Hiroshi Miyama -- Hokkai Minato Bushi（北海港節）

 

Last night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）had a mix of stuff but one highlight was seeing singer-songwriter Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）perform "Shuushifu"（秋止符）, a hit from his days with Alice（アリス）alongside his personal friend and professional partner Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）who had passed away some weeks ago. The poignant thing was that the two had been thinking about doing a nationwide tour but that plan has obviously had to stop.

Another guest on the show was enka singer Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）who will be celebrating his 15th anniversary in the singing business next year. Last night, he sung his latest single which was released in July this year, "Hokkai Minato Bushi" (Song of a Northern Sea Port). Written by Haku Ide（いではく）and composed by Tetsuya Gen（弦哲也）, I can describe this one in the same way that I did for Miyama's previous tune that I posted earlier this year "Donkozaka"（どんこ坂）: it doesn't get more enka than that.

One of the batteries that powers an enka song is the story of the song's protagonist jumping headfirst into the fray to master his fears and weaknesses against the elements or other things. Not surprisingly then, there have been a number of enka tunes revolving around the nation's fishing industry whose boats often have to deal with stormy seas to get their much-needed catch of seafood. "Kyodai Bune"（兄弟船）by Ichiro Toba（鳥羽一郎）is arguably the most famous.

"Hokkai Minato Bushi" is probably the newest one and as Miyama has noted in interviews, he has to attack the song with brio to properly express the emotions involved within a man in a family line of fishermen providing for his family, despite the risks. The melody by Gen is appropriately intrepid and tough except for a middle part which shows off a calm period...maybe it's clear skies and pristine ocean before the storm rolls in. There doesn't seem to be any particular port being indicated here so the the harbour could be anywhere in Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido or even in the northern Tohoku region of the main island of Honshu. "Hokkai Minato Bushi" managed to reach No. 21 on Oricon.