Jouji Ogasawara -- Wakayama no Yoru（和歌山の夜）

 

We do have the runup toward December 25th so yes, there will be some more J-Xmas songs coming our way in the next several days. However, I figure that a change of scenery, melodically speaking, is always rather nice.

The other day, we got back from shopping and one of our food purchases happened to be a few examples of instant noodles in the form of Wakayama ramen. I know that there are the specific special areas for ramen in Japan such as Fukuoka and Hokkaido but I didn't know that even my ancestral home of Wakayama Prefecture had its own ramen. Then again, knowing how prolific each prefecture is in terms of its cuisine, I guess there would be a type of ramen for every one of them.

Anyways, that got me thinking about any other Wakayama-based kayo kyoku. Back in 2017, I posted the Mood Kayo "Wakayama Blues" （和歌山ブルース）by  Kiyono Koto（古都清乃）which was released in 1968. Well, it took some doing but I was able to find another old chestnut: "Wakayama no Yoru" (Wakayama Night) that came out a little later in 1970. It was recorded by a fellow named Jouji Ogasawara（小笠原浄二）who had begun his career in that year of 1968.

Written by Takao Yamada（山田孝雄）and composed by both Ogasawara and his younger brother, music producer Masaru Ogasawara（小笠原勝）, it's got that typically bluesy saxophone and the even-tempered guitar leading the way while Jouji croons about the ending of another love affair somewhere in the prefecture (I'm assuming Wakayama City itself). There is the usual name-dropping of places within Wakayama such as Shirahama down in the southern end and the single cover has Ogasawara in a suit while sporting a guitar around his shoulder within a bar area, presumably to visit the various establishments to croon a song or two.

Not sure whether "Wakayama no Yoru" became a hit for Ogasawara but perhaps the fact that I haven't seen any stage coverage of the song through other videos may indicate that it was more of a regional release than a national one which would get the singer in front of the TV cameras. According to one site, Jouji Ogasawara passed away in 1994 at the age of 50.

To finish off, you can take a look at the video below for Wakayama ramen from Burabura Japan. My feeling is that the instant stuff we're going to have on New Year's Eve will not measure up to the authentic noodles but hey, that's life.