Japan Billboard: Special Interview with Tetsuji Hayashi, Masao Urino and Toshikazu Kanazawa ~ Unraveling the Origins of City Pop and the Background to Its Popularity (Part 3)

 

Completing the second part of the article last week, we'll be wrapping up this three-parter translation of a Japan Billboard article with singer-songwriter Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and music journalist Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和）back in 2021. The source article is here with Page 3 being translated today. As I mentioned last week, the link will just head over to Page 1; scroll down to the bottom to press for Page 3.

Tetsuji Hayashi: It seems like even with the young people in Japan, they have been inspired by the music of that time. For instance, Sakanaction created a song where you can feel the essence of Omega Tribe and there are some 80s-like elements in OKAMOTO'S Hama Okamoto's bass. I've also gotten that sort of impression from the kick sound of the drums that I've been hearing lately, .

Toshikazu Kanazawa: That might be Vaporwave's influence. Stuff like background music and short instrumental orchestral pieces have been made through computers and looping with the 80s as the source. Those overseas otaku types first swarmed around Mariya's "Plastic Love" and then spread it around the world via social media. On top of that, the young people who have been coming onto the current City Pop scene have parents who grew up in the 70s and 80s. So there are a lot of folks who've heard Steely Dan, Yuming and Tats on the car radio since they were kids. There's been a high level of DNA imprinted with music.

Masao Urino: Weren't there many musicians who didn't listen to Western music for a while? Whenever I asked who they liked, I got nothing but J-Pop singers. I was surprised by that.

Kanazawa: I feel that things have progressed in a better direction. There are people in their 20s and 30s who have been active in the studio.

Hayashi: Even with all this music programming, there are people who've been seeking the joy of collaboration. With "Stay With Me", the number of young listeners who feel that the man-made groove and the balance between the musical score and the discretion of the musicians have been interesting is increasing.

Kanazawa: Mr. Hayashi, how do you see Mr. Urino's lyrics?

Hayashi: The melody was written first in order to emphasize the sound and to create a Western feel, and our era was the time when the melody-first style first emerged. Having said that, it was truly a work of genius to select words to insert into a melody to create a story. Those who can create even higher quality works will become the hitmakers, so that's why I think that I was really blessed with the lyricists. Mr. Urino is one of the examples. His quintessential songs are Junichi Inagaki's "P.S. Dakishimetai" (P.S. I Want to Hold You) and Carlos Toshiki & Omega Tribe's ballad, "Be Yourself". I had a strong desire to create such songs. However, they wouldn't become singles but the title tracks of their own albums. For me, those were the really important tunes.

Urino: It wasn't telepathy but there was no hesitation between us. At that time during our collaboration, the images were quick to emerge.

Hayashi: With a title like "P.S. Dakishimetai", there is that imaginary world created for the listener. And when Inagaki sings it, it's irresistible. When there were many of those songs like "Be Yourself" with their feelings of grief, they impressed people with encouragement and positive words. I'm so grateful that these very good songs were made.

Urino: The characteristic of Mr. Hayashi's songs is where pictures emerge simply from listening to them. The images naturally surface so I can easily write down that first lyric. I'm the type of person who can't write lyrics until I've listened to a song and can see the whole picture, but when it comes to Mr. Hayashi's songs, the pictures flow out. I had my own concept for "Be Yourself", but the melody for "P.S. Dakishimetai" was so good that I wrote the lyrics in one fell swoop. The title involved a postscript with its cornerstone being The Beatles, but once it became the title for a letter (to a loved one), I was able to adjust things to fit the situation.*

Hayashi: But you were the one to take that title to the end of the lyrics. Of course, the P.S. thing was merely a gimmick, but you put that title at the very end, only once appearing in the whole song. The listeners wouldn't have been satisfied until they heard it.

Urino: Actually, when Ginji Ito was writing, I was told by producer Kenji Kisaki that I had to become the pop version of (legendary lyricist) Yu Aku. I didn't really know what that meant back then, but it was during the City Pop boom, so I took it as meaning that I had to bring a stylish pop feeling with plenty of details to the bold and structured lyrics that was Aku's way. There was pathos, human emotions and the important things, but the pop sense would be slightly lighter with a more superficial sense of life.** From then on, I think that Kisaki had wanted to say that was the necessary thing.

Hayashi: And you actually pulled that off. Mr. Urino always heads off to the barber so when I asked him "Got a haircut?", he replied "Got my beard trimmed". I was surprised that he went to the barber just for that.*** I often throw this out as an example, but if Southern All Stars is a beach house, then Omega Tribe is a bistro. The former can go anywhere in the country even if there is a curtain of ice. But the latter is pretty much restricted to Shonan or Suma. That's where SAS' strength lies.

Kanazawa: It's an enka pops popularity, isn't it?****

Hayashi: But because they sing in a conspicuously Western style, they've got a wide range. It's amazing that no matter how they sing it, it has that SAS taste. That's not doable with Omega Tribe. For example, if those guys tried something in the enka vein, the fans would be disappointed (laughs).

Kanazawa: That must be the charm and limit of City Pop.

*「タイトルは後付けで、要はビートルズだけど、手紙のタイトルになってから辻褄を合わせたの。」

Had a bit of a tough time with that last sentence in Urino's 3rd response from the top, and I gather that what he had meant by The Beatles was that the Fab Four had come up with "P.S. I Love You" in 1962. The lyrics for Inagaki's "P.S. Dakishimetai" come out as a love letter with the last lyric being a true postscript.

**「哀愁とか人の感情とか大事なモノはあるけど、少し軽くて生活感が薄い、それがポップ感。」

I think that I've got a handle on this one which is at the end of Urino's 4th response from the top, but I can always ask for a second opinion.

***Right after that Urino response comes Hayashi's statement whose first half regarding Urino's fastidiousness with beard care might be a comment on the lyricist's approach to lyric writing. The analogy with beach houses and bistros didn't seem to make much sense to me. I personally think that bistros can be placed anywhere...even in Hokkaido in the dead of winter. Still, it was an interesting comparison between Southern All Stars and Omega Tribe.

****Just in case there are folks who aren't familiar with enka, it's the genre representing very traditional music based on emotional themes of pride, love and sadness often played by shamisen, koto and shakuhachi. Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）and Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）are just two of the famous singers for enka.

Overall though I was happy to finally read an actual conversation involving three people whose names I've heard and planted down into the blog for years, I was hoping that they could have delved even deeper into what made City Pop tick and its sudden blossoming in the world many years later. I got some impression that like at least a few singers who've made their opinions known on the phenomenon, they are somewhat fascinated, grateful but also befuddled about why City Pop has activated the world's music endorphins so hard. In any case, if any of you would like to exercise some of your translation muscles and check up on how I did, please do so and perhaps a conversation or corrections can be had.