Hiroshi Itsuki -- Otoko ga Naku Toki（男が泣くとき）

 

2024 is the 60th anniversary of legendary entertainer Hiroshi Itsuki's（五木ひろし）career in show business and perhaps he's been doing a lot of reminiscing over those six decades including those early pay-one's-dues years. The original Kazuo Matsuyama（松山数夫）from Fukui Prefecture went through a number of stage name changes and several years of struggle before the turn of the decade into the 1970s and one more switch of his name to Hiroshi Itsuki and perhaps one more chance to strike it big. 

And the newly-minted Itsuki did strike it big with his first single under that name and his eleventh overall, the classic "Yokohama Tasogare"（よこはま・たそがれ）from March 1971, which has become one of the most famous go-touchi songs for the international port.

But of course, in addition to "Yokohama Tasogare", there was a B-side which was also written by Yoko Yamaguchi（山口洋子）and composed by Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）. "Otoko ga Naku Toki" (When a Man Cries) is an enka/Mood Kayo tune which seems to take things from Yokohama into the darker side streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo just because the arrangement by Koji Ryuzaki（竜崎孝路）makes me think that this is the sort of kayo kyoku that Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）sang. It's very bluesy and introspective and draws a picture of ambling through neighbourhoods such as Kabukicho without any particular destination in mind. Perhaps the protagonist in "Otoko ga Naku Toki" is in a very down mood, and perhaps just before the time that the single was released, Itsuki had been on the verge of some tears himself over how his career would go. However, after its release, the rest was history.