Michio Miyagi -- Haru no Umi（春の海）

 

Hopefully, Nakamise-dori in my old stomping grounds of Asakusa still isn't that super-crowded right now after all of the New Year's hoopla. But looking at that time stamp in the bottom-right corner and probably with the increased foreign tourist activity, I can't be sure on that.

It's a bit late now that I'm typing this on January 7th but this particular song, "Haru no Umi" (The Sea in Spring), has become so ubiquitous during Japan's New Year's Holidays that it basically went over my head and beyond my ears as something to be covered. It's been used on many a variety show and even anime episodes with a New Year's theme including this little talk between seiyuu Shintaro Asanuma（浅沼晋太郎）and Yoko Hikasa（日笠陽子）. Plus, stores pipe it over the speakers to get folks into that Holiday mood.

However, I've finally seen the light, so to speak. And in fact, this one song had me creating two new categories in Labels: 1) New Year's since I've got a couple of other tunes, "Hotaru no Hikari" (蛍の光）and "Ichigatsu Tsuitachi"（一月一日）on KKP to signify the holiday, and 2) Traditional Instrumental because I can't think of any other way to describe "Haru no Umi". I certainly can't put this down as enka, minyo or Mood Kayo.

"Haru no Umi" is arguably the most famous work of koto player and composer Michio Miyagi（宮城道雄）from Kobe who lived from 1894 to 1956. It was first composed in 1929 and is usually performed as a duet of shakuhachi and koto. I gather that "Haru no Umi" is to Japanese New Year's as "Jingle Bells" is to Christmas, but up to now, I only heard the first minute or so of this creation. It actually lasts for almost eight minutes.

I actually don't know even whether Miyagi had intended "Haru no Umi" to be a New Year's-themed piece. According to his essays via J-Wiki, the kotoist created the song under the motif of his memories of passing through the Seto Inland Sea on his way to Tokyo in 1917. I gather that the coming of a new year is akin to the coming of spring.

In 1932, "Haru no Umi" became a hit record after Miyagi had performed the song with French violinist Renée Chemet.