Wow! The things that I learn about someone. Remi Hirano（平野レミ）has been a lady that I've seen from time to time on Japanese TV whipping up all sorts of stuff in the kitchen. She's so chatty and vivacious that I had assumed that she just has to be from Osaka when actually she was born in Tokyo and raised in Chiba Prefecture.
The other amazing thing that I've learned about her is that she has been a trained singer in the genre of chanson since 1970! Indeed, this gabby TV chef was also singing of l'amour all these years. I guess then that Fubuki Koshiji（越路吹雪）isn't the only chanson singer up on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".
In 1988, after years of releasing singles, Hirano released her first album titled "Kikasete yo ~ Chanson de Remi"（きかせてよ - シャンソン・ド・レミ...Speak to Me） and the opening track just happens to be a cover of the original 1930 love song by Jean Lenoir, "Parlez-moi d'amour" (Speak to Me of Love). The Japanese lyrics have been provided by 70s/80s music ranking show "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）emcee and author Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）. It's hard to believe that this lady who sounds like one of my dear departed aunts from the Kansai area can sing so sweetly.
Some more trivia about her family tree has come into my head. According to her Wikipedia entry, Hirano is actually one-quarter American thanks to her paternal grandfather who was lawyer and Japanologist Henry Pike Bowie. Her father was French writer Imao Hirano（平野威馬雄）, her husband was illustrator Makoto Wada（和田誠）and on top of that, her eldest son is Sho Wada（和田唱）of the rock band Triceratops whose wife is actress Juri Ueno（上野樹里）. Another daughter-in-law is the model Asuka Wada（和田明日香）.
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