Taro Shoji & Bin Uehara -- Naki Warai no Jinsei (泣き笑ひの人生)

Oh, boy, these past few months have been a doozy. Even though the season has changed to my favourite one, there were just so many events taxing on the mental health both in and out of school that has left me exhausted. But, as it turned out, when your classmates are all grey and your professors can only give the smile of pain (among many other examples around me), I knew I wasn't the only one going through it. On the plus side, I came out of it in one piece and at least autumn break's here for some respite. But in times like this, my encouragement songs have never been more helpful, their encouraging messages is giving me that extra morale boost. One of those songs has been "Naki Warai no Jinsei" (A life of tears and laughter).

 

When I was young, Mom would always rattle off the phrase, "If you fall, pick yourself up," in Mandarin. It was meant to get me, an insolent child who cut up her knees ever so often from running amok, to not cry when being patched up. It worked, and years down the road the mantra still holds up in the context of everyday life events when something doesn't go all that smoothly and you figuratively fall on your face. To pick yourself up no matter how many times you falter is a sentiment that I feel forms the core of enka and the kayo that came before it. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant surprise to hear "Naki Warai no Jinsei" beginning with a phrase that echoed my mother's words: 

Nanatsu koronde yatsu wa okite (Fall seven times, get up eight times)

I believe this originates from the four-character phrase, "Shichiten hakki" (七転八起), literally meaning seven tumbles, eight rises. Uttering those words was the statuesque Taro Shoji (東海林太郎) in his duet with fellow Polydor Records junior Bin Uehara (上原敏). Released in April 1938, "Naki Wari no Jinsei" was penned by Kinya Shimada (島田磬也) and composed by Keio Iida (飯田景応). A collaboration every ryukoka would dream of. But with war already in the offing, singer collabs within the same company were exceedingly common, from duets to chorales. I reckon it's got to do with inspiring national unity for better or for worse... It did make for some dream collaborations like this one, though.

On that note, I actually came across this duet when I was starting to get into Bin-san's stuff and chose him as the subject for one of my senior year papers on media theory. Specifically, I was looking for some of his works that would've possibly inspired optimism and nationalism in its listeners during the late 1930s, i.e. when the Second Sino-Japanese War began and the Pacific War loomed overhead. Long story short, was one of the three songs I picked for analysis, with part of the reason being the quoted phrase. But what does the rest of the song say? From my understanding, we have an exchange between our two protagonists played by Taro and Bin-san, the former, the older of the two, taking on the wiser, more seasoned role, mirroring reality. I'm not exactly what they're supposed to be, but I think they could be wandering nagashi or street musicians. Clearly, it's not the easiest lifestyle and Bin-san's character meekly admits to the strain it causes him. Taro's character, while mostly compassionate, berates his junior with the following:

Shoji: Yowane hakuna yo sumanu janai ka (Don't complain. It's pitiful.)

          Omoe senjo no suwamono wo (Think of the heroes on the battlefield.)

Uehara: Souda. Wakatta. Kyou kara ore mo (Yes, I understand. From now)

             Umare kawatte gambaru ze (I'll turn myself around and work hard.)

Even though "Naki Warai no Jinsei" takes a nationalist turn towards the second half, which you can sort of see in this third stanza, chunks of Shimada's words are particularly resonant in any occasion, such as in this exchange. Honestly, when I'm down and I hear Taro's admonishment (minus the "Omoe..." bit), Bin-san's response becomes mine and it reaffirms my resolve to overcome any obstacle. In the last stanza too, in a paraphrase of the title when Taro goes, "Nake yo, nake, nake, naitara warae" (Cry now, cry and cry. After that, smile), it oddly validates any feelings of sadness and it does turn that frown upside down. 

I can't imagine the number of times I've listened to "Naki Warai no Jinsei" over the past few months and that number is sure to go higher in the coming terms. But it's oddly reassuring to have these two bespectacled Akita natives spurring me on with some familiar encouraging words.

*As a side note, if you're wondering why "笑ひ" is pronounced as "Warai" and not "Warahi," I believe it's because the older writing system was used. In modern day writing it would've been written as "笑い."