Another "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）graduate-turned-professional enka singer made his presence known to me recently on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）. He's got quite the interesting name, too, and I've been one to have a passing interest in Japanese family names, especially the rarer ones. Fumiya Toshidai（戸子台ふみや）has a family name that I had never heard of before, and he hails from Sapporo, Hokkaido, so perhaps his name is a regional one.
In any case, that first appearance on "Nodo Jiman" took place a decade ago, and he made his professional debut in 2020 from what I've gleaned. On that episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta", he sang his latest single which was released earlier in March, "Samui Kuni kara kita Tegami" (Letter from a Cold Country).
Written by Kyouno Madoka（円香乃）and composed by Chiaki Oka（岡千秋）, it may be an enka tune but it also has an even more dramatic heft in the arrangement that reminds me of not only a theme from a samurai drama or a Western oater but Hiromi Ohta's（太田裕美）classic "Saraba Siberia Tetsudo" (さらばシベリア鉄道）from 1980. There's even something in there that also has me thinking tokusatsu superhero drama. However, the lyrics are about a former romance with one person presumably living all by their lonesome in the cold north country.
Wow, this song has an ethnic Eastern European feel to it.
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