Platinum 900 -- 246

 

One of the most luxurious neighbourhoods in Tokyo is Shirokanedai（白金台）in Minato Ward. I was actually there once in my last few years there since a couple of students and I had lunch at a French restaurant in the area, and yep, I had to pull out the dark suit for that one. I can't remember the name of the place anymore but it was pretty chic and tasty. The waiter explained the nature and origins of each dish during our four-hour gastronomic odyssey. I don't ever recall being in any dining establishment for that length of time outside of wedding receptions.

Now, the reason I bring this up is that I had always wondered about the origin of the band name Platinum 900. HRLE92 posted the first article on the band back in 2020 when he posited that it was the most overlooked City Pop group. He did state that vocalist Naoko Sakata (坂田直子), guitarist and bassist Kazuhiko Nishimura (西村一彦), and keyboardist Hiroshi Iihoshi (飯星裕史) had started Platinum 900 in Tokyo (in 1994), and although I don't think that there was a J-Wiki article on them up at the time, there is one now. But as for that name, Nishimura finally gave an explanation on how they came to be called Platinum 900:

I want to aim for the kind of music a wealthy woman in her fifties—living in a detached house in Shirokanedai—might listen to on her Mark Levinson system in the living room... A "Chic Wealthy Lady" concept! From there, I’ll add "Platinum" to the name, and throw in "900" for good measure...

I have to admit that Nishimura had quite the ambitious thoughts stirring about in his head. So, according to him, the rich ladies had a thing for some sunny side music that did a toe dance between the genres of 90s City Pop and Shibuya-kei. OK, I can go for that. Now to further break down what he'd said, the word "shirokane"（白金）in Shirokanedai can mean "platinum" (although according to Jisho.org, the kanji is usually read as "hakkin"), so there is the first part of the band name right there, and as he said, he decided on the number 900 for some reason.

Then what I have here from Platinum 900's first maxi-single "missing star" from July 1998 can be considered to be the prototypical Platinum 900 song. "246", which was created by all of the band members, has got all of the elements: sunny side, Shibuya-kei and City Pop. And although I couldn't get all of the lyrics, I'm gathering that the title stands for Highway 246 which runs through several wards in Tokyo including the aforementioned Minato Ward before heading out through Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures. I can imagine that a drive there would be quite pleasant.

I also have to remark how Sakata's vocals remind me of the singing of Chisato Moritaka（森高千里）from those velvet tones and also because of the type of song "246" is which sounds similar to the type of music that the latter lady was tackling at around the same time.