"Uta Kon"（うたコン）was on last night and the hosts, actor Shosuke Tanihara（谷原章介）and announcer Nonoka Akaki（赤木野々花）, were back up on the stage seating instead of the audience seats, so perhaps there has been a slight relaxation in the restrictions although I think that audiences are still not allowed into the hall. Well, baby steps and all that...
Enka singer and kendama master Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）was back to perform his 14th and latest single, "Kodama" which was released on January 13th. As for the definition of the title, I took a look at jisho.org once more, and initially I'd assumed that it meant "tree spirit" because like a lot of enka singers, Miyama has exhorted the wonders of certain topographical features in Japan such as rivers in his music.
However, looking at the lyrics by Haku Ide（いではく）, kodama in this case means "echo". Miyama is relating the story of his yelling his fond resonant farewells to the grand mountains of his hometown before heading to the big city some fifteen years previously. He also wonders about the young lady he left behind and whether she's already got married to another fellow. The melody strikes me as a signal that he will be coming back home for at least a triumphant visit.
Akito Yomo（四方章人）was responsible for the just-as-grand music which brings a lot of nostalgia to me especially during the winter months here since that sort of enka always seems to ring in my head during the cold season. Miyama comes from Kochi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, so I'm not too sure whether snow falls down in his old hometown at around this time; "Kodama" strikes me as being more of a Tohoku kayo but that's just my opinion. In any case, the song peaked at No. 12 on Oricon.
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