Crayon-sha -- Tokyo Yakei（東京夜景）

 

In the "slipped my mind" department, I have here a CD single by a band called Crayon-sha (クレヨン社...The Crayon Company) that was released in November 1990. Surprisingly, in these 10 years of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" and especially during the Christmas period, I hadn't actually written about this particular song.

Crayon-sha is a duo consisting of singer-songwriter Yukie Yaginuma（柳沼由紀枝）and composer/arranger Hideki Kato（加藤秀樹）, both from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture. During her high school years, Yaginuma went to a music shop to enter a song contest with a demo tape where she met Kato who had been working there. Kato took a liking to her lyrics and soon afterwards, Crayon-sha was born. Yaginuma would also end up working at a department store while continuing to work on her music. Their debut single, "Itami"（痛み...Pain）, was released in July 1988.

Out of some whim, probably the lovely cover of the CD single itself, I bought Crayon-sha's 5th single "Tokyo Yakei/Christmas no Chikai Hi" which is partly the subject of this article. A piano-and-synth combination underlie Yaginuma's vocals singing the bittersweet "Tokyo Yakei" (Tokyo Night View) about a woman having to return to her hometown after her five years in the megalopolis. She certainly isn't going back happily and for some reason, a romantic relationship has to be sacrificed. As part of their final Christmas together, the soon-to-be former couple decide to take in a view from Tokyo Tower, a place that the lass had never visited. 

I guess that the emphasis here is more on the bitter than the sweet judging from Yaginuma's vocals which sound as if she herself is about to break into tears and the solemn, funereal and holy arrangement of "Tokyo Yakei". This definitely falls into the heartbreak category of J-Xmas songs rather than the hearty party category.

Regrettably, I couldn't find "Christmas no Chikai Hi" (クリスマスの近い日...The Days Leading up to Christmas) but I do see some other Crayon-sha songs on YouTube which I will have to investigate into the new year, especially because J-Wiki has labeled them a rock and New Wave pair. To date, the duo has released 8 singles and 7 albums.