When I think of the Japanese dramas of the late 1980s, my mind usually goes to the trendy dramas in which the young and beautiful reside in apartments that are way too expensive for their jobs and cavort in plush and/or resort environments. However, I recently discovered that there was a Fuji-TV drama in early 1989 which was actually based on Leo Tolstoy's final novel "Resurrection" (1899). Couldn't get more highbrow than that. Titled "Hana no Wakare"（華の別れ...Farewell of the Blossom）, it starred Satomi Tezuka（手塚理美）as a budding designer, Sachiko, who ends up in a tense liaison with a young man returning from studying overseas in the United States; meanwhile, Sachiko actually already has a proper boyfriend. You can play the video immediately below now.
For a Tolstoy-based J-drama, an appropriate theme song would be good here, and so singer-songwriter Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）was asked to come up with such a creation. He came up with "Fuyu no Tabibito" (Winter Traveler) which was also his second single from January 1989.
Following from his surprising City Pop single "Night City" several months earlier, "Fuyu no Tabibito" has also been categorized as a similarly City Pop tune on J-Wiki, although I don't really agree with the assessment. If anything, the classy piano piece with Hisaishi singing is probably more in relation with a more contemporized and livelier version of the languid Fashion Music from around a decade previously. With Ikki Matsumoto（松本一起）behind the lyrics, "Fuyu no Tabibito" was probably designed to match with the Tolstoy cachet.
The J-Wiki article also has the list of musicians involved in the recording of the song, and there are a few big people from the New Music and City Pop genres. Along with Hisaishi handling vocals and keyboards, Fujimaru Yoshino（芳野藤丸）was on guitar, and the husband-and-wife duo of Yasuhiro Kido and Junko Hirotani（木戸やすひろ・広谷順子）were helping out in the chorus. "Fuyu no Tabibito" made it as far as No. 77 on the singles charts. Meanwhile, it was also included on Hisaishi's 4th album "illusion" (also containing "Night City") from December 1988.
Hey Allan. Very interesting article. You made me want to see that drama.
ReplyDeleteIt’s been very hot lately here in the Bay Area. Yesterday it was 39 and today it’s 40. The weather report says this heat wave will stay throughout the week.
I heard the cover version (Chinese title same as Japanese) of Winter Traveller when I was in Hong Kong in late 80s. The Hong Kong singer was Hacken Lee and we went to the same secondary school. He’s 3 years older than me. You can listen to it here https://youtu.be/cR6QdMkt50g
I didn’t know that the song was written by Joe Hisaishi. What a surprise! I thought he only does movie and anime music.
Hi, Larry. Good to hear from you. Wow! I never expected to hear that San Francisco/Oakland would ever get that hot. Toronto had a steamy Saturday but things are becoming more seasonal again.
DeleteMuch obliged on the YouTube link to Lee's cover of "Fuyu no Tabibito". Yeah, I was surprised some months ago that he not only did some rather different music early in his career but he also sang. I can only imagine Totoro or the Cat-Bus boogeying to some of his City Pop material.
I'm listening to Lee's cover right now, and I think it's safe to say that he's got the upper hand over Hisaishi in the vocals department. He hits those high notes very purely.
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