Ikue Sakakibara with Masami Hisamoto -- Aruite Kaero（歩いて帰ろう）

 

I was listening to this LP of 70s/80s aidoru-turned-tarento Ikue Sakakibara（榊原郁恵）while scrolling through her information on J-Wiki when I came across a rather interesting discovery.

Well, first let's do a tiny sidetrack here and mention the legendary manga-turned-anime "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）, that heartwarming home comedy anime which has been on Fuji-TV for years now. Heck, I was watching that every Sunday night at home in Ichikawa.

I discovered that apparently Sakakibara, who has played Peter Pan on the stage, then took on that iconic role of Sazae-san herself in a 1994 stage musical version. The production was led by famed playwright and screenwriter Koki Mitani（三谷幸喜）, and he was the lyricist for the theme song for "Sazae-san", "Aruite Kaero" (Let's Walk Home) recorded by the star herself.

But it wasn't just Sakakibara behind the mike but also veteran zany Osakan comedienne Masami Hisamoto（久本雅美）who played the role of Katsuo, Sazae's impish little brother. I never saw the play but I can imagine Hisamoto playing that particular part due to her raspy voice. Anyways, getting back to that theme song, "Aruite Kaero" also caught my attention since the music was done by none other than Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）herself. And it's a relaxing happy-go-lucky tune with a bit of a reggae lilt as Sakakibara gives a solid and clear performance while Hisamoto sounds like she's giving her part in character as Katsuo. The CD single was released in March 1994.