Sayuri Ishikawa -- Daikon no Hana（だいこんの花）

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Yes, I realize that 85% to 90% of all plants have flowers but I hadn't been aware that the typical daikon was one of them. Of course for me, when it comes to daikon, I always think of the root part being grated into that pungent-tasting condiment for fish and tempura.

That is why question marks popped up around my head while I was watching enka legend Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）perform "Daikon no Hana" (Daikon Flowers) on the weekly broadcast of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本のうた）a couple of days ago. How would one make a song about these blossoms that I hadn't heard about?

Well, feel free to ask lyricist Osamu Yoshioka（吉岡治）and composer Chiaki Oka（岡千秋）since they were the ones behind Ishikawa's 97th single from March 2010. Yoshioka's lyrics read like a gentle treatise on how to approach life with all of its hills and valleys; the daikon blossoms only show up in one line as Ishikawa sings about how they will still be there as constantly as the sun rising up. Often when I've heard the singer perform recently, there's been a certain playfulness in her delivery but with "Daikon no Hana", that's been replaced by a reassuring grace and wisdom.

I've also realized that this is the first time that Ishikawa has been on the byline for an article since 2022. Good to see her again in the pages of KKP.