Shinji Tanimura -- Gion Matsuri（祇園祭）

 

Before I returned to the computer, I'd been watching NHK's coverage of the annual Gion Festival in Kyoto throughout July via TV Japan. I believe that it's the first time that the flamboyant event has been held in about three years due to the ravages of the pandemic on festivals and tourism. Looking at the crowds packing the streets, I gather that everyone had been looking forward to this for a long time, although I have to worry a bit about the infection rates.

I had my own upfront experience with the Gion Festival. Back in 1981, when we were on the graduation trip from the Toronto Japanese Language School, one of our stops was indeed the ancient capital of Kyoto. We got to see some of the pageantry on parade on the main streets. Mind you, the sidewalks were crammed three people deep, so I was grateful that I had already been in the middle of my growth spurts by that point. However, puberty didn't prevent the torrid heat and humidity from hitting us hard. I must have sweated off a kilogram by the time we got back to our hotel and I remember literally collapsing on my bed for a good long while.

Remembering those old times from over 40 years ago, and noticing that I still had over an hour before my Skype student, I opted to check whether there was something in the kayo discography that had something to do with the Gion Festival. Fortunately, I didn't have to search long. There was a song with that very title by smooth songsmith and singer Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）.

His 17th solo single released in January 1986, "Gion Matsuri" (Gion Festival) is more melodically aligned with Tanimura's style than the impression that would be associated with a venerable event like the Gion. There are no traditional instruments and min'yo melodies involved here. Instead, the music by Tanimura is an elegant, folksy and introspective ballad with strings, guitar and oboe involving the singer's words of romance and nostalgia about the titular festival.

The B-side for "Gion Matsuri" happens to be Tanimura's own cover of "Ii Hi Tabidachi"（いい日旅立ち）, a song for Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）that has become one of her enduring trademark tunes.