Kaori Mizumori -- Kujukuri Hama （九十九里浜）

 

Considering that I've been well under way with my Go-Touchi Songs（ご当地ソング）series, I've been remiss that I have yet to include the Queen of Go-Touchi Songs herself, enka singer Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）, and I missed the opportunity to include her in yesterday's Kanto entry because the song of note here is set in Chiba Prefecture. But no worries, I will include her in next week's entry. Incidentally, my last article on Mizumori dealt with her contribution to Okinawa, "Churashima Meguri"（美ら島めぐり）, and when she showed up on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン） recently, it was illustrated that out of Japan's 47 prefectures and territories, she only had three more prefectures to provide songs before she completed her mission to sing about the entire nation.

Now, just as a geographical aside, allow me to tell you about Kujukuri Hama or Kujukuri Beach via YouTuber Full Score 8K's video on the area located in Chiba Prefecture. It's a very long sandy beach (66 km or 37 miles) that has been a favourite destination for swimmers and surfers, according to Wikipedia. I'm not sure if the area has been used in many Japanese songs but one song that comes readily to mind is the Neo-Group Sounds music of "Omoide no Kujukuri Hama" （思い出の九十九里浜）by the trio Mi-Ke from 1991. 

Well, the Queen of Go-Touchi Songs has definitely covered Chiba Prefecture with her most recent single "Kujukuri Hama" which came out in February this year. Most definitely an enka tune, Mizumori gives her usual heart-on-her-sleeve delivery for a story of romance and loneliness set along the titular beach. Koyomi Asa（麻こよみ）, who has provided lyrics for many of her songs, does the same here while Tetsuya Gen（弦哲也）has provided the dramatic melody. "Kujukuri Hama" managed to hit No. 8 on the Oricon chart.