Yuzo Kayama -- Boku no Imouto ni（ぼくの妹に）

 

The Wakadaisho may have finally retired from performing on the stage but his songs will always have a place in the kayo heart. There's nothing like a Yuzo Kayama（加山雄三）tune to bring the sentimental love toward a family member.

Listening to his "Boku no Imouto ni" (To My Little Sister), his 30th single released in July 1976, there's no doubt that the music and arrangement pretty much match those of his 1960s hits. So it's no wonder that Kayama himself was behind the melody under his pseudonym of Kousaku Dan（弾厚作）with his go-to lyricist being Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）. The only difference this time is that the target of Kayama's love here is not a girlfriend or wife but his little sister. 

I'm not certain whether Kayama had a little sister but I can just imagine him singing this adoring kayo at her wedding reception, giving tribute for all the times that she had his back and that he will always have hers. "Boku no Imouto ni" hit No. 26 on Oricon and sold around 150,000 records, Kayama's first hit in a while. It also meant that he got his third invitation onto the Kohaku Utagassen that year, his first one in nine years. Not surprisingly, a television drama was created out of the song with Kayama as the star.