Unlike the picturesque shot of Echigo-Yuzawa above on that old "Eye-Ai" cover, the current snowscape in Toronto doesn't look anything as lush. In fact, I think that the melt has already started although we may be getting some more of the white stuff later this week.
For my final song of the day and of November 2021 for that matter, I'm going with some enka. A couple of days ago on the weekly "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）singing contest on NHK, Kouhei Fukuda（福田こうへい）showed up to sing his latest boisterous single "Otoko no Zansetsu" (The Snow That He Leaves Behind).
Released as Fukuda's 11th single from July 2021, "Otoko no Zansetsu" has that manly-man enka treatment by Akito Yomo（四方章人）and Teruyuki Sakaguchi's（坂口照幸）lyrics talk of a young couple making a stake for a new life in the northern country with husband declaring that he's gonna set up the home with a whole lot of snow to throw around. There will be tough times along the way but together they will firmly establish a happy life in the years to come. Nothing like a good northern country enka to freshly fill up the lungs.
Fukuda's proud song hit No. 11 on Oricon. I'd been expecting that he would be on the list for this year's Kohaku Utagassen, but alas, he is nowhere to be found. In fact, he hasn't been on the New Year's Eve special since 2017! It's a pity since I think that he does have a great voice and presence on stage, and to be honest, I wouldn't mind an extra enka singer to balance things out.
(shortened version)
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