I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
"A Little Bit Easier" is a refreshing medium-tempo tune that fits a summer sunset perfectly. Shigeru Suzuki's（鈴木茂）arrangement can be said to have that classic City Pop approach so he made a lot of wonderful songs just within that time where he had hit his stride by working with people like Hiroaki Igarashi（五十嵐浩晃）and Kazuhito Murata（村田和人）. He has that characteristic sharp touch and even within this song, that appeal is evident throughout. The effective use of the flute is also the epitome of coolness.
The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised"(2020).
The photo above shows a restaurant that I used to frequent right around Nihombashi Station in Tokyo. Com Pho was not a big place but it looked plenty modern inside and I could just throw some bills or coins into a machine to get my ticket to get my tasty bowl of Vietnamese pho with meat and other goodies. I wonder if it's still there.
In late November, I posted an article regarding the band Botanical na Kurashi.（ボタニカルな暮らし。）and their "City Girl". Well, here I am again to provide a more recent example of their lovely Neo-City Pop on the night streets of Tokyo, "Bubble". With lyrics by singer Siyo and music by bassist Kent, it's a short and sweet tune released in July 2024 as their 13th single about a lass in the big city and her bubble-blowing. I have to admit that this is probably the first time I've ever come across a metropolitan number about one of my old hobbies as a kid but it's also quite a cool tune with a hint of Steely Dan.
I had been around for only a few years when these dances of the 1960s were popular so alas I missed out on trying these moves out. Not that I would have dared to show them in public if I'd been old enough to give them a go. My Mashed Potato would have been runny spuds.
So, dances such as the Twist and the Swim came to mind as I was listening to this snappy number by the late Mieko Hirota（弘田三枝子）. "Tokyo Ni-juu-shichi-ji"(3:00 am Tokyo) is the title track from Hirota's May 1999 mini-album, a project that had Fantastic Plastic Machine and Pizzicato Five'sYasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）helping out, so I could imagine that there was going to be plenty of Shibuya-kei and tributes to the swinging pop music of the 1960s. And yep, I got plenty of that dance music along with what seems to be a shoutout to The 5th Dimension's"Up, Up and Away" in Konishi's melody and arrangement. Shimmy away, folks!
Also, have a look at Toni Basil'svideo of those 60s dances. Quite a few celebs knew how to move!
It was a little over a couple of months ago when I got my CD copy of Junk Fujiyama's（ジャンクフジヤマ）"Shoukei Toshi ~ City Pop Covers"（憧憬都市）from last year, with the singer coming up with his smooth takes on already-established songs of the genre. I did go over a number of the tracks but one that I intentionally left out until today was "Ryuusei Toshi" (City of Shooting Stars).
One reason is that it really does stand out as a City Pop number worthy of driving on the highway to. It feels like a love letter to Tokyo with references to Tokyo Tower and the skyscrapers in town. The horns including that boss saxophone are more than welcoming giants for the car and its occupants, and the slick music video above provide that wonderful vicarious ride. If this doesn't get viewers planning that City Pop-themed tour in Tokyo, then I don't know what will.
The original love emanating from this song actually originated from...well, Original Love via the band's May 1995 5th album"Rainbow Race". Compared to the snazzy cover by Junk Fujiyama, Takao Tajima's（田島貴男）creation is a quieter and more intimate piece that sounds more Burt Bacharach with that squeeze of bossa nova for good measure. According to Tajima himself, he had wanted to create a simple but pleasant song, something nice to go home with, and he mentions about the lovely view of the constellation Centaurus in the night sky (also in the lyrics). In a way, his statement reminds me of the whole story behind "Chuo Freeway"（中央フリーウェイ）performed by Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）and Yumi Arai（荒井由実）back in the 1970s.
Perhaps along with Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）classic "Koi wa Ryuusei" (恋は流星）, "shooting stars" in Japanese songs ought to be given further attention.
Well, you City Pop bass addicts ought to like this dose. I actually posted one track from actress/singer Jun Miho's（美保純）1983 album "Private Theater" back in 2021; "After Rain Afternoon" is a nice jazzy and summery number.
Its track mate, "Mou Ichido Mou Ichido"(One More Time, One More Time), is one funky song launched by both a bopping synth bass and a just-as-jumpy electric bass which should be having the fans strutting like crazy. Of course, Miho lends her smoky-as-bacon vocals to the proceedings of a woman begging for another chance with perhaps a love-'em-and-leave-'em type of cad. Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Takayuki Watanabe（渡辺敬之）, those horns sound as if they migrated from Chicago's "Street Player".
Not that I'm slavishly devoted to the Animal Zodiac but early on in my life, I was taught that I had been born in the Year of the Snake. However, that's about all I know regarding Snake people. If such people are overweight, nerdy and about as sociable as a piece of gneiss, then congratulations...I am a snake person.
For 2025's first Reminiscings of Youth article, I've decided to look for a song that was rather serpentine in theme, and it didn't take long for me at all to track down Duran Duran's "Union of the Snake". Strangely enough for as long as the ROY series has been around, this is the first time I've included Simon LeBon's hit band into KKP, and actually, "Union of the Snake" isn't one of my absolute favourite Duran Duran tunes, but heck, I am trying to keep on the snake theme.
Released in October 1983 as the band's 9th single, I recall "Union of the Snake" as a tune with some percolating percussion and a synth solo that was probably fueled by Blue Mountain coffee. It and its accompanying music video had a long time on the charts, and the latter was something that had that alien "Mad Max" rebellion vibe to it with Simon and the gang acting as the heroes. Of course, the saxophone was in there, too.
In Canada, "Union of the Snake" hit No. 2 on RPM while down south, it hit No. 3 on America's Billboard. So, what else was being released in Japan as singles in October 1983? I've got two today.
The last time I wrote about late 80s/early 90s aidoru Yuri Kunizane（国実百合）was back in November when I posted her "Hishochi no Sagan"（避暑地のサガン）from her July 1988 debut album"Summer in Blue". That was in the territory of Motown boogie.
However, later in December of that year, Kunizane put out her 4th single"Tomodachi Ijou" (More Than Friends) which was also placed within her mini BEST album"Y-923NE" from July 1989. That album, according to Discogs, has been categorized as synthpop, kayo kyoku and City Pop, and I think that this particular song seems to exemplify characteristics from all three genres. But without any of the three winning out over the other two, I've kept the Label here as aidoru. Written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）, composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and arranged by Hiroshi Shinkawa（新川博）, it's quite the sweetly sung song with a killer electric guitar solo near the end.
I also have to note that the title for that mini BEST album is a pretty cool depiction of Kunizane's full name in an old-fashioned Japanese pager language sort of way. Plus, Kunizane herself looks more like a lady ready to hit the dance floors in a bodicon dress in comparison to the more demure 1950s persona that she showed on "Summer in Blue".
Yeah, well that just happened. Forgive me, but if I can get this variation of a North American sports punchline out of the way: I was watching the Kohaku Utagassen when a B'z concert broke out. Indeed, Tak Matsumoto（松本孝弘）and Koshi Inaba（稲葉浩志）saw, came and conquered NHK Hall in the latter half of the 2024 edition of the Kohaku through something I had never seen before in previous editions. Almost everyone went bonkers on seeing the two nonchalantly leave one stage, after performing the theme song for the current NHK morning serial drama "Omusubi"（おむすび）, and then enter the main stage to perform "Love Phantom" and "Ultra Soul". Twitter and YouTube lit up like a Christmas tree and I wouldn't be exaggerating too much if I posited that B'z pretty much stole the show.
Another unprecedented thing regarding the Kohaku is wholly upon me. For the first time in my life, I actually caught an entire Kohaku Utagassen from beginning to end live. Never did that in the early years and never did that in recent years. But I decided to wake up at the eye-blearingly early hour of 5 am to catch the show at 5:20 EST and watch the hosts and most of the participants get up on the stage to sing some cornball kayo-style number created just for the broadcast. And to be honest, the four-hour-and-change show zipped by fairly quickly for me.
Just some other thoughts that stood out:
1) I was disappointed that the big dance-off between Kocchi no Kento（こっちのけんと）and Creepy Nuts for their respective dance-happy songs never occurred. The former had everyone on stage doing his catchy two-step but for some reason, Creepy Nuts did their "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" with only the hosts doing their famous dance. I had been expecting a big group of folks on stage to do that one. Maybe Tokyo MX and the producers of the source anime "Mashle" put a kibosh on NHK being allowed to have folks dance up a storm.
2) In commemoration of NHK's one hundred years of service this year, there was a tribute to all of the kids' songs' programming throughout the decades. One of the KKP guys considered it to be cringeworthy but I was OK with it, especially because "Computer Obaachan"（コンピューターおばあちゃん）was performed. The late Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）composed that catchy technopop kids piece and with his ex-wife Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）helping out at the end, I was happy to see him represented.
3) It was sweet seeing kayo vocal group Junretsu（純烈）doing their number "Yume Mita Kajitsu"（夢みた果実）inside the home of one of their most ardent fans in Gunma Prefecture as a "surprise". Considering how microscopically shows are planned on Japanese TV, though, I'm not sure how much of a real surprise it was and that goes with the B'z appearance as well...at least where the hosts were concerned although I think the audience was truly blown (or Blowin'...sorry, inside B'z joke) away.
4) Enka singer Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）performed her song "Tottori Sakyuu"（鳥取砂丘）alongside the spectacle of domino art once more, and along with fellow enka singer Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）and his continuing Guinness Book of Recordskendama schtick and yet another Disney medley, the Kohaku producers really do love milking the cow dry.
5) Speaking of that Disney medley, I was pleasantly surprised that NHK didn't put up the Muzak or blue screen of death when all of those songs came on. Maybe it was the fact that all of the songs were performed in Japanese instead of English.
6) Vaundy was back with another groovy song "Odoriko"（踊り子）which I'll have to search for.
7) Maybe Ringo Shiina's（椎名林檎）brand of music is a little too avant-garde for some but seeing her performance of "Hobo Mizu no Awa"（ほぼ水の泡）was never boring with the jazz and kayo in there. I'll have to search for that one. Plus, it was nice to see at least one-half ofCharan-Po-Rantan（チャランポランタン）, Momo, actually show up on the Kohaku stage to perform the song with her.
8) It was wonderful to hear and see The Alfee, Iruka（イルカ）, Kousetsu Minami（南こうせつ）and Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）appear to do their songs which represented my earliest ventures into Japanese popular music.
9) It was also very poignant seeing and hearing that tribute to the late Toshiyuki Nishida（西田敏行）with the song "Moshi mo Piano ga Hiketanara"（もしもピアノが弾けたなら）through his friends. At the same time, I was also a little disappointed that there was no tribute to Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）after her sudden and tragic passing on December 6th.
10) Memo to Hiromi Go（郷ひろみ）: You're a nice guy and I've loved your music ever since I started my path on kayo kyoku back in 1981. You will always be welcome on the show BUT is there any way that we can officially retire "Ni-oku-yon-sen-man no Hitomi"（２億４千万の瞳）like a beloved hockey jersey? Cute thing with the Forrest Gump/Zelig effects, though.
11) Nice to see the former Prince of Enka, Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）, make his return to singing through a very brio-laden performance. Welcome back!
As for the ratings, the B'z effect was enough that the 75th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen ended up as the 2nd-least viewed show in NHK history. That may have come off as a bit snarky but let me emphasize that this is significant. This edition didn't break any bad records of viewership. So, in a "You mean...there's still a chance" way, there will probably be a 76th edition at the end of this year...and that's worth a rousing HEY!
I remember one New Year's Day when I was living in my humble Ichikawa 2K apartment. A couple of friends had stayed over at my place for a couple of days and things were feeling pretty lazy. However, we had made a prior promise to meet up with a few more friends in Roppongi that day for dinner where apparently at least a few restaurants were operating. So, we trudged off to Minami-Gyotoku Station on the Tozai Line. It was about 5 pm when we got onto the aboveground platform and the sun was beginning to set so we had these orange rays filtering into the station.
There were some wistful feelings that accompanied those slanting rays. Perhaps it was starting my first New Year's Day without the family around me or that January 1st felt more like December 31st after a busy year. Well, whatever the case may be, similar feelings can be had through Pizzicato Five's"Tokyo, mon amour", which was a track on their 12th album"Romantique '96" from September 1995. I'd actually written about that album all the way back in May 2013 so that's definitely an antique posting. I'm just glad that I hadn't written about this particular track until today.
Of course, there were much harder feelings in "Tokyo, mon amour" which deals with the end of romance. However, it's no surprise that even in the midst of such heart stopping heartbreak, the voice of the Divine Ms. Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）and the songwriting of Yasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）can make even that emotional explosion feel like the tenderest side of beef or the sweetest sip of wine. It sounds as if it could have been included in the soundtrack of a 1960s Alain Delon romance with those strings feeling so romantic and Parisian. Also, I have to give shoutouts to that bass and the saxophone showing off life in the big city. The sax by the way was played by Naruyoshi Kikuchi（菊地成孔）of the band SPANK HAPPY.
Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! I hope that wherever you are, you are enjoying what is basically the final day of the Holidays (unless you have a truly kind and generous boss in which case, you are not due back to work until Monday the 6th) either still partying with friends and family or nursing that hangover. Here, we've had our ozoni breakfast and then we'll be engorging ourselves with sushi later on.
For the very first song of the year on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I'm going with an enka. Last year, when I was scrolling through the list of Japanese celebrities that had left this mortal coil in 2024, I came across singer Jiro Kanmuri（冠二郎）who actually passed away exactly one year ago on January 1st at the age of 79. I had assumed that someone with the brio and outsized personality of Kanmuri already had his representation on KKP but I was sadly very wrong.
Born in Saitama Prefecture as Yoshihiro Horiguchi（堀口義弘）, he had begun his singing career under the aegis of lyricist Yasuteru Miura（三浦康照）and composer Kanae Wada（和田香苗）in 1967. The first ten years though were pretty lean in terms of success until 1977 when he had his first hit with "Tabi no Owari ni"（旅の終りに...At Journey's End） which was a theme song for a TV Asahi drama.
And then in September 1992, Kanmuri released his 38th single"Honoo"(Flame) which was created by Miura and Wada. A manly-man enka song with tons of brio this side of Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）, "Honoo" was more than happy to exhort the visceral qualities of being a man and yet to also throw in some gentleness along with the strength. It's the type of song that would get a scrawny guy to help lift the mikoshi in a summer festival (and yep, there are plenty of hints of festival in the arrangement) or to approach that young lass for a date. Miura's lyrics even made it plainly obvious that enka was the genre to show off manliness through the phrase "I, I, I like enka!".
What surprised me was that I had never written about the late Kanmuri before now considering that whenever I saw him appear on television, he exuded showmanship as he performed "Honoo" with absolute panache and power. He was basically Sabu-chan with a fuller head of hair. The song reached No. 48 on Oricon, and won a couple of music awards. Kanmuri also got his second invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen at the end of 1992 to sing "Honoo". He had his first appearance on the NHK special in 1991 and had one more invitation in 1995.
