Junko Ohashi -- Kokoro ni Sumenai Onna（心に住めない女）

 

The above picture is that of a quiet intersection in the Tameike-Sanno（溜池山王）area not too far away from the ritzy Akasaka neighbourhood. Tamaike-Sanno was one of the newer stations on the Ginza Line that got opened during my time in Tokyo and on street level, you can see that it is another heavily commercial district of companies sprinkled with some cafés, restaurants and convenience stores.

Indeed, I do get that downtown feeling when I listen to Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Kokoro ni Sumenai Onna" (Heartless Woman). A track from her May 1976 2nd album "Paper Moon", there's some nice soul coming out of Ohashi's vocal cords although the message from Namiko Saki's（崎南海子）lyrics is that the titular lady is more than happy to squash hearts into blood, atria and ventricles all over the Tokyo pavement (ooh, maybe that's a little too Eli Roth). Getting into less gory information, Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）was the man behind the melody and arrangement including the cool piano and the wah-wah guitar. For sure, this is one strut-worthy song in the big city.