Shinichiro Hakozaki -- Blue Night In Sapporo（ブルーナイト・イン札幌）

Haven't done a Mood Kayo in a while so I decided that I would finish off with one tonight. I realize that it's probable that the more popular nights for karaoke are Friday and Saturday, but I've wondered whether Sunday wouldn't be a good evening as well. After all, the next day is back to the grindstone, and it may be a good hobby to get rid of that pre-Monday stress by getting a few songs out of one's system. Not sure if everyone is more content to stay at home on Sunday night anymore.

Well, as the Mood Kayo tonight, I'm going with "Blue Night In Sapporo", a suitably melancholy ballad about lost love in one of the major cities in the northernmost prefecture. Sung by the late Shinichiro Hakozaki（箱崎晋一朗）, this May 1979 release is notable for being quite short (a little over two minutes and thirty seconds) and for Hakozaki's high mournful tones.

Written and composed by Domei Suzuki（鈴木道明）, I also chose this particular tribute to the north country because according to NHK reports and my own student last night, Sapporo may truly be singing the blues right now, due to a large lack of snow. Apparently, it's been quite a few decades since there has been such a dearth in the white stuff, and the SDF has been dispatched to truck in snow from other parts of Hokkaido. This is quite important since the annual Snow Festival is just around the corner, and of course, the ski resorts depend their livelihood on snow. So, hopefully things will improve in the next few weeks.