Shigeru Izumiya -- Shunka Shuutou（春夏秋冬）

 

The first time I ever saw Shigeru Izumiya（泉谷しげる）on television was years and years ago when he still had that fully black hair and full beard and moustache. Unlike the usual entertainers who were goofing and gabbing about, Izumiya rather scared me with his grumpy countenance and angry outbursts, and though it's hard to remember specific incidents at this stage in my life, I think he really was annoyed with his fellow entertainers, but that was his stock-in-trade and I believe that he was standing up for those viewers who were getting tired of the usual shenanigans.

It wouldn't be until years later that I found out that Izumiya hadn't been hired to be the Grumpy Old Man of the geinokai. He actually started his career as a folk singer in the 1970s. And earlier this morning, he had appeared on NHK's annual "Live Yell"（ライブ・エール）music extravaganza which has been treated as a summer version of the year-end Kohaku Utagassen. My impression is that it's an even more heartful music special dealing with specific issues of the year and for 2024, the show was addressing the tragic earthquake in the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day and the growing isolationism among young people.

My impression of Izumiya is that he's mellowed out considerably and his frequent annoyed utterances are now delivered with a bit of a wink and smile. He performed his 2nd single from April 1972, "Shunka Shuutou" (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) with words and music created by him. Describing a man coming from very humble circumstances, he still invites the listener over for a bit of counseling and that although hard times have come in the past and may still come in the future, it's not the time to give up. I'd say that "Shunka Shuutou" is the perfect song for "Live Yell". 

Not sure how long this video will stay up, but this is the actual performance by Izumiya on "Live Yell" today. "Shunka Shuutou" was also the title track for the singer's debut album which came out in the same month as the single. Izumiya made his first appearance on the aforementioned Kohaku in 2013 to sing this song with the purpose of giving his good tidings to all those getting their start in the working world in 2014.