Haruo Minami -- Sekai no Kuni kara Konnichiwa (世界の国からこんにちは)

If you've lived long enough, I'm sure you would have encountered at least one thing that'd make you go "Oh, no. But, oh, yes." Something that shouldn't exactly exist and yet it does but it ain't bad. Something that you shouldn't like but you do. Perhaps a pizza topped with something that shouldn't be a pizza topping. Or the hairy chest of your favourite sumo wrestler. Or a zany remix of a song you never liked. You wonder why the affinity to it, but eventually you just settle with a "It happens."

I now think corn-mayonnaise pizza ain't as bad as it sounds. I kinda enjoy Tochinoshin's pecs glaring at me through a carpet each sumo tournament. And I jam to Haruo Minami's reggae rendition of "Sekai no Kuni kara Konnichiwa". It happens.

I think J-Canuck had mentioned some time back that after nearly a decade, he, Marcos V. and I managed to "meet up" to talk "in person" for the first time. During the chat, if I remember right, the topic of song remixes came up. Amidst a discussion of remixes that can last up to half an hour per song, "Plastic Love", and an introduction to what stuttering in music means, I was reminded of Haruo Minami (三波春夫) and his little adventure into "young people music" in the early 1990s. While dear Haru-san had some original techno-beat and rock n' roll stuff, he predominantly focused on reinventing his past works, which you can enjoy in his 1992 album "Omantaseshimashita! HARUO IN DANCE BEAT" (オマンタせしました！HARUO IN DANCE BEAT). The whole album's up on Spotify, so you can check it out in the link below.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6hmbhN5rIcVYnPLcS0s2s0

The album name says it all, really. And when the House version of the iconic "Tokyo Gorin Ondo" (東京五輪音頭) is the most normal entry in this collection, you know things will get real weird real quick. Case in point, the final song in the list: "Sekai no Kuni kara Konnichiwa". Reggae version.  

Yessiree, you read that right. I don't know what was going through Minami's head at the time when he gave this the green light, but he definitely made the right decision. "Why?" you may ask in bewilderment. How could a Rasta remix of the beloved 1970 Osaka World Expo theme song be anything but sacrilegious? Well, for one, I actually never liked the original "Sekai no Kuni kara Konnichiwa" (well, now, maybe that's the sacrilegious statement). As quintessentially Minami as it is, it's just too infectiously annoying and there's one too many konnichiwas for my liking. But slowing it down a notch and adding some stutters somehow made it a lot more palatable to me.

When this remix of "Sekai…" first hit my ears, two rather contrasting vibes hit me. The slow tempo and funky synths gave off a very relaxed, beach resort sort of vibe, and one can imagine Minami in a gaudy print shirt (he actually used to wear stuff like that off-stage - go figure) swaying about in a hammock by the sea... No - no dreadlocks (that's a cursed image right there). Whereas the singular konnichiwas from individuals that replace the konnichiwa chorus of the original and piano solos throughout the melody actually give it some quirky, modern vibe. It almost feels like something I'd hear on the weird NHK World show "JAPANGLE" or at some postmodern art exhibition. Either way, I ended up vibing with it way more than expected, and it gets decent airtime whenever I tune in to my Spotify playlist. Feels kinda strange to say that I now like "Sekai…", even if it's only in this warped style. Nevertheless, well played, Haru-san.

For reference, here is how "Sekai…" originally sounds, and you can check out J-Canuck's article on it here. Indeed, there was no one more fitting for the role of welcoming visitors to the Land of the Rising Sun with a warm konnichiwa and a wonderful smile than the kimono-clad Haru-san.