September in Japan has two statutory holidays: Keirou no Hi（敬老の日...Respect-for-the-Aged Day） on the third Monday and then Shuubun no Hi（秋分の日...First Day of Autumn）. For the former, there's the usual tradition of taking the folks out for lunch or dinner somewhere and probably there is a whole plethora of gateball tournaments across the country. Of course, being an official holiday and all, the TV schedule in Japan is all different today, so as we were watching NHK News this morning (down from the usual one hour to 30 minutes), my family was getting a little confused about whether Canada was having a holiday today (the next one for us in the Great White North is Canadian Thanksgiving next month).
Out of curiosity, I took a look for any kayo kyoku list online consisting of any songs that had an association with Keirou no Hi. There were quite a few out there and most of what I can give here has that theme of gratitude and enduring through the tough times.
(1961) Kyu Sakamoto -- Ue wo Muite Arukou (上を向いて歩こう)
(1974) Masako Mori -- Okaasan（おかあさん）
(1987) Chiyoko Shimakura -- Jinsei Iroiro（人生いろいろ）
(1992) Chisato Moritaka -- Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo （私がオバさんになっても）
I am not sure if all of these songs really fit 'Respect-for-the-Aged Day' but whatever they are all great songs that I have heard before and do not mind hearing again. Great post!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I had been hoping to track down kayo that would have more directly referred to a long life well lived but these were the only ones that I could find.
DeleteHi, J-Canuck.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, the kayo world seems rather devoid of songs directly related to the elderly. I guess a theme about grandpa and grandma isn't as compelling as a sordid love affair or a messy heartbreak.
After racking my brain, I manage to think of one song: Haruo Minami's "Ojiisan, Obaasan" (link below). Trust Haru-san to come up with family-friendly tunes like this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPxCVmD1AnY
Keiro no hi has a special place in my heart... but not because I interact with the elderly on a fairly regular basis. It's because I remember it as the holiday I never get. For some reason, universities don't believe in respecting the aged. The silver lining is that the train situation is usually far better than the standard weekday rush hour :')
Hello, Noelle. Good to hear from you again. The music world may not pay the elderly their due respect but I'm hoping that the day itself has presented opportunities for the younger members of a family to enjoy time and energy with the grandparents through lunch/dinner at a restaurant or simply dropping by the old family home.
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