asked the songwriting sibling tandem Takao Kisugi and Etsuko Kisugi（来生たかお・来生えつこ）to create a song for one of their commercials in 1991. And that's what the Kisugis did...they created the title track for Takao's 16th album "Eien no Toki" (Eternal Moment) which was released in April of that year.

Especially when Takao sings a ballad made by himself and his sister, I know that it's going to be tender and lush and so comfy. "Eien no Toki" is exactly that, starting with that piano and a keyboard that sounds a bit like a synth-oboe. Then the strings come in which makes me wonder whether the Kisugis and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光男）were thinking Carpenters when they created this one. I couldn't find the Mitsui ad with "Eien no Toki" but listening to it here, I can imagine that the executive board for the company was internally screaming "WE ARE GONNA SELL HOUSES LIKE PANCAKES!! HELL, WE'RE GONNA SELL THE INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PANCAKES!!" with this. To be honest, I would love to see what that ad looked like.

I also wonder whether the album "Eien no Toki" was thrown in with every purchase of a condo unit under Mitsui's purview. It would make for a nice memory. Anyways, the album peaked at No. 31, and it also has the sweeping "Yume yori Tooku e" （夢より遠くへ）.