I don't quite remember when I first heard and saw enka singer Kenji Kawashima（河嶋けんじ）but it was most likely either a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）or "Hayauta"（はやウタ）, both of them on NHK. As Mr. Burns has said on "The Simpsons", I like the cut of his jib, especially with this January 2024 single of his "Suna no Shiro" (Sand Castles)...hence the photo on top with KKP AI representative Kayo Grace Kyoku making her own palace in the sand.
Written by Miwa Ito（伊藤美和）and composed by Meiyu Otani（大谷明裕）, I rather like the old-fashioned arrangement of "Suna no Shiro" with that lonely trumpet and the overall feeling of enka from the 1980s or so. That mandolin-sounding instrument also has me wondering if this could also be a form of exotic kayo but I'm keeping it enka for now. The lyrics talk about the romantic parting of the ways, perhaps reflected in the washing away of a carefully constructed sand castle.
According to his website, the singer was born as Yukio Kawashima（河島幸夫）in Gifu Prefecture and had wanted to become a singer since his days at elementary school. He finally got his wish in 2014 when he began his career in music, so I gather that "Suna no Shiro" may be his commemorative 10th anniversary single.
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