Michiya Mihashi -- Sake no Nigasa yo ~ Shin Souma Bushi（酒の苦さよ〜新相馬節〜）

 

There have been plenty of raucous kayo kyoku celebrating the fun of drinking with buddies but at the same time, there have also existed Japanese songs when one drinks alone in pain and sadness. Arguably, the most famous example could be Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）"Kanashii Sake"（悲しい酒）from 1966.

I made another discovery of the Japanese equivalent of crying in one's beer and that would be enka singer Michiya Mihashi's（三橋美智也）"Sake no Nigasa yo ~ Shin Souma Bushi" (The Bitterness of Drink ~ A New Souma Song). Recorded and released in January 1954, this was composed by Toshiro Yamaguchi（山口俊郎）and written by Tadashi Yamazaki（山崎正）. According to J-Wiki's article on Mihashi, "Sake no Nigasa yo" ranks in at No. 19 on his list of million-selling songs.

Judging from Mihashi's delivery and the arrangement of Yamaguchi's melody, I had assumed that it was based on min'yo which is traditional Japanese folk music. Certainly seeing that subtitle of "Shin Souma Bushi", especially with that last word, I did think my assumption was the correct one. It was indeed fortunate that J-Wiki even had an article for Shin Souma Bushi in which I found out that the music was min'yo originating from the Souma region in Fukushima Prefecture, north of Tokyo. Apparently this music was relatively new, having been developed some time following World War II based on some of the older min'yo. Shin Souma Bushi then became popular nationwide. The version below is the original 1954 recording.