Kanako Narikiyo -- Pajama Jama da!（パジャマ・じゃまだ!）

 

Happy Monday!...sort of. I got more exercise that I had been expecting because I ended up plowing my way through two feet of snow this morning after being in the midst of one of the biggest blizzards that Toronto has ever seen in many years. The white stuff finally quietened down at around noon but it's going to take a very long while for the snowplows to get even the major arteries cleared. My thighs are still burning with rage (don't take that the wrong way😝).

The pajamas will definitely be needed for tonight but ironically, to begin this week of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", we have a song titled "Pajama Jama da!" (The Pajamas Are In The Way). I'd never heard of the song, or for that matter, the singer Kanako Narikiyo（成清加奈子）before, but quickly identifying this as an 80s aidoru tune, my first impression was "Oh, golly, was she a part of Onyanko Club?" with that somewhat suggestive title. As it turns out, Narikiyo, who hails from Kumamoto Prefecture, was a solo aidoru and "Pajama Jama da!" was actually the third opening theme song for the famous manga-turned-anime "Urusei Yatsura"（うる星やつら）in that decade. It's got that similarly cute, cuddly and slightly naughty feeling with a little tropical twist which the first theme song "Lum no Love Song"（ラムのラブソング）had.

Another similarity is that like "Lum no Love Song" which had City Pop-friendly keyboardist and composer Izumi Kobayashi（小林泉美）come up with the melody, "Pajama Jama da!" was created by lyricist Chinfa Kan（康珍化）and composer Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, two fellows who know the genre very well. Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）arranged the song, and it's quite the happy and twinkly affair. The two themes also share the same story of Lum getting all hot and bothered over her beloved.

Narikiyo's time in the limelight lasted between 1984 and somewhere in the 1990s with "Pajama Jama da!" being her debut single in May 1984. According to her J-Wiki profile, she released five singles but no solo albums, though she was included in a compilation album of other aidoru. She also had some time as an actress and as a tarento on a couple of variety shows. Finally, the article even revealed her hobbies as being shopping, music, movies and collecting Mickey Mouse goods with her abilities being focused on various forms of dance ranging from ballet to traditional Japanese dance.