Hibari Misora -- Ippon no Enpitsu（一本の鉛筆）

 

Last night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）was a slightly more hushed affair overall with the solemn annual tribute to the late Queen of Kayo Kyoku, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）who would have been 85 as of May 29th this year.

I was able to hear a Misora song that I hadn't heard before, and it turned out that this was a single of hers that was released back in October 1974. "Ippon no Enpitsu" (A Pencil) is a quiet indictment of war (in the shadow of the atomic bombings) and a sung hope for peace that was born from her decision to participate in the very first Hiroshima Peace Music Festival（広島平和音楽祭）in that year. Misora, whose family had gone through difficult experiences through World War II including the Bombing of Yokohama, readily accepted the invitation to sing at the festival.

A sung version of a pen pal writing to her friend about her hopes and dreams, the lyrics were provided by movie director and screenwriter Zenzo Matsuyama（松山善三）. Famed composer and a member of the executive committee for the festival, Masao Koga（古賀政男）, had been supposed to come up with the melody but had to bow out due to illness, so Masaru Sato（佐藤勝）came in his stead. "Ippon no Enpitsu" comes off as an elegant and an almost wondrous kayo about what could be if all people decided to take the peaceful path.

Not surprisingly, the song has been covered many times in the years since Misora first performed it. Including last night's Shinobu Otake（大竹しのぶ）, there have been singers like Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）and miwa.