Akari Uchida -- Ukiyo-e no Machi（浮世絵の街）

By Gen'o Yoshida via Wikimedia Commons

 

I actually heard this on the most recent episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）and found it intriguing enough for me to investigate its source.

Singer-actress Akari Uchida（内田あかり）was born Kuniko Ogata（大形久仁子）in Osaka just after the end of World War II and her career had begun in 1967 under her birth name. She scored a quick big hit due to a collaboration with the Mood Kayo group Mahina Stars（和田弘とマヒナスターズ）in 1968 for the song "Watashitte Dame na Onna ne"（私って駄目な女ね...I'm a Bad Woman）, but her solo career of eleven singles going into 1970 didn't yield any good results for her.

Then in 1973, under the wing of producer Masatoshi Sakai（酒井政利）, she took on the stage name of Akari Uchida and released her debut single, "Ukiyo-e no Machi" (Ukiyo-e Town) in August. Written by Masao Ishizaka（石坂まさを）and composed/arranged by Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）, this atmospheric enka-and-kayo mix seems to have that extra infusion of truly exotic "wafu" through the delicate strains of the koto, and then with Uchida's floating vocals, it feels like a couple taking a very leisurely stroll through a ukiyo-e painting. 

No idea how it did on Oricon but "Ukiyo-e no Machi" sold 700,000 records so I can only assume that it was a huge hit. Apparently, the outfit that she wore for her live performances cost a whopping 1.2 million yen or over four thousand US dollars according to the 1973 exchange rate. Strangely enough, she apparently didn't get that invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen but a movie based on or inspired by "Ukiyo-e no Machi" titled "Lost Love: Abura Jigoku"（ロスト・ラブ あぶら地獄...Lost Love: Oil Hell） was produced in 1974 with Uchida herself starring in it. It was produced by Nikkatsu, which had a hand in the roman porno industry, so considering part of the title, my pervy little mind suddenly had some distinct thoughts but it was actually and basically a dramatization of Uchida's own heartbreak story.

Since then, Uchida has had a long career in singing and acting up to 2019.