Satoko Ishimine -- Hajimete wo Sagasanakucha（はじめてを探さなくちゃ）

This 8th single by pop singer Satoko Ishimine（石嶺聡子）, "Hajimete wo Sagasanakucha" (I've Got to Find My First Times) got no higher than No. 98 on the Oricon weeklies, but it's still a very nice tune, especially since it was written and composed by 90s hit singer Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美）. I especially love the rich piano and strings used here accompanying Ishimine's clear-as-a-bell voice.

Released in May 1997, the singer sings about regretting that the days pass by so fast since she wants to experience and cherish all sorts of first times, even if some of them may not be the happiest events. Life's way too short, she's saying...make full use of each day. The J-Wiki article on Ishimine doesn't mention it about the song, but I think that this could have made for a fine jingle for some ad about life insurance.

As an example of a first time that I've cherished, one of them would be when I started my first job after university as a JET Programme teacher back in 1989. I distinctly remember getting into Tokyo on a very steamy July afternoon on a limousine bus and seeing my fellow JET recruits going crazy with their old-style cameras and snapping away as we drove through East Shinjuku to head for the Keio Plaza Hotel. It was actually my third time in the nation but it was fun to watch the other passengers getting all excited about being in Japan's largest metropolis for their first time.