Katsuhiko Haida -- Oiwake Garasu (追分がらす)

Continuing on the matatabi kayo theme from my Bin Uehara (上原敏) article, here's another number that features a wandering yakuza. By Katsuhiko Haida (灰田勝彦), of all folks. Much to my surprise, he has at least one of these old Japan-themed songs buried so deep in his discography that it comes before his debut under the name we commonly know him by. 

For some backstory, let's head back to 1935 for a bit, shall we? We have the terror of Rikkyo University, Toshikatsu Haida in his senior year, and he's been doing some under-the-radar work as a singer at record companies for about a year. One of the companies is Polydor Records, where Masato Fujita (藤田まさと) already made a name for himself with the success of his matatabi-yakuza kayo project. Haida was set to record and release one such matatabi kayo written by Fujita, and in order to not get the student in trouble with the school, the lyricist had him go by the stage name of Toshi Fujita (藤田稔). "Toshi" came from Haida's first name (at the time) "Toshikatsu", and "Fujita" from the lyricist's last name. And with that, "Oiwake Garasu" was released on September 1935. This was as told in a blog article by haguruhaguru, which gives a pretty detailed run-down of Hai-Katsu's history and the crazy shenanigans the ill-tempered Hawaiian got himself into during his early days.

As many a ronin song would at the time, "Oiwake Garasu" was a theme song for a jidaigeki (period film) titled "Jigoku Bayashi" (地獄囃子), which hit theatres on 7th November of the same year. That seems pretty impressive for a singer who hadn't even properly debuted. Its upbeat composition, created by movie theatre musician turned composer Masajiro Kondo (近藤政二郎), feels like a reflection of the carefree nature of our main character and his lifestyle choice. With the jaunty percussions and cheerful accordion melody, I can imagine the happy-go-lucky gambler skipping down a forested dirt path on his way to Edo (*ahem* in search of another gambling den). But his smiles only hide the dilemma fellows like him seem to face: to stay a free drifter or to settle down and become a responsible member of society. Which will he choose? Only he will know. 

Hai-Katsu, or perhaps Fuji-Toshi at this point, deftly pulled off a more traditional Japanese singing style for "Oiwake Garasu" with minyo/rokyoku vocal ornamentations. It was uncharacteristic of his smooth and gentle crooning, but much in line with the singing style employed by singers who do matatabi kayo, like the aforementioned Uehara. I am impressed, Hai-Katsu.