Yumiko Araki -- Ai shika nai no ni（愛しかないのに）

 

The above picture is an especially precious one for me since the structure no longer exists. It was the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, and I first saw it through a photo in my brother's collection of shots that he had taken when he and his class went on the graduation trip from his Japanese language school in the summer of 1982. Design-wise, it was quite striking and if I saw it from the sky, it probably looked like a jagged boomerang. I was glad to finally see it in person (although I never got to stay in it) when I began living in the Tokyo area from the mid-1990s.

However, as they all say, all good things must come to an end, and surely enough, several months before my departure permanently back to Canada, it had been decided that the Akasaka Prince was to be demolished. Of course, the Japanese came up with an ingenious plan to take it down without too much hassle for the surrounding neighbourhood. Still miss the old building, though.

My above story on the Akasaka Prince really has nothing to do with this song, but I simply wanted to describe my affection for it.  Anyways, "Ai shika nai no ni" (I Have Only Love) is Yumiko Araki's（荒木由美子）10th and final single during her initial run as a singer after which it wouldn't be until December 2017 that she would release one more single, "Watashi wa Buranko"（私はブランコ...I am a Swing）.

A little less than a month ago, I put up Araki's song "Haru ni Fukarete"（春に吹かれて）from her October 1977 debut album "Virgin Road/Nagisa de Cross"（ヴァージン・ロード／渚でクロス）when she was known as an aidoru. Indeed, "Haru ni Fukarete" was a happy-go-lucky number with a spritz of Caribbean. On the other hand, "Ai shika nai no ni", which came out in March 1980, pretty much takes the singer out of the aidoru genre and into something more Mood Kayo and perhaps even enka (although that might be a bit of a stretch depending on how often I listen to it). 

At the very least, it's rather dramatic and polished kayo. Lyricist Kenji Kadoya（門谷憲二）, composer Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）all worked on the song. Perhaps I should change my stance from earlier about the Akasaka Prince not having anything to do with "Ai shika nai no ni"; this is the sort of song that I think would be set in one of the posh dining establishments in the old hotel. To be honest, though, the actual room as shown below has more of that faded beauty look...kinda like what the original Tokyo Prince Hotel looked like before its major renovation a few years ago.