Ryuichi Sakamoto -- Steppin' Into Asia（ステッピン・イントゥ・エイジア）

 

Stepping into Asia for me meant for the most part stepping into Japan. Arriving in the nation on a torrid July day in 1981, my first image was me and one other classmate looking clueless as we were thrown into a taxi and heading for the Tokyo Prince Hotel. Almost a decade later, it was the JET Programme at the end of July 1989 as I was basically beginning my first real full-time job following graduation from university. That time, I was in a limousine bus with a ton of other Canadian AETs with their faces pressed upon the windows as they were awestruck looking at the street life in Shinjuku just before arriving at the Keio Plaza Hotel. While already going through jet lag, I managed to think "You haven't seen anything yet!".

Perhaps one theme song that could have accompanied this reverse-goldfish bowl situation on the bus at the end of the 80s was "Steppin' Into Asia", a Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）single originally released in September 1985. Sakamoto's melody contains that feeling of mystery and fascination that probably imbued itself into my fellow teachers, but the arrangement is more cued for another country, and considering student Tomoko Asano's（浅野智子）rap, it is Thailand according to the J-Wiki article for "Steppin' Into Asia". Plus lyricist/vocalist Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）apparently got the words from an old Thai tale from the Ministry of Education from the country itself. The Professor's old bandmate from Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, was manning the bass here, and I just talked about one of his solo ventures back on Sunday.

I've never been to Bangkok or anywhere in Thailand, but if I did while having this song in my ears, the adventure would be enhanced. Probably more enhancement would be coming along if I were deep in the heart of a night market with all of the amazing wares and food up on display, and some of the deep thrums from the synths rather hint at some danger as well.

The video below has the Urban Mix of "Steppin' Into Asia" which was the B-side for the single. A bit thumpier, by my reckoning.

Y'know, the first time that I heard "Steppin' Into Asia", I thought it was so dramatic that it would have fit rather well along with the theme song for the original "The Equalizer" TV series. Not sure if Stewart Copeland ever worked with Sakamoto.