As I write this, I'm feeling somewhat buoyant and relieved since my parents have received their first shot of vaccine against COVID-19. Ontario itself isn't doing great with another increase to 1735 cases today and I don't think Toronto will be getting any reprieves any time soon, but at least, my family is a bit more secure now.
Moreover, it is March 20th in Japan now as I type this which means that singer-songwriter Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）is celebrating a birthday...her 66th, to be exact. And considering how much of her music I have put up onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the past nine years and change, it wasn't easy tracking down a song of hers that I haven't already covered.
It took a bit of effort, but I did find her 14th single that I hadn't taken a look at (at least I hope not), "Toki no Tabibito" (Time Stranger) from October 1986. Of course, with words and music by Takeuchi and arrangement by her husband, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, this was the theme song for the anime motion picture of the same name based on a 1977/1978 story by science-fiction writer Taku Mayumura（眉村卓）. Done in a style of a country love ballad, I've got a feeling that I don't really need to watch the movie to know what was going on there since Mariya's lyrics seem to lay things out pretty bare. I'm kinda wondering whether there is some thematic connection with the Christopher Reeve movie "Somewhere in Time" that had my friend gushing the tears out like Niagara Falls. In any case, the singer's heartfelt delivery and Tats' blistering electric guitar solo are well worth the price of admission. The single peaked at No. 46 on Oricon.
"Time Stranger ~ Teco no Tehma" (Teco's Theme), with the same folks involved, is a fairly cheerful and bouncy B-side to "Toki no Tabibito" but also has Takeuchi going over the same theme of eternal love throughout time and space. Luckily, the video features some of the plot in the movie which seems to have some figures from a high school get thrown back in time to the Edo Era. I gather that Teco is the nickname for the main character of Tetsuko Hayasaka（早坂哲子）.
In any case, all the best for Ms. Takeuchi for a Happy Birthday!
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