Paix2 -- Kaze no you ni Haru no you ni（風のように 春のように）

 

Manami Kitao（北尾真奈美）and Megumi Ikatsu（井勝めぐみ）both hail from Tottori Prefecture with the former having been a technical assistant while the latter was a nurse. However as of 2015, the two of them have been prison corrections officers.

In between those very different occupations, Manami and Megumi formed the singing duo Paix2, pronounced as "Paix Paix" (meaning "peace" in French), in 1998 during a music festival held in their home prefecture. Paix2 apparently toured a number of institutions including prisons so that they came to be known as "The Prisoners' Aidoru" according to their J-Wiki writeup. In 2000, they released their debut single as an indies act and then that single got re-released when they were picked up by a major label in April 2001.

"Kaze no you ni Haru no you ni" (Like the Wind, Like the Spring) is an upbeat song about keeping that chin up while moving optimistically through life. Written and composed by Hajime Katayama（片山創）, the song sounds like a folksy number with a touch of country from the 1970s. I can imagine that some of the prisoners at least were provided some cheer and hope from Paix2's visits. In fact, according to that same J-Wiki article, because of their good work in prisons, the Minister of Justice gave Manami and Megumi an official commendation in 2005. In 2020, Paix2 performed their 500th concert in prison.