Friday, December 18, 2020

Hachiro Kasuga -- Wakare no Ippon Sugi (別れの一本杉)

 

Hello, I hope everyone's doing fine and keeping well in a time like this. I'm just about done with my autumn semester in university and I've washed my hands off those (somewhat) pesky research papers I'd been saddled with which is why I finally have the time to write for leisure.

On the note of research papers, while most of these assignments I've written thus far have been based in politics and doom and gloom, I had the opportunity to do something a little more... me this time around for my "Japanese Pop Culture" class. The prof had said that the paper could be on anything that related to Japan's Pop culture scene, so, would you like to take a gander at what I wrote about? :)

With much help from Christine Yano's "Tears of Longing" (2002), a documentary on two of my all time favourite enka veterans, and a bunch of abstract concepts I still have trouble comprehending, I managed to put together a piece on how enka relates to the Japanese collective memory. It's by no means a work of art and it'll most likely be read only by my professor, but I felt happy to have written about a genre that hasn't been explored extensively in academia (in the English language, at least). Since I had the freedom to more or less include what I wanted, I resolved to give a shoutout to the First Enka Singer, who often gets overshadowed by the Queen of Kayokyoku, Hibari Misora (美空ひばり). Understandably so, but Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎) should get some recognition as well (because some of y'all might remember how much I love him). Of course, I did so with a legitimate reason as well. That being his magnum opus, "Wakare no Ippon Sugi" from 1955. I'd actually talked a little about "Wakare no Ippon Sugi" ages ago when I first became intrigued by such  melancholic bokyo or homesick enka (you can check it out here). However, it took me until now to not only fully appreciate it, but also understand why it sits in the hallowed halls of enka fame decades after its release. 

(Sorry but the video has been deleted.)

From the documentary with Hachi and fellow King Records star Michiya Mihashi (三橋美智也), "Wakare no Ippon Sugi" came out during the time when Japan's economy was getting back on track. That meant many left the rural areas for urban work; while deep in the city many would pine for their loved ones and the comfort and tranquility their countryside hometowns have, or, at least, so is their imagined, perfect version of it. And so, what composer Toru Funamura (船村徹) and lyricist Kimio Takano (高野公男) did was, in a sense, condense such feelings into the song, and have it even serve as a reminder to never forget one's roots no matter where one ended up. This struck a chord with many in such a plight and its popularity spawned many others with a similar vein. So, "Wakare no Ippon Sugi" not only reaffirmed Hachi's and Funamura's place in Japanese music history, but also could've brought its first listeners back to the time when they resonated with it most the moment the lonely introductory guitar chords hit their ears decades later. (Ack, I should've added this last bit into my paper....)


Here's Funamura lending his vocals to his composition. His voice is nowhere near as perfect as Hachi's, but it's because of that which gives it that extra dose of countryfolk rusticity and thus was probably able to relate to more folks.

I find it amusing that I've been getting opportunities to do projects on enka. Just last year, I was able to do a Japanese presentation on it at the prompting of my teacher, and now this paper and I hope these opportunities continue to come. You know, I actually never knew what I meant when I said I wanted to "teach" people about enka a number of years ago. But, I guess I do now. It's rather cathartic.

I believe I got this still from the "Hyotan Boogie" karaoke MV

3 comments:

  1. Hello, Noelle and good to see you back here. I hope that you will be able to take it easy over the next couple of weeks going into the New Year.

    I think you hit it big with basing your thesis on the one Japanese genre that you love, and I'm pretty sure that it will stand out as something that no one has ever done before.

    With a lot of the old kayo, there is plenty of sentimentality. As much as, let's say, people in the West who are far from home get rather misty-eyed about celebrating Xmas with loved ones, there was indeed that similar feeling among folks from the rural areas in Japan who were now working in the big cities like Tokyo. As you mentioned above, when it comes right down to it, family is the common denominator. People may be living far away but the bonds with family will always be strong.

    Hope you will continue to be the ambassador of enka! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi, J-Canuck. I'm glad to be writing for fun again, and taking it easy is the name of the game for this "winter" break. This semester's been... trying.

      Writing the enka paper was pretty fun once I managed to condense what I wanted to get across into a concise point - there was so much to talk about! And I have to say that KKP provided me with much practice. :)

      On the note of family and sentimentality, I think these are the topics that keep enka somewhat afloat to this day. Although stylistically stuck in time, I think the younger crowd can kinda relate to enka, especially those who do travel far from home for work or school. But, I guess, with the improvement of tech it would be less resonant.

      Here's to hoping I get to more opportunities to share the enka "joy"!

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    2. I hear you about trying semesters. Five years at university "taught" me well.

      It's been amazing how a good number of young people have cottoned onto enka and Mood Kayo, whether they are from Japan or overseas. It'll be interesting to see how the genres mold themselves over time although I don't think they will stray too far from their original forms.

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