Meiko Kaji -- Urami Bushi（怨み節）

As a kid, I'd heard about this genre of movies which dealt with men or women in prison and how they adapted to what was probably a Hell on Earth.

But if truth be told, the only example that I ever saw was the "SCTV" parody "Broads Behind Bars" with Catherine O'Hara, John Candy, Andrea Martin and Eugene Levy. All I can say is the conclusion is pretty ironic considering Canada and marijuana now.

As much as I love the above part of Canadiana, we should move onto something Japanese. And it looks like the movie industry there also had its share of female prisoner flicks such as the franchise "Joshu Sasori Series"（女囚さそりシリーズ...Female Convict Scorpion）beginning in 1972 starring actress/singer Meiko Kaji（梶芽衣子）as Prisoner #701 Nami Matsushima（松島ナミ）, aka The Scorpion.

Kaji also provided the theme song for the entire series, the melancholy "Urami Bushi" (Song of Grudges) which was released as a single in December 1972. With the lyrics provided by the director of the first three movies of the franchise, Shunya Ito（伊藤俊也）, and music by Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）, there's not only the Mood Kayo aspect, but also an arrangement that reminded me of the lone wolf samurai warrior getting his revenge on those who had murdered his lord and master. I could also imagine Kaji's character of Nami finally singing it years after her release when she's set up her own bar in Shinjuku's Golden Gai. There's a similarity with the late Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）in her delivery although Kaji's vocals are a bit lighter than Fuji's.

The above is the series of trailers for the movies.

Considering that "Urami Bushi" has that Mood Kayo feeling, it was a bit of a revelation to find out from her J-Wiki profile that the Tokyo-born Kaji hasn't drunk a single drop of alcohol.