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I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Monday, October 19, 2020

Izumi Kato -- Sakamichi(坂道)

 

Over five years ago, I wrote about Izumi Kato(加藤いづみ), a singer whose voice I first heard in the main Tower Records in Shibuya and likened to Chisato Moritaka(森高千里), although Kato's music tended toward more into the dreamy pop vein.

As I also mentioned, Kato's discography probably consists of songs that I would like to listen in a small but stylish café in one of the many neighbourhoods in Tokyo. One such song is her 9th single from March 1994, "Sakamichi" (The Street on the Hill).

I think there probably have been many kayo with that title or titles which contain that word of sakamichi since pop music was a thing in Japan. Obviously, Japan being a mountainous nation, hilly streets there are about as common as ants on an abandoned sugar cube, but I think pop culture has imbued those sloping roads with a certain amount of emotion whether it be wistful nostalgia or grand pride about seeing an overview of the ol' hometown.

In Kato's "Sakamichi", I believe it's the former. Ken Takahashi(高橋研)wrote and composed this sweet ballad about a woman returning to her hometown and taking a walk on one of those hilly streets. As she does so, she sees the street where a former flame used to live and starts reminiscing about the past romance (and perhaps regretting the breakup). From the mention of trams in the lyrics, I wonder if Takahashi had written them specifically for Kato since she was born and raised in the city of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture, a place where trams do exist. To add to the tenderness is some poignant piano and a cello.

"Sakamichi" was also included in Kato's 4th album "skinny" which came out a couple of months after the single. In my time in Gunma, my town of Tsukiyono (now part of Minakami City) was in a rather hilly area as a hub point for the number of ski resorts in the region. I didn't particularly catch the feelings associated with a hilly street back then but if I ever do return to Tsukiyono, I will appreciate the sentiment far more now since time has flown at the speed of a starship.

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