Keiko Goto/Junko Sakurada -- Mado（窓）

 

I don't watch French movies...although I did catch a few scenes of "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" on television (warning: make sure you have the Kleenex next to you, especially in the last scene). As a rule of my imagination (and my apologies to all those fans of the Nouvelle Vague), I always envision old French movies with scenes like these: a man or woman sitting forlornly next to a window on a cold rainy day, letting their breath hit the pane with condensation. This lasts for two hours. FIN

Strangely enough, I've encountered this song titled "Mado" (Window) sung by Keiko Goto（後藤啓子）. In fact, this was her debut single from 1981 although it apparently was also a track on her 1980 album "Aimez-vous Sagan". I've posted about Goto once before for her 1981 song "Me wo Tojite"（目を閉じて）which was quite the bouncy City Pop tune.

"Mado" is probably more in tune with her days as a singer at Gin-Pari（銀巴里）in the 1970s, the famous chanson cafe in Ginza that I mentioned only a few days ago when I paid tribute to the recently departed Akihiro Miwa（美輪明宏）. I'm not sure if "Mado" would fall under the chanson category but it's still quite the spirited French waltz of a kayo kyoku as written and composed by Shigeru Inumaru（犬丸秀）*. Maybe I can give it the Fashion Music label. It certainly doesn't have Goto breathing sadly on a window pane for a couple of hours.

One interesting thing happened while I was searching how to read the lyricist/composer's name. I found out that "Mado" had gotten a cover version via aidoru Junko Sakurada's（桜田淳子）37th single from August 1982. If anything, it's even breezier and an accordion has been thrown into the arrangement, to boot, for that enhanced Gallic flavour.

*Not totally sure on the reading of the above name. If anyone can confirm or deny it, let me know.

Special Favorite Music -- Royal Memories

 

Well, we're basically at the halfway point of 2026, and things here at least are looking very summery. In fact, Toronto is going into a heat wave for the next few days. It certainly was quite the sweaty trek from the store and back this morning. Before folks start complaining though, let's remember that it wasn't too long ago when we were all griping when winter would end.

Then, let's start today's edition of KKP with something nice and rosy and happy. The band Special Favorite Music had a track from their August 2017 2nd full album "Royal Blue" called "Royal Memories". No special genre inflection was attached to this one; it's just a happy-happy-joy-joy pop tune with some Motown horns (though "Royal Memories" doesn't sound particularly Motown) accompanying it. Have a listen to it with the air conditioner on full.

STUTS & Taeko Ohnuki -- Ohayou（おはよう）

 

Recently, the NHK morning information show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）has been getting cancelled or truncated. That's not a real surprise since there are a couple of phases during the year when this happens but this year, it's a bit more prevalent right now because of a national track-and-field meet, the World Cup and televised government deliberations. We were a bit luckier yesterday though since we did get the full one-hour-and-forty minutes.

Well, I figure that we'll have only a couple of more weeks of this before things get back to normal. The good news is that the theme song for "Asaichi" finally has a full version out on YouTube. A few months ago, when the new theme "Ohayou" (Good Morning) started each show, I couldn't find it on the platform although in my exertions, I was able to find a past collaboration by trackmaker/producer STUTS and legendary singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）from 2024.

Still, it's nice to find "Ohayou" at last which apparently hit YouTube a little over a month ago. It's a nice breakfast plate of musical nostalgia via fluegelhorn and electric piano. Those two instruments give the song a sunny 70s feeling...in a way, it feels rather Carpenteresque, and it's a friendly way to start off "Asaichi". Maybe it can even get folks up-and-at-'em all on its own.

Flower Kayo

 

Yesterday on "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）, the episode's theme was on flower-titled kayo kyoku. That did get me to thinking...as I recall, there have been quite a few such songs that I've remembered over the decades, so I've decided to provide my own short list. My list kinda breaks out a little more widely although the first entry here was also included on the program's own list. Anyways, without further ado:

(1964) Harumi Miyako -- Anko Tsubaki wa Koi no Hana （アンコ椿は恋の花）

(1966) Mike Maki -- Bara ga Saita （バラが咲いた）

(1980) Mariya Takeuchi -- Morning Glory

(1983) Yumi Matsutoya -- Dandelion ~ Osozaki no Tanpopo （ダンデライオン〜遅咲きのたんぽぽ）

(2012) Yoko Kanno -- Hana wa Saku （花は咲く）

Cheuni -- Glass no Tokyo Tower（ガラスの東京タワー）

By Wladyslaw via Wikimedia Commons

I remember as an elementary school kid in downtown Toronto when I was at recess seeing the CN Tower gradually being built up. From our schoolyard, we had a pretty clear view of the tower as it was going up. And then one day in 1976, it finally opened as the world's tallest free-standing structure at 553 metres high, a record which it held for about twenty years. And as of a couple of days ago, it celebrated its 50th anniversary. Maybe I'll go up the tower again this year although it now costs a good chunk of an arm and a leg to enter.

Now, it's safe to say that I won't be able to find any kayo kyoku that pays tribute to Toronto's most famous landmark. However, perhaps I can still acknowledge the fact of the CN Tower's golden anniversary through another tower...let's say Tokyo Tower! And coincidentally enough, tomorrow is the 68th birthday since Tokyo's own famous landmark was erected and opened. So I guess we can celebrate the two towers with one song.

That song is "Glass no Tokyo Tower" (Glass Tokyo Tower) which was Cheuni's（チェウニ）16th single from December 2009. Cheuni seems to have become KKP's poster child for the genre of New Adult Music with its mix of enka/Mood Kayo and urban contemporary influences, and it looks like she has enjoyed singing about aspects of Tokyo through songs like "Tokyo Twilight"（トーキョー・トワイライト）which was her debut single in 1999 (comments below have a correction to what I just wrote down), so I guess "Glass no Tokyo Tower" could be seen as a 10th anniversary song for her. Yuko Natsumi（夏海裕子）was the lyricist here, as she also was for "Tokyo Twilight" and other songs for Cheuni, while Kazuya Amikura（網倉一也）took care of the classy and elegant melody surrounding a woman who is wishing upon Tokyo Tower itself through her apartment window (that's prime real estate there) to somehow bring back the lover that she let go unfortunately. The song reached No. 46 on Oricon.

Akihiro Miwa -- Itoshi no Gin-Pari（いとしの銀巴里）

 

The news came in last night just before I was about to turn in, but singer and commentator Akihiro Miwa（美輪明宏）had passed away at the age of 91 on June 20th from old age. Miwa was a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, chanson singer, drag queen, raconteur and commentator on a number of topics including government policy, and he even had at least a couple of shows where he provided advice to people, famous or not. In fact, the last show featured on TV Japan before it converted to Jme over a couple of years ago was his advice program on NHK. Most times, he was very courteous and elegant but there were a few times where Miwa verbally eviscerated other people onscreen in a rage if he felt they deserved it.

Up until 1971, Miwa had been known by his birth name of Shingo Terada（寺田臣吾）or his first stage name Akihiro Maruyama（丸山明宏）. In his obituaries on television, reporters noted his most famous song "Yoitomake no Uta"（ヨイトマケの唄）from 1965. I've already noted that so I wanted to provide a song of his titled "Itoshi no Gin-Pari" (My Beloved Gin Paris). I couldn't definitively track down the recording year but according to his discography on J-Wiki, the earliest that I've seen it mentioned is 2003 so I will go with that.

Miwa's creation is done in the lightly lilting chanson style and he's paying tribute to Japan's first cafe devoted to chanson, Gin Paris（銀巴里）, which was open between 1951 and 1990 in Ginza 7-chome in Tokyo. It was also where Miwa built up his career and a number of other artists have found it to be their breakthrough home such as the late Mina Aoe（青江三奈）. At this time, there is a stone monument at 7-chome near the former site of Gin Paris which has its name carved in.

My condolences go to Miwa's family, friends and many fans. 

Monument of Gin-Pari
by Baynosuke via Wikimedia Commons

Kokusyoku Sumire -- Towa ni Uruwashiku Sumire no Hana yo（永久に麗しく、すみれの花よ）

Charron Freres Accordion by Uberprutser

It's hard to believe, but the very first time I posted anything about the eclectic accordion-based sister duo Charan-Po-Rantan（チャラン・ポ・ランタン）was over a decade ago in 2015 with their "Moebius no Ikitomari"（メビウスの行き止まり）. The sisters Matsunaga struck me as being unique within Japanese pop music.

But then, not too long ago, commenter YMOfan04 informed me of another duo who have a similar style and actually debuted around half a decade earlier than Charan-Po-Rantan. Kokusyoku Sumire（黒色すみれ）, which translates into Black Violets, started up in 2004, and they specialize in pop and retro kayo kyoku. There's Yuka（ゆか）who's the vocalist, accordionist and pianist while Sachi（さち）is on the violin and a number of other instruments.

On listening to "Towa ni Uruwashiku Sumire no Hana yo" (Beautiful Violet Forever) which comes from their 2nd album "Ander Meruhen Kakyokushuu"（アンデルメルヘン歌曲集...Andersen Fairy Tale Lieder Collection） from January 2006, Yuka and Sachi on their instruments brought that feeling of music from Old World Europe of a certain age as well as what I would imagine Taisho Era non-Japanese-style music was like a century ago. Not sure what Yuka, who wrote and composed "Towa ni Uruwashiku Sumire no Hana yo", was inspired by when she created it, but I've had hints of Russian folk music, Argentine tango and maybe even some of that Fashion Music essence from Japan. Maybe YMOfan04 can provide further insights, too.

Kokusyoku Sumire has continued recording up to the present day with thirteen albums including their most recent release, "Kinsei Club"（金星倶楽部...Venus Club） which came out last month.

Shoko Sawada -- Tokaijin（都会人）

Wikimedia Commons

This is the eighth article for singer-songwriter Shoko Sawada（沢田聖子）on KKP, and when it comes to her music, my memories always drift to the first song I ever heard from her, the warm and folksy "Ochiba no Heya"（落葉の部屋）from 1981, thanks to that listening on "Sounds of Japan" many moons ago.

On the other hand, Sawada's 11th single from April 1984, "Tokaijin" (Woman of the City) is quite different. For one thing, she had nothing to do with its creation; instead, it was written by veteran lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and composed by Eiji Nishiki（西木栄二）. For another, it's a rumbling pop/rock song about a young lady who gets seduced by the night life of a metropolis despite her friend's increasingly angry and desperate warnings. Although I think Sawada handled the song ably enough, I couldn't help but feel that "Tokaijin" was perhaps not the most perfect fit for her and maybe the powers-that-be above her had wanted to put a bit more boost in her variety of music. Mind you, it's all speculation from me but I also thought that this was something that an aidoru like Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）would have tackled with more energy. The song was also placed as a track on the singer's 6th album "Kaze no Yokan"（風の予感...Presage of the Wind） which was released a month after the single.

Satoshi Kishida -- Sunshine Superman（サンシャイン・スーパーマン）

 

"Supergirl" came out today after waiting about a year since she made her rather explosive and drunken cameo on "Superman". I've heard mixed reviews about it, but I still would be interested in catching the flick sometime in the next few weeks.

As such, I thought I would end this edition of Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP with something that has a fleeting connection with "Supergirl", and that would be Satoshi Kishida's（岸田智史）"Sunshine Superman". I re-discovered it on the "Beams" CD of the "Light Mellow" series recently.

I've really known the singer-songwriter's 1979 hit, the tenderhearted and folksy "Kimi no Asa"（君の朝）, and so to hear "Sunshine Superman", which was originally a track on Kishida's October 1977 2nd album "Citron"（シ・ト・ロ・ン）, is quite the revelation. Written and composed by him, it's the bouncy City Pop or J-AOR song of the 1970s with the hazy effect of the synthesizer, the jazzy play of the electric piano or Fender Rhodes and the happy-go-lucky rhythm. There's also something about Kishida's vocals that reminds me of the dulcet tones of Goro Noguchi（野口五郎）.

Also as a PS, I heard about the strong earthquake that shook Yamanashi Prefecture earlier today. And this following a similar tremor up in Aomori has probably gotten citizens a little nervous. Hopefully, that will be the brunt of it and everyone can settle down back into their usual business in the next few weeks or so.

Hirosuke -- Summertime Blues（サマータイム・ブルース）

 

All these years, whenever I've heard the title "Summertime Blues", I would always fondly remember Misato Watanabe's（渡辺美里）classic song from 1990. Well, now, it's got company.

Indeed, a decade before Misato's "Summertime Blues" came onto the scene, singer-songwriter Hirosuke（ヒロスケ）wrote and composed his own "Summertime Blues" as his 2nd single in 1980. As an aside, perhaps his "A-re-ka-ra"（あ・れ・か・ら）was his debut single from the same year.

Compared to the sunny and upbeat "Summertime Blues" by Misato, Hirosuke's "Summertime Blues" is a prowling nocturnal animal hitting the main streets and side streets of the city. Still plenty hot at night in Tokyo. "A-re-ka-ra" was a theme song for a cop show. Why not this one as well? Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）took care of the City Pop arrangement.

Early Byrds feat. Kyoko Kimura -- Galaxy Special

 

Well, summer is officially here and the World Cup is well under way with both Canada and Japan heading into the knockout rounds. And of course, next week, both my nation and the United States will be celebrating their respective birthdays, so a holiday mood is most likely pervading all throughout the land.

On that vacation-minded note, let's have a listen to "Galaxy Special", the first track from fusion band Early Byrds and Kyoko Kimura's（木村恭子）1981 album "Up and Coming". It's a most upbeat and summery groovy instrumental punctuated by Kimura's vocal scatting. You can shake those cocktails on the Lido Deck while listening to this one.

There isn't a whole lot of information on Early Byrds aside from the lineup within the band. They are Hiroshi Nakanishi, Hiroyuki Fukue, Kunihiro Tsuji, Shingo Kanno, and Tsutomu Wajima (sorry, I couldn't find their kanji or what instruments they played). According to Discogs, they released two more albums in 1982 and 1986. As for Kimura, she has a J-Wiki profile which shows that she was active from the early 1970s in at least a few groups and that she was also getting into the Yamaha music contests a fair bit. Until her untimely passing at the age of 61 in 2013, she had also composed, narrated and recorded a vast number of commercial jingles to the extent that she had been called the Beethoven of Naniwa, to reference her home region in the Kansai area of Japan.

punipunidenki x Kan Sano x Shin Sakiura -- Gakugeidai-mae（学芸大前）

 

In the late 2000s, I was teaching a couple of students privately in the western end of Tokyo so I took the Toyoko Line to the tony Den'en-Chofu district, and each time I headed out there, the train passed through Gakugei Daigaku Station which had been built about a century ago right by Tokyo Gakugei University. The university itself though was uprooted and moved off a fair bit away in 1964 so that the station isn't anywhere near the campus anymore but the name of the station remained...maybe just to confuse newbies. While researching about the song here, I learned that the area around the station has become one of the trendier neighbourhoods west of Shibuya along the lines of Jiyugaoka and Shimo-Kitazawa. I never got to stop off at Gakugei Daigaku Station but we can all travel there vicariously through the video above.

And speaking about that song, I'm talking about "Gakugeidai-mae" (In Front of Gakugei Daigaku Station), a collaboration among those Neo-City Pop hipsters punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機）, Kan Sano and guitarist/music producer Shin Sakiura. Released a few months ago, I'm now pretty confident that the title is referring to the Toyoko Line station rather than the actual university itself. From what I've read of the explanation underneath the music video at YouTube, it all revolves around the lyric "I wanna meet you, darling, at Gakugeidai at 9 tonight" and has other enticing phrases such as "the lights of a small bar," "that song from the 80s," and "magical clichés". Melodically, there are some nostalgic chord progressions that personally take me back a bit to the original City Pop days. Meanwhile, punipunidenki and Sano trade vocals in a give-and-take between the one who is courting and the one who is being courted (and who's playing somewhat hard-to-get).

To finish off, here's a video on the actual Tokyo Gakugei University, just so that it doesn't feel left out. As well, there is a 2024 KKP article focusing on punipunidenki and Kan Sano and an earlier collaboration.

Izumi Sara -- Spacy Love（スペーシィ・ラブ）

 

Back in the spring of 2023, I posted an article on a very obscure singer, Izumi Sara（沙羅いづみ）, and her B-side "Heartbreak City"（ハート・ブレイク・シティ）which was a pretty amiable disco City Pop tune.

Well, today to start off this edition of Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I have the A-side this time, "Spacy Love" which seems to amp up the disco and the brass. Along with the disco, there is the City Pop and maybe even some exotic kayo in the intro. Written by same duo behind "Heartbreak City", lyricist Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composer/arranger Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）, the writer on Hip Tank Records gave their assessment of the song (translation by Google Translate):

"...a charmingly unpolished cult Japanese disco track—a medium-tempo, spacey disco number with a melody that evokes an oriental atmosphere...".

Perhaps there is a bit of a backhand swing in that compliment but I think that brass has some Yuji Ohno（大野雄二）or Spectrum vibes, and to be honest, I sometimes feel that the horns came in from a particular Ryohei Yamanashi（山梨良平）tune from the future or were inspired by Maynard Ferguson. Hip Tank Records also treats "Spacy Love" as one of those rare cult singles so if any of you City Pop fans can get a copy of it anywhere, consider yourselves fortunate.

Airport Kayo

 

I was once asked by one of the commenters about an Author's Picks regarding airports. After all, in terms of an old kayo kyoku, the airport serves as a setting for romantic farewells and (rarely) greetings. Plus, they can also be the launching point for adventures abroad. Now, I believe that I had yet to post such a list of airport-themed songs so I'm going with this one today to finish my trio of articles.

(1974) Teresa Teng -- Kuukou （空港）

(1975) Hi-Fi Set -- Doyoubi no Yoru wa Haneda ni Kuru no（土曜の夜は羽田に来るの）

(1984) Akina Nakamori -- Kita Wing （北ウィング）

(1987) Kye Eunsook & Keisuke Hama -- Kita Kuukou（北空港）

(2013) Keisuke Yamauchi -- Kushiro Kuukou （釧路空港）

Jerry Goldsmith -- Theme from "Barnaby Jones"

Wikimedia Commons

"A Quinn Martin production!"

For anyone who grew up in the 60s and 70s and was at least able to catch a little bit of the prime-time police procedurals or detective shows on television (usually it was just the opening credits since my brother and I were told in no uncertain terms to head to bed at the time they began), the name Quinn Martin was a familiar one.

At first, I'd thought that there was a Mr. Quinn and a Mr. Martin producing these cop shows but no, it was really one person named Quinn Martin. And although he didn't apply it to every one of his programs, there was a certain formula to the opening credits. A cool dramatic theme and graphic design intro sequence would start up with the gravitas-laden narrator stating the title of the show and the aforementioned quote at the top. Then, he would continue by introducing the main cast, the guest actors and finally the name of the episode title emblazoned on the screen. This was nicely parodied for the brief comedy series "Police Squad!".

The late great Jerry Goldsmith already has a lengthening file on KKP which includes his majestic theme for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". And for all of the exciting intros for Quinn Martin shows, my favourite theme song was his contribution to the series "Barnaby Jones". For a detective series regarding an elderly but wise ol' gumshoe played by Buddy Ebsen, this was a pretty kickass theme with the stomping brass and a calm and calculating flute sequence. Ever since I decided to write about this one for Reminiscings of Youth, the theme has been stuck in my head.

The audience must have gone crazy when they were watching the 1993 cinematic redux of "The Beverly Hillbillies" when Barnaby Jones showed up in a cameo. Ebsen was the star of the original TV sitcom which lasted even longer than "Barnaby Jones".

In any case, the detective series premiered on January 28th 1973. Now, what was hitting the top of the Oricon charts the next day afterwards?

1. Shiro Miya & The Pinkara Trio -- Onna no Michi (女のみち）

2. Naomi Chiaki -- Kassai （喝采）

3. Mari Amachi -- Futari no Nichiyoubi (ふたりの日曜日)

Kyoko Koizumi -- Hitori Machikado（ひとり街角）

 

Well, first off, I should recognize the fact that 80s aidoru and actress Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）celebrated her 60th birthday earlier this year. Hopefully, her kanreki has gone well. 

Less than a month ago, I featured Kyon-Kyon in techno dance mode through her 1989 song "Micro Wave"（マイクロWAVE）. Today, I'm heading back to her early days as an aidoru with her third single "Hitori Machikado" (Alone on the Corner) which was released in September 1982. I'd been accustomed to hearing Koizumi as this rather sassy-sounding teenybopper so hearing "Hitori Machikado", a song of being alone once again with only a seashell brooch as the final symbol of a former relationship, was interesting because the lass sounds less sass and more conventional high-falutin' aidoru.

Written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, I'm never going to turn down a disco beat in an aidoru tune and it's got those fleet-footed strings that occupied many of such a tune. "Hitori Machikado" peaked at No. 13 on Oricon. Another piece of trivia is that this single was Koizumi's first truly original song since the first two singles including her debut "Watashi no 16-sai" (私の16才）were actually cover songs of previously recorded tunes by other singers.

According to the J-Wiki article on the song, it picked up a number of awards including a Gold Prize at the Shinjuku Music Festival for that year. During the finale of that festival though, Koizumi was pelted with a raw egg which hit her on the head by some disgruntled person in the audience. Apparently, Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）, who had been the runner-up for the Gold, immediately came to her assistance.

Hibari Misora -- Tsugaru no Furusato（津軽のふるさと）

 

Almost two hours before this typing, we were watching NHK News when the announcers went to Red Alert to announce a major tremor hitting the Tohoku region, especially Aomori Prefecture which registered a Shindo 6+. Not sure how people and infrastructure are faring right now but daily commenter Brian Mitchell and his family live in Aomori, so I'm hoping that everyone there is doing OK.

Under the circumstances affecting Aomori Prefecture and to acknowledge the fact that the most recent episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）celebrated the 80th anniversary of the late Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）debut in the music industry, I'm bringing in a go-touchi (regional/local) song from the area as sung by the Queen of Kayo Kyoku, "Tsugaru no Furusato" (My Home, Tsugaru) which was originally released as a double-A-side single "Umakko Sensei"/Tsugaru no Furusato"（馬っこ先生/津軽のふるさと）back in January 1953.

Written and composed by Masao Yoneyama（米山正夫）, the video above seems to have Misora singing it in her later years but "Tsugaru no Furusato" sounds like a very melancholy paean to the old hometown area of mountains and apples. I remember reading that in the postwar period, there was a massive movement of young people as young as junior high school graduates from the rural regions to the cities to help out in driving the Japanese economy back to prosperity. I'm sure that songs like "Tsugaru no Furusato" must have tugged on the heartstrings and tear ducts of all those from the Tohoku or even other regions who were toiling away in Tokyo.

Hitomi Kaga -- Tokyo Flamenco（東京フラメンコ）

 

Feeling a bit dozy right now since I'm still digesting a hearty ramen lunch along with a gelato dessert. My gastrointestinal fortitude has been faltering of late, I'm afraid.

Anyways, commenter YMOfan04 has been giving me some names of rather obscure kayo kyoku singers from long ago, so I've been perusing them. One such person is Hitomi Kaga（加賀ひとみ）. There is a J-Wiki article on a Hitomi Kaga (same kanji) but it turns out that the name belongs to a mezzo-soprano opera singer whose high school years were in the 1980s, and looking at the thumbnail featuring the single cover above, this is definitely not the same Hitomi Kaga.

Nope, this Hitomi Kaga, whose real name is Masako Nishikawa（西川雅子）from Ishikawa Prefecture, released seven singles in the latter half of the 1960s before taking a long sabbatical until 1984. She then put out another three singles up to 1989 also throwing in her first album. Koga's third single was "Tokyo Flamenco" and not surprisingly it's got quite the Latin beat within the Mood Kayo setting although its intro sounds like a rather dramatic beginning to an ancient European war movie. "Tokyo Flamenco", which came out in November 1966, was written by Sakae Kouda（幸田栄）and composed by the legendary Minoru Endo（遠藤実）.

Kiyoshi Hikawa-- Tabi de Gozansu Ojarumaru（旅でござんす おじゃる丸）

 

A few years ago, I noted that the anime "Ojarumaru"（おじゃる丸）has a long-running list of theme songs to match its own longevity on television. It would seem that anyone who's anyone in the music industry has given their contribution to the purin-loving title character. Eclectic rock diva Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）is one of those people.

Well, a few weeks ago, I saw enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）provide his own song to this current season of "Ojarumaru", and though Hikawa has been dabbling into other genres over the years, he has come back to his genre roots for this one. His "Tabi de Gozansu Ojarumaru" (It's a Journey, Ojarumaru) is a spritely old-school enka tune with a nice amount of brass. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Hideo Mizumori（水森英夫）, the song takes me back when Hikawa began his career as the Boy Prince of Enka.

Ryuichi Sakamoto -- Photo Music（フォト・ムジーク）

 

Well, how about that for a coincidence? Just last week, I posted up an article regarding NHK-FM's late-night radio show "Crossover Eleven"（クロスオーバーイレブン）which focused on a lot of the popular non-Japanese music. And then just now, I discovered the radio program that immediately preceded it.

"Sound Street"（サウンドストリート）was a show which focused on both Japanese and foreign music that played in the 10-11 pm hour for about 45 minutes Mondays to Fridays. Lasting from 1978 to 1987, it was hosted by a number of folks in the music industry including the amazing Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）who held the Tuesday night slot for about five years in the 1980s. The above broadcast from June 1st 1982 had Sakamoto inviting his good friend Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）for a round of songs and laughs. Tats himself would host the Thursday program between 1983 and 1986.

The opening theme for "Sound Street" was Sakamoto's own creation "Photo Music" although I'm not sure whether it had been played right from the beginning of its run in 1978 (perhaps before its release on vinyl in 1981, there had been no official opener). Of course, that was also the same year that Yellow Magic Orchestra launched so I'm sure he and his fellow bandmates, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）and Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）, were fully in thrall to the technopop sound, and so not surprisingly, The Professor's dreamy and whimsical "Photo Music" is right up that YMO alley. "Photo Music" actually didn't get released until it found itself as a B-side to the light and fun "Computer Obaachan"（コンピューターおばあちゃん）which was released in December 1981.

Marie (folk duo) -- Orange House ni Sayonara（オレンジハウスにさようなら）

 

An orange house somewhere in Japan, eh? Well, I can think of a place with an orange sign and that would be the family restaurant Royal Host.

I was so glad that there was one right by the R&B Hotel where I stayed during my last trip to Japan almost a decade ago. Good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Well, apparently the orange house in "Orange House ni Sayonara" (Goodbye to the Orange House) was a cafe where a lass and her now erstwhile boyfriend used to frequent during their relationship. Now, she can only sneak a peek outside at her ex with a new girl on her arm in the coffeehouse. 

"Orange House ni Sayonara" was the 2nd single for the folk duo Marie（麻里絵）released in June 1977. From listening to this song whose words and music were provided by up-and-coming singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）, it's got that rather upbeat chorus accompanied by melancholy verses which I guess could represent the ups and downs of a typical romance life. Not sure if this had been used as a theme for a certain cafe (or family restaurant), although I don't think any commercial establishment would ever appreciate being associated with heartbreak. Heartburn, maybe, but not heartbreak. In any case, I had initially thought about writing on Marie's debut single "Ki ni Naru Anata"（気になるあなた ）, only to find out that I had already posted about it back in 2023.

Aya Shimazu -- Tokai no Suzume（都会の雀）

 

Enka singer Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）has been a frequent presence on shows such as "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）, and for good reason. She's one of the best chanteuses out there who also possesses a hint of soul in her delivery. But I feel a bit regretful that I seem to have usually posted articles which include her doing cover versions of other singers' songs. Maybe the last one I posted which was on a Shimazu original was "Natsu Tsubaki"（夏つばき）back in 2022.

Well, she was on "Shin BS Nihon no Uta" last night and she sang her 25th single from March 1999, "Tokai no Suzume" (Swallow of the City). Written by Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治）and composed by Masato Sugimoto（杉本眞人）, I'm kinda on the fence on whether the song is a contemporary enka or whether it's a blend of enka and urban contemporary which would then put it into the category of New Adult Music. Whichever genre I ultimately decide upon, it is a song that shows that soulfulness in her vocals

When I first heard the song last night on NHK, my impression of the lyrics was that the swallow, being a migratory bird, was a metaphor for any wayward ex-boyfriend or new boyfriend being invited (back) into the fold as it were by a lonely hope-deficient woman. However, seeing the official music video above, "Tokai no Suzume" may actually be more about a wayward buddy in arms stuck in a criminal crisis.

Midori Hara -- Aamer Jabar（アマロ・ジャバロ）

JRC, DG, ECHO, EC via Wikimedia Commons

Singer-songwriter Midori Hara（原みどり）has been a relatively recent addition to the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" family, but she's been making an impression upon me with her willingness to tackle a ton of genres including City Pop, jazz and Latin. She was even in the earliest incarnation of the eclectic SPANK HAPPY band doing some rock along the lines of YUKI from Judy & Mary. You can also take a gander at the Part 1 and Part 2 articles I posted to cover her 1988 album "KO・KO・RO・NOTE".

In 1989, Hara released another album titled "Aamer Jabar to Ieta Hi"（アマロ・ジャバロと言えた日...The Day I Say Aamer Jabar [sic]）. The title track happens to be called "Aamer Jabar" and I had to jump through a few linguistic hoops before I found out that the title originates from Indonesian. Looking through Hara's lyrics of the song, I saw the expressions "Selamat malan!" and "Selamat tinggal!" which are Indonesian for "Good night!" and "Goodbye!" respectively. Assuming that "Aamer Jabar" was also from the same language...I ran it through Google Translate but didn't get anything. However, it then suggested that I try it through Bangla which is actually spoken in Bangladesh and eastern India and I got the translation "I'm going". But if anyone who's fluent in the above languages can confirm or refute what I've found, please let me know. Terima kasih!

Well, it seems like Hara decided to go trilingual including her native Japanese to broadcast her song of heartbreak and death of romance in "Aamer Jabar". Hara's melody at least sounds quite romantic and rather exotic with a bit of R&B balladry and late 80s City Pop stylings. In a way, it's kinda like Junko Yagami's（八神純子）style of music from those late 1980s.

BEGIN -- Ojii Jiman no Orion Beer（オジー自慢のオリオンビール）

 

Summer arrived in the wee hours of this morning. It certainly feels like summer in my room since my room is traditionally the warmest in the entire home. But outside, it's not too bad out there; it's sunny but there's a nice breeze wafting through the area so the heat isn't really torrid.

In any case, to commemorate the official arrival of the hot season, I decided to see what kind of summer song I can post up today. I figure that something about beer would be nice since in both of my countries of birth and ancestry, the golden suds are absolutely beloved especially on a really hot day. 

Looking through the Net, I found this song was popping up a fair bit. BEGIN, the band of Okinawan blues, released a single in July 2002 titled "Ojii Jiman no Orion Beer" (Grandpa's Prized Orion Beer), an aural showcase for Okinawa's famous brand of beer. I've had Orion Beer a couple of times when I went to an Okinawan restaurant in Tokyo...it went down smooth enough. As the good folks put it in their lyrics, Orion is the elixir of the gods in Japan's southernmost prefecture. Not surprisingly, it became a commercial song for Orion itself.

Somehow, I don't think the Japanese needed the arrival of the summer solstice to go into happy hysterics today. But I think that a lot of beer of all brands was imbibed.

Yasuko Agawa -- She ~ Senior Dreams

 

Commenter YMOfan04 and I were conversing a bit on the melding of different genres for positive effect, and our observation was that Japanese composers and arrangers seemed to be especially enthusiastic. Anyone who has been a longtime reader of KKP has probably learned that I sometimes have trouble categorizing some songs here because the blend has been just that smooth.

Latin jazz, which wasn't invented by the Japanese by the way, has been one nice and tasty cocktail for decades upon decades. I found another fine example as recorded by jazz singer Yasuko Agawa（阿川泰子）on her 1981 5th album "Sunglow". The songwriters for "She ~ Senior Dreams" were Claudio Amaral and Jay Anthony Wagner and the result was this lovely classy tune which comes straight from Brazil but they couldn't decide on whether to have it come out as a slow bossa nova ballad or as something on the level of a fairly fast samba. So, they just opted to have it arranged into both modes. I kinda had to hold onto my desk when I heard the transition for the first time.

Kenshi Yonezu -- Karasu（烏）

Wikimedia Commons

Well, World Cup 2026 is now a little over a week old now, and so far, my biggest impression is that we are getting a lot of tied games this time around.

Toronto, one of the host cities for the event, has been quite busy entertaining, feeding and quenching the thirst of the tourist masses flowing in. I'm hoping that everyone has been enjoying themselves. As for me, I'll be happy just staying home.

For the past few months, this song has been filling the airwaves at NHK to represent the national broadcaster's share of showing the sports tournament. It's been a couple of years since I've covered a Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）song but I've got another opportunity with his latest digital single "Karasu" (The Raven) which was only released a few days ago.

I guess it's a Yonezu characteristic to bring in some of the whimsical and classical to one of his songs, and "Karasu" is no different. By the way, the video was filmed at one of the Imabari Shipbuilding Corporation's facilities in Shikoku, I believe. According to the J-Wiki article for "Karasu", Yonezu came up with the title after the bird on the emblem of the Japan Football Association. Plus, he also mentioned that he had become friends with one raven at his house when he was a kid. Of course, Yonezu was responsible for words and music, and the translation of the lyrics can be found at "Lyrical Nonsense".

Mebae Miyahara -- Omocha no Machi ni Samayotte（オモチャの街をさまよって）

Miki Yoshihito via Wikimedia Commons

 

Approaching the summer solstice, we only have a few days left of increasing sunlight time so let's make some good use of that by going out with buddies onto the patio for some drinks in the evening, although I'm well aware that the decrease of daylight time will be quite slow into the summer months.

Regardless, let's finish Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with a nice and refreshing tune by singer-songwriter Mebae Miyahara（宮原芽映）. She's been known for some eclectic material in the City Pop and pop veins, but this one has got that traveling-to-unknown-climes vibe. "Omocha no Machi ni Samayotte" (Wandering Through Toy Town) is a rather unusual title for this one. One would think that this would have more to do with Christmas, but actually, it's the name for a pretty stylish bossa jazz tune with accordion and saxophone in the mix. Again, cocktail time!🍹

"Omocha no Machi ni Samayotte" is a track on Miyahara's September 1987 third album "Mariposa". It was written by the singer with Kazutaka or Ichitaka Nishida（西田一隆）and Masaaki Kondo（近藤正明） behind the Latin melody.

Toshiki Kadomatsu -- Beams

 

I should remember that summer is just around the corner...in a couple of days as of this writing. Well, gotta think of some appropriate songs especially when we have Fridays like these on the blog.

Anyways, I was listening to the "Beams" CD within the "Light Mellow" series of albums as curated by Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和）last night for the first time in a while. Strangely enough, I realized that for the number of tracks from "Beams" that I've featured on KKP such as Sonia Rosa's（ソニア・ローザ）"Tokyo in the Blue"（東京イン・ザ・ブルー）and Kenichi Fujimoto's（藤本健一）"Asa no Wakare"（朝の別れ）, I hadn't brought Toshiki Kadomatsu's（角松敏生）"Beams" onto the blog, and that was the first track and title track for this "Light Mellow" CD.

Originally from Kadomatsu's 15th studio album from August 2003, "Summer 4 Rhythm", "Beams" sounds timeless. I mean that I couldn't believe that it was actually from the 21st century. I'd thought it was right from one of his 80s albums. The song is ethereal, fun and summery. It's like undergoing a tribal experience under the sun at high noon on a pure white beach after which frolicking in the ocean is mandatory. "Summer 4 Rhythm" was probably a tribal experience for many who bought the album since it hit No. 9 on Oricon.

Kazushi Inamura and Dai Ikkan Dai Hyakusho -- Koi wo Suru Nara（恋をするなら）

 

I take a look at the band Kazushi Inamura and Dai Ikkan Dai Hyakusho's（稲村一志と第一巻第百章）album cover for their 1977 sophomore "Free Flight", and it looks like the guys were taking an overnight drive in their native Hokkaido. And yet, the song that comes from the album is plenty sunny and summery.

"Koi wo Suru Nara" (If You Fall in Love), written and composed by the late Inamura, feels like there was some inspiration from Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）sound back around the same time, and it's about falling in love (or lust) in the big city. The arrangement of keyboards, percussion and guitars makes the song a classic-sounding 1970s City Pop tune. So, perhaps the image of being stuck out on a lonely dark Hokkaido road with a malfunctioning car ought to be replaced by one of a smoothly thrumming red convertible racing out on the highway to Hakone. You can also give another track on "Free Flight" a try: "Ni-gatsu no Nioi"（二月の匂い）.

Haruko Kuwana -- Biyaku '85（媚薬 '85）

 

I was trying to categorize this Haruko Kuwana（桑名晴子）song since it's some years removed from her peak City Pop days. Well, when I put it through the "What's My Genre?" wringer (Sonoteller is always busy), I got the following:

Synthpop (53%)

J-Pop (40%)

Blues, Funk, Alternative / Indie R&B (22%)

Funk (19%)

New wave (16%)

I'm talking about Kuwana's track, "Biyaku '85" (Aphrodisiac '85) from her June 1985 album "Don't You Know". The above genres are quite the heady mix which I guess would fit for a song with a title like that. Perhaps like the more famous "Love Potion No. 9", the aphrodisiac for 1985 has quite the mélange of spices and herbs and all that. But I'll just go with my Labels of Pop and J-R&B and if anyone can provide a more pinpoint version of that latter genre, I'd be grateful. In any case, it is quite heady and Kuwana's vocals are quite panther-y and slick. Yoshinobu Kojima（小島良喜）and Kyohei Sakayaki（月代京兵）were the composer and lyricist respectively.

Reiko Kato -- Feel Me

 

It's been a happy 24 hours all around here for Canada. Not only did the Blue Jays sweep a series from the Boston Red Sox, but Team Canada managed to thump the Qatari team in the World Cup last night. Not a bad day for sports.

Let us begin Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP then with a song that perhaps straddles the line between regular pop and City Pop (and yes, I do consider City Pop going beyond the 1990s) in my estimation. I only discovered "Feel Me", Reiko Kato's（かとうれいこ）penultimate single from July 1997, just in the last few months and why I think that the song can have at least one foot in the urban contemporary of it all is that its underlying rhythm feels like something that I've heard within the sophisticated pop of bands such as Swingout Sister. Words and music were supplied by the late singer-songwriter Nobuo Ariga（有賀啓雄）who seems to have a lock on some atmospheric arrangements when it comes to his creations including this tune and his own "Rain Dolphin" from a few years back. He was also the man behind the classic duet "Shibuya de Go-ji" (渋谷で5時）.

Azymuth -- Fly Over the Horizon

 

Usually I would have the weekly Reminiscings of Youth song today but I've decided to give that a break just for this time. The reason goes all the way back to a year ago when I posted my "If I Had an All-Night Radio Show..." article, just to show off my fantasy of hosting such a program with a mix of Quiet Storm and calmer City Pop ballads.

Well, in the last few days, I discovered that along with many a radio station everywhere, NHK-FM in Japan had the type of show I would covet. It was called "Crossover Eleven"（クロスオーバーイレブン）and it had its run between November 1978 and March 2001 on most nights between 11 pm and midnight. I've only been able to find a couple of broadcasts but it seems as if "Crossover Eleven" played a lot of non-Japanese fusion and R&B although the programmers were open to what was also trendy over the years such as New Wave. There was a host with that late-night DJ voice doing the introductions and any soothing narration to lull listeners into a restful condition.

For most of its run, "Crossover Eleven" had an opening theme which was quite cool and calming. "Fly Over the Horizon" or as it was known in Brazil, "Vôo Sobre O Horizonte", was recorded by the Brazilian jazz-funk band Azymuth that had first formed in 1973. It's a song that probably put listeners in the proper frame of mind for what was to come. "Fly Over the Horizon" was also a track on Azymuth's 1979 album "Light as a Feather".

If there were a late-night voice I would to emulate, it would be the one belonging to host John Van Driel. And the wonderful thing is that he's Canadian!

The Puppies -- Suki na Hito（好きな人）

 

Hey, KKP fans! How about taking a look at these puppies? OK...maybe slightly inappropriate but honestly speaking, the good folks at The Pet Collective have amassed this footage of the cutest puppies on Earth. Please enjoy the little ones as I use them as a segue to this song.

Commenter YMOfan04 showed me a number of these videos highlighting Japanese acts from the 1960s that I had never heard about. It made me realize how big the musical pyramids were when it came to the numbers of aidoru or Group Sounds or regular pop singers went in and out the revolving door of the music industry with 90% of them probably staying unknown or barely known while perhaps the top 1% at the peak became the iconic superstars.

One of these acts were called, strangely enough, The Puppies（ザ・パピーズ）. They don't have a J-Wiki entry so I had to do a bit of digging, and at one site, I found out that the duo was a sister act consisting of Nana（吉川ナナ）and Mimi Yoshikawa（吉川ミミ）. Maybe the powers-that-be were going for a similar Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）vibe. Information is still hard to come by but at another site run by Chinpei, I also discovered that in 1968, The Puppies were latched onto a Group Sounds quartet called The Moondogs（ザ・ムーンドッグス）to release one single titled "Ai ga Subete"（愛がすべて...Love is Everything）. Chinpei wondered whether this had been a bit of a desperation move to get their joint careers on the move.

Well, most likely it didn't take since the following year in 1969, The Puppies were back on their own when they released what has been called their second debut single "Aishite Horo Horo"（愛してほろほろ...So In Love）. But I'm focusing today on the B-side of this single "Suki na Hito" (The Man I Love). It is a sweet kayo kyoku ballad with the popular harmonica, jangling guitar and backing orchestra supporting the lovely voices of the Yoshikawa sisters. One notable thing is that this rather short song was created by some big wigs: lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）and composer Takashi Miki（三木たかし）. However, Chinpei notes that soon after this release, The Puppies faded from view.