Maaya Sakamoto -- homemade christmas

 

Nope...not the Xmas that we were hoping for this year, especially in the department of parties and get-togethers. Usually by this point, I would have attended a couple of them with one being the annual dinner at Kingyo, one of the best Japanese restaurants in Toronto. Hopefully though the tradition will resume next year at this time.

But singer/actress/seiyuu Maaya Sakamoto（坂本真綾）helped create a nice contemporary pop song to remind us of the gathering of good friends and family over the Holidays. She and the vocalist for rock band Stereo Fabrication of Youth (with a name like that, I just have to find out about these guys sometime next year), Ryo Eguchi（江口亮）, crafted a song "homemade christmas" as a track for her November 2011 album "Driving in the silence". According to the J-Wiki article, it was made as a concept album surrounding winter.

Although I wouldn't categorize "homemade christmas" as a Neo City Pop tune, there's something quite urban about the feeling behind this song. It feels like the setting is somewhere in Tokyo with a couple getting ready for an annual Christmas fete at their cozy little apartment. I don't think that the apartment is one of those fancy deals in Roppongi or Ebisu but just one of those older 2K or 1LDK units in one of the suburban areas such as Nakano, Kichijoji or...well...my old stomping grounds of Ichikawa in Chiba Prefecture. Yup, I used to have those nabe parties in my place. The important thing is that the song sounds as comfy as a party like that feels.

"Driving in the silence" managed to peak at No. 3 on Oricon. Speaking of good friends and food, I did get my annual CARE package from a couple of old students-turned-buddies in the form of snacks and what-not. Someday, once this COVID thing is all over, I will have to plan another trip back to Tokyo to see them again.