Driving to City Pop 2 (and New Music)

 

Although I will always pale next to the families in Japan when it comes to this activity, I had my own o-souji（お掃除）session earlier today, and that is the big cleaning of the home just before the Old Year heads out the door and the New Year waltzes right in. It's a Japanese tradition and though I'm never going to be a neat freak, I can handle the process since it results in a cleaner and sleeker home...for a little while. So, there was much dust kicked about and a numerous amount of paper was thrown out

I also partook in the slurpier Japanese tradition of toshikoshi soba（年越しそば）for dinner tonight. Mind you, it was instant but it's the intent that matters, and I gotta say that even the instant stuff is pretty darn tasty nowadays, especially the tonkotsu soup. Above is how to make a homemade bowl of the stuff thanks to YouTuber Yukari's Kitchen.

Well, for my final article for 2022 on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've decided to go for an Author's Pick. Last night, as I was getting ready to turn in, I managed to listen to Yumi Arai's（荒井由実）classic "Chuo Freeway"（中央フリーウェイ）. Indeed it is a classic since considering the time of year and the time of night, the musical serendipity that entered my ears as Yuming（ユーミン）sang about how much she appreciated getting that rare and luxurious drive home late at night was truly manna from heaven. By the way, the above video is once again thanks to J Utah.

Strangely enough, even that late at night, the gears in my head were still rotating and I thought about doing another Author's Pick on driving on the highways and byways of Japan. Despite the nation being a train otaku's Valhalla, there is still a romanticism about taking the car out for a spin on the streets whether they be in the metropolis or out in the countryside heading out to a seaside resort. Over the past several years, New Year's Eve has meant keeping things at home and in the last few years, I haven't even bothered ringing in the New Year through television. It's just me and YouTube and music. That sort of relaxation on an especially quiet December 31st can't be beat, and for some reason, I've associated that experience with that lovely day or night drive in Japan.

Now, I've already done one similar Author's Pick and that was back in November, so here's the sequel. As usual, they are not in any particular order. Have a listen and a look, and enjoy the ride.

1. Yumi Arai -- Chuo Freeway (1976)

2. Yasuhiro Abe -- We Got It! (1982)

3. Hi-Fi Set -- Tsumetai Ame （冷たい雨）(1976...and the country music version)

4. Tomoko Aran -- Drive To Love (1984)

5. Junko Yagami -- Tasogare no Bay City （黄昏のBAY CITY）(1983)

On that note, this is Article No. 1084 for 2022, so we've all happily managed to attain quite a feat by having the most number of articles for a single year thus far on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" to beat 2021's 1046. Despite all that has happened around the world over the past 12 months, I am happy (and I hope that you are, too) that KKP reached its 10th anniversary this year. This is thanks to everybody involved from the contributors (Marcos, Noelle, Larry, Joana, HRLE92) and commenters including Brian and Jim, and also the readers. I'm certainly hoping that 2023 will continue the same path of insanely putting up kayo kyoku and J-Pop here on the blog without the need for a straitjacket (not that one would fit me anyways).

Happy New Year to everyone and we'll see each other again on January 1st 2023 (perhaps with my own thoughts on the Kohaku after watching it) and later on, we'll enter our 11th year.🎊　よいお年をお迎えください。