Last Saturday, there was the usual afternoon broadcast of "Songs of Japanese Spirit" on NHK's satellite channel, and I got to see enka veteran Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）. Of course, he and everyone else got to sing a whole number of songs during the 90-minute show but then I heard this particular jaunty enka tune.
I'd assumed that it was one of his more recent singles but actually, it was his debut single from June 2009, "Hitokoi Sakaba" (Bar of Love). As I said, it's a pretty genki enka although the protagonist in that bar is giving his "Can't live with them, can't live without them" lament about women in general. And yet, he's hoping to see the latest young lady that he's fallen for. Since it is a cheerfully arranged song, I'm assuming that the lad has bent the ears of the bartender and any fellow barfly, and that they are giving each other knowing glances and rolling eyes to the tune of "Ach, here we go again about his treatise of love".
"Hitokoi Sakaba" was written by Toshiya Niitani（仁井谷俊也）and composed by Tensho Nakamura（中村典正）. It was a pretty good start for Miyama since it peaked at No. 17 on Oricon and his first single went Gold, selling more than 100,000 copies.
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