Tazumi Toyoshima -- Belle Epoque（ベル・エポック）

Well, the title of this happens to be French so I tried to look for something appropriate for the usual thumbnail. Best I could do was this photo of one of my favourite chains, Vie de France. I always liked the very buttery pastries there although I'm sure that my doctor wouldn't. The branch above is in the Akihabara plaza across from the AKB48 Café and the Gundam Café. I only learned a couple of nights ago from the YouTube channel, Active Otaku Channel, through his most recent video that both places have shut down, the former one permanently as of last year. Apparently the adjacent JR Akihabara Station is still planning for some more renovations so AKB48 Café just had to go (with some hopes that it may return in another location), but according to Active Otaku Channel, the jury is still out for the Gundam Café.

Back to the song at hand, though. When I first heard Tazumi Toyoshima's（豊島たづみ）"Belle Epoque", the first track from her 4th album "Shukujo no Tashinami"（淑女のたしなみ...The Tastes of a Lady）released in June 1980, I had gotten that initial sensation in my brain that there was something Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）in there, but actually it was the prime songwriting combination of lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）.

"Belle Epoque" is cool and sultry, possibly like the lady mentioned in the title for the whole album, and my compliments go out to the guitarist which starts things off as well as the other musicians who have helped to create this soundscape of life in the megalopolis of Tokyo at the turn of the decade. I've read comments underneath various YouTube videos of City Pop songs over the years and they've related how much the writers would have loved to have been walking the streets back then. "Belle Epoque" is one tune that would definitely elicit such dreams.