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.
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