For some interesting reason, I came across a number of songs whose titles amount to "glass windows" in Japanese music including one by the mixture rock band King Gnu. Unless the music industry has a major Windex fetish, I gather that the window has been thematically used as a source of reflection or introspection after a certain unhappy situation.
But for this one, I have Hiroko Mita's（三田寛子）B-side to her January 1984 7th single "Haru no Bouken"（春の冒険...Spring Adventure） to start off this Hump Day. Indeed, this is titled "Glass Mado" (Glass Window), and it's quite the stylish aidoru tune by Mita with a splash of tango. And as noted above, the young lady in question here is looking at the titular window with a sense of sadness after an implied romantic breakup; she can see the reflection of herself as a happy lass yesterday but things cloud over considerably when it comes to tomorrow. Yes, definitely get the Windex!
"Glass Mado" was written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）, composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and arranged by Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）. I don't hear too much Latin from Hayashi usually so also for that reason, this song stands out for me.
This is far more sophisticated than its advertised image suggests! It appears that the window serves two purposes simultaneously. It functions as a mirror, reflecting the image of the singer that she remembers, but it also serves as a portal through which she can gaze outward and glimpse the future. While she can observe the first, she is unable to see the second because her past is still visible in the glass, obscuring her future. Mita’s comparatively youthful vocal style, in contrast, works against this sophistication rather than competing with it. A young, relatively innocent-sounding idol voice is placed within a rather mature musical context. This tension further emphasizes the lyric: the character is trapped between being “the girl from yesterday” and an adult she cannot yet perceive.
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