Akiko Yano -- Oishii Seikatsu（おいしい生活）

 

I recall having entered the huge Seibu Department Store complex in Shibuya a few times; I was more of a Tower Records enthusiast up the street. Still, it was with some surprise that I heard of its permanent closure at 8 pm Wednesday night JST after 58 years of service. Unsurprisingly, there was a huge crowd outside its entrance when the time to say goodbye came as they flashed their smartphone cameras. There was a feature on the NHK news program about the closure and Shibuya Seibu's importance as a cultural hub as well as a commercial one. They even interviewed the elderly man who had designed the buildings that housed Shibuya Seibu and he was refreshingly unwistful about the demise of the complex stating that all things change including culture and brand names and that he was actually looking forward to the next several years of how the changes will affect Shibuya.

That won't be the other major change in the Youth Mecca. Another institution, Tokyu Hands, will be closing its doors at the end of November this year. I've already written something about that one.

Well, I thought in tribute to the closure of the Shibuya branch, I would see if I can find a jingle that it used. And although NHK couldn't show the commercial via Jme due to the usual copyright issues, I was able to find the ad on YouTube. It features the one-and-only Woody Allen innocently showing off the then-catchphrase for Seibu at the time, "Oishii Seikatsu" (Delicious Life).

TV commentator, copywriter and lyricist Shigesato Itoi（糸井重里）was the one who came up with "Oishii Seikatsu" as the slogan for Seibu as the one-stop shopping emporium for all things to fill up a wonderful life in 1980s Japan. Additionally, he also helped singer-songwriter Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）come up with the very brief song with the same name that adorns the Woody Allen commercial.

"Oishii Seikatsu" is a track on Yano's 6th studio album from June 1982, "Ai ga Nakucha ne"（愛がなくちゃね。...Gotta Have Love）. A tropical exotica tune done up technopop style, Yano and Itoi came up with the shopping list lyrics:

Dried sheets of sardines, a lap pillow, a plastic model kit, a leisurely stroll

A big TV, a tin badge, beautiful weather

Shirataki noodles, a home run, pink-colored paper

Ear cleaning, a new shirt, the evening glow, a kiss

Mmm... that was a treat.

I can only marvel how it was there back in 1982, especially when it came to the restaurant floor up at the top and then the basement floor with all sorts of food selling down there. As for what the Seibu designer said, I'm also looking forward to how Shibuya overall will change in the next several years.