Naoko Gushima -- no.no.no.

 

I'm not sure how the western Tokyo neighbourhood of Jiyugaoka（自由が丘）has fared during the pandemic. It used to be a place where I visited fairly often and despite it being one of the many residential and commercial hubs surrounding train stations, it seemed to have its own remarkable cachet due to a conglomeration of boutiques and trendy restaurants. My Skype student even informed me years ago that there was a Beavertails outlet (a Canadian franchise that sells beavertail-shaped waffle delights) in Jiyugaoka.

However, both my student and another good friend have moved away from the area since then so I no longer have any regular eyes or ears into the neighbourhood. Still I'm hoping that it's been holding itself together over the past 20 months.

And indeed, the thumbnail photo at the top is one of a Jiyugaoka street at night after things have closed down. Plus, I think that it would make for the setting of this song by singer-songwriter Naoko Gushima（具島直子）. "no.no.no" was her 3rd single from July 1998. Written and composed by the singer, it all deals with a lady getting off at the station before her home station and while walking the rest of the way, she thinks about a past romance and the consequences of there no longer being that significant other by her side.

"no.no.no" is very stylish and velvety, and it makes me wonder whether Gushima dipped some old-school soul into a bowl of slow jam before serving it to us. That old-time feeling really comes through especially when she trills the title; I'm half-expecting a background chorus to chime on in but the production process has given us that with her voice. My compliments as well to the pianist.