Taku Izumi -- "Tetsuko no Heya" no Tehma（徹子の部屋のテーマ）

 

When it comes to the TV legend that is Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）, my first thought will always go to her duties as host for the long-running TBS music ranking program "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン） which ran from 1978 to 1989. That was the first time that I had ever seen this vivacious lady who has been an actress, hostess, TV personality and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

However, the truth is that Kuroyanagi has had a show on TV Asahi that had begun a couple of years earlier than "The Best 10" and is still going on today, more than 30 years after the music program finished its run. "Tetsuko no Heya"（徹子の部屋...Tetsuko's Room） is a far more sedate viewing experience than the often bouncy and noisy "The Best 10". Running in the early weekday afternoons, Kuroyanagi invites guests of all stripes onto a set which appears like the salon in a stylish and old-fashioned house where they the host conducts cordial interviews. You would expect cups of tea and a plate of cookies on the table.

I'm not sure how long the above video will stay up, but the episode is a repeat of a "Tetsuko no Heya" with the Godfather of Manga himself, Osamu Tezuka（手塚治虫）, that was most likely broadcast soon after his passing in 1989 with Kuroyanagi providing a preceding monologue giving tribute to her friend.

Of course, for such a show, a theme song which has the same sort of atmosphere imbued into each and every episode is absolutely necessary. And so, ever since "Tetsuko no Heya" began its run in February 1976, the theme song has been one of lightness and amity. It's a very welcoming and cordial (and very well-known) theme that lasts less than a minute, but it gives out the appropriate feeling of a splendid afternoon tea with friends.

Composed by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）who had come up with kayo hits such as the onsen-friendly "Ii Yu da na"（いい湯だな）for The Drifters and The Duke Aces, and the heartfelt ballad "Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo" （見上げてごらん夜の星を）by Kyu Sakamoto（坂本九）, I discovered in the J-Wiki article for the theme song that it had been derived from an earlier musical performance by Kuroyanagi and soprano Yuuko Shimada（島田祐子）titled "Nijuushou"（二重唱...Duet）. But that information wouldn't see the light of day until Shimada, who guested on "Tetsuko no Heya", let the cat out of the bag in 2006. The original "Nijuushou" did have lyrics provided by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）, but of course, the theme for the show only has that light scatting.