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| From Nryate at Wikimedia Commons |
I only had that one two-night stay in Sapporo way back when and that was back in the late spring. If I have a chance to visit the city again, I wouldn't mind doing so during the winter. Even better, I'd like to check out the Snow Festival with its huge ice statues. However, I have to point out that the above photo is of the main entertainment quarter there, Susukino. I did walk along its main street when I visited.
Susukino in the dead of winter is what I think of when I listen to "Blue Night in Sapporo" by Miyoko Tashiro（田代美代子）from 1969. Written and composed by Domei Suzuki（鈴木道明）, it's very much a love-done-me-wrong Mood Kayo thanks to Tashiro's mournful vocals, the just-as-melancholy backing chorus, the sad and shuffling rhythm and of course, the title itself (and don't forget the crying sax). It's probably not the greatest feeling plodding through sub-zero cold after a romantic breakup.
Crazily enough, I discovered that Shinichiro Hakozaki（箱崎晋一朗）would sing this very song a decade later in 1979!
The song seem to fit squarely into the classic mood kayō tradition, where lush orchestration, restrained vocals, and urban nightlife imagery create an atmosphere somewhere between jazz lounge music and enka.
ReplyDeleteThey really came out with the smoky kayo during the 60s, didn't they?
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