Shinichi Mori -- Showa/Heisei/Reiwa wo Ikiru（昭和・平成・令和を生きる）

 

NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）was back on the air, and the good news is that as of the next episode, audiences can apparently return to their seats, albeit of course, under social distancing requirements. But after several months of empty halls, it'll be nice to hear applause from the masses. That may also indicate that the Kohaku Utagassen will gain back some normalcy as well in a few months' time. Let's hope that Japan will ride out the COVID storm with a good amount of grace and success then.

Another nice thing to see last night on the stage was enka singer Shinichi Mori（森進一）who has become one of the elders of the genre along with Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）and Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）. In fact, he's celebrating his 55th year in show business which means that he's had a career for as long as I've been alive. As such, I believe his most recent single from June is an appropriately titled one, "Showa/Heisei/Reiwa wo Ikiru" (Living Through the Showa, Heisei and Reiwa Eras) as he grandly sings about living his life and working his career through those ages but still looking forward for what is yet to come.

Written and composed by Mori, the melody isn't too different from what I've heard from other grand enka ballads but listening to his performance of the song last night with his oaken voice, I think that was part of the point for "Showa/Heisei/Reiwa wo Ikiru". It doesn't have that electric guitar growl that has often become part of the contemporary enka but instead hearkens back to some of the more elegant koto arrangements of the past.

Y'know, when I was growing up and at that time hearing rather than listening to enka, I still managed to envisage a scene of looking out from a traditional Japanese house on New Year's Day in the snowy northern parts of the country with the clear skies and mountains. There was a certain freshness in the air as a new year began its journey, and that is the feeling that I also get from Mori's anniversary song of sorts.