I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
I heard this on a recent episode of "Uta Con" (and nope, it wasn't on this week) and found out that this was a Stardust Revue（スターダストレビュー）song. And it was used for a Calpis commercial back in the day.
"Yume Densetsu"(Dream Legend) was the band's 5th single from May 1984 and it starts off with a synth-powered slow burn before the score emerges into the light to begin a fun and hopeful summer song. Written and composed by vocalist Kaname Nemoto（根本要）with band percussionist Toshikatsu Hayashi（林紀勝）helping out on the words as well, the verses remind me a bit of Olivia Newton-John's"Xanadu" and his lyrics have that star-crossed lovers theme in there. No matter how long or how far, they will find each other over and over again.
According to the liner notes of Stardust Revue's "Hot Menu" BEST compilation via the J-Wiki article for the song, Nemoto had joked back then that if "Yume Densetsu" hadn't become a hit, it would have been the end for the band. Well, it made it up to No. 40, so perhaps it wasn't a runaway hit, but the band's still here in 2026.
A very distinctly Japanese accolade was given to Stardust Revue and "Yume Densetsu" when the song was adopted in October 2013 as the departure melody at Gyoda Station on the Takasaki Line in the city of Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, Nemoto's hometown. Incidentally, the band also acts as tourism ambassadors for the city. "Yume Densetsu" was first included in an album via their July 1984 BEST compilation "TO YOU ~ Yume Densetsu".
It's frigid as all heck out there in Toronto but March 17th, aka St. Patrick's Day, wasn't going to send anyone away from the Irish pubs, and I'm assuming that the places are still jam-packed with folks enjoying the Irish holiday. I personally don't celebrate the holiday myself but I remember a few times back in my Tokyo days when I joined fellow teachers and students for a pint at the local Irish pubs there such as Dubliners.
I recall in past years that I tried to come up with kayo kyoku with an Irish theme on St. Patrick's Day, but came up wanting. I think in those cases, I searched and perhaps found some songs with "Green" in their titles.
Well, I realized that the 1913 folk song"Danny Boy" has been sung in Japan through what I've learned while doing the blog over the years and from performances on TV by the older kayo kyoku singers. Although I don't know when the above performance was made, Akira Fuse（布施明）has given his own rendition of the tear worthy ballad. And below, there is singer-songwriter Ayaka Hirahara（平原綾香）with her cover of "Danny Boy" which was on her 2011 album"My Classics 3" with her own Japanese lyrics.
I just had to include Bing Crosby's take from 1943. Anyways, I hope that all of you are enjoying yourselves out there tonight.
Hello, J-Canuck here. I've got another article via Fireminer. Enjoy!
In my previous post about TM NETWORK’s“Come On Everybody”, I briefly touched on their concept album “CAROL ~A DAY IN A GIRL'S LIFE 1991~”. It’s time for me to touch another song from that album, the incredible “BEYOND THE TIME ~Möbius no Sora wo Koete~” (BEYOND THE TIME ~Beyond the Möbius Universe~ BEYOND THE TIME ~メビウスの宇宙を越えて~).
Bandai approached Tetsuya Komuro (小室哲哉) in 1987 about writing the theme song for their upcoming anime film “Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack”(機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア). Yoshiyuki Tomino (富野 由悠季), the creator of “Mobile Suit Gundam” and the film’s director, sat down and talked to Komuro about the movie and his musical vision for it. It should be noted that Tomino already had some experience as a lyricist under the pseudonym Rin Iogi (井荻麟).
Any analysis of “BEYOND THE TIME” can’t be complete without touching on “Char's Counterattack” first. The film is the culmination of the saga starring the protagonist and antagonist of the original Gundam, Amuro Ray (アムロ レイ) and Char Aznable (シャア アズナブル). On the backdrop of a giant asteroid descending upon Earth and threatening a nuclear winter, the two men clash while reflecting upon the road that has brought them there, their failures, regrets, neuroses, hope and despair. And looming over all is the question of can humanity ever learn to overcome their flaws and march toward a more humane future, or are they destined to forever be trapped in a Möbius loop of personal failures and civilization-wide self-destruction.
It was written that Komuro came up with the melody for “BEYOND THE TIME” in just 20 minutes, having been inspired by Tomino’s vision of a naniwa-bushi (浪花節) on the cosmic stage. The string instruments in particular are meant to represent the voices of humans, and the way their sound interfaces with the synthesizer can be thought to symbolize the friction and the pull humanity feels when they interact with universalist ideas.
The lyricist for “BEYOND THE TIME” was singer-songwriter Mitsuko Komuro (小室みつ子) who also wrote the lyrics for several TM Network (including “Get Wild”) tracks under the penname Kari Saimon (西門 加里). She correctly identified that “Char’s Counterattack” was the crystallization of the entire Gundam franchise till that point. The lyric focuses on two themes: “Humanity repeats their sins” and “Beyond the claims of justice and freedom, men fought to protect those they love.” Just like the film itself, the lyrics are full of hope for humans to one day learn to connect with each other and be able to change the seemingly-inevitable encroaching ruin.
TM Network recorded “BEYOND THE TIME” while on the road for their Kiss JapanTM NETWORK Tour '87〜'88 (November 9, 1987 to February 26, 1988). They released the song as a single on March 5, 1988, 7 days before the film’s theatrical debut. Both the film and its theme song enjoyed a great reception.
“BEYOND THE TIME” since its release has been covered by many singers, and TM Network also re-recorded it several times, most recently as the song appeared as the outro theme for episode 11 of the latest Gundam series “Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX” (機動戦士Gundam GQuuuuuuX). The show was co-written by famous director Hideaki Anno (庵野 秀明) who actually worked as a mecha designer for “Char's Counterattack” (you can read more about his involvement in this excellent article.) So yes, things do go full cycle sometimes.
I’ve always maintained the position that “Char’s Counterattack” is a good movie if you’re casually familiar with the original Gundam plotline. But if you’ve bought into the Amuro vs. Char rivalry and connected with the saga on an emotional level, then the movie is a masterpiece. Yoshiyuki Tomino’s animated works are flawed, but they have a timeless quality thanks to his excellent psychoanalysis and hope in humanity’s ability to connect and forgive. I think that “BEYOND THE TIME” is also timeless for the same reasons. I welcome the fact that it will continue to haunt us for a long time and remind us that there is still hope ahead.
I want to end this article on a hopeful note, so I’ll bring up the story that an SD card containing the song was brought to the International Space Station (ISS) on December 21, 2021 as part of a promotion for Nikkei, inc.’s protein crystallization in space service Kirara. The SD card was returned to Earth on January 25, 2022 with a certificate that it stayed on the ISS.
Kasuga performing at the Kurashiki no Hito promotional recital. The band conductor (extreme right) is likely Hayashi. From Mikasa, 14 April 1968 Issue
It goes without saying that a singer's voice is their main attraction... Well, most of the time I would think it is. It certainly is one of them for me. I tend to favour the smoother, resonant vocals of singers* from the 1930s and immediate postwar era, and value the singer's ability to convey emotion without having to go over the top - I'm looking at you, do-enka singers. I suppose it's no surprise by now that the one who is the perfect intersection of everything I like in a singer's voice is Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎).
Hachi ordinarily delivered his songs according to the music sheets with little to no room for adlibbing, for this seemed to be a hardline expectation for artistes in the old kayo world (approx. late 1920s to early 1960s). Such an expectation began to fade by around the 60s or so as more and more amateur singers came on to the scene. By the time enka the genre sprouted (1964-65), conveying anguish/sadness/drama, as well as not sounding "perfect" nor singing according to the (music) books seemed to take priority - in enka, at least. Nevertheless, Hachi still mostly sang as he did when recording songs, though on the rare occasion he does surprise me. One of such times is in Kurashiki no Hito (Woman of Kurashiki).
Part of Kasuga's late-to-take-off "Onna Series"* (女シリーズ), Kurashiki no Hito hit the shelves in March 1968, was written by Takashi Tsukasa (司太可志), and composed by Isao Hayashi (林伊佐緒). I got to know this song several years ago when I was still testing the waters with Hachi. I was on board with it fairly quickly with it being a romantic blues Mood Kayo with the saxophone blaring away and all. Topic-wise, its your standard enka and Mood Kayo fare, i.e. our song protagonist is reminiscing and pining for the titular woman from Kurashiki - a love that wasn't meant to be. However, at the time the Hachiro Kasuga whom I knew as generally sounding measured if not somewhat gloomy seemed to let loose and essentially cried out in anguish at the song's crescendos. So emotional is this cry that his voice was on the cusp of breaking. I was floored. I don't know why, but it sent my heart racing. "Kasuga could sound like that??" I thought. Admittedly, I still feel the same way now, despite it being at least 6 years from that very moment. I suppose there's something attractive in him straying from his usual, rather placid demeanour and expressing more primal-sounding emotion.
I don't think Hachi ever reprised the same vocal style in recordings since then, and I did wonder why this sudden anomaly with Kurashiki no Hito. This is pure speculation on my part, but this song emerged around the time when blues Mood Kayo singers like Shinichi Mori (森進一) and Mina Aoe (青江三奈) made it big. Both were known not just for their unique, husky vocals, but also heavily emotive cries or sighs of anguish - particularly Mori. Considering Hayashi sensei's melody was made in a similar vein to the younger singers' hits, I wonder if Hachi decided - or was instructed - to take on a style not unlike them.
Moving on, Kurashiki no Hito is a go-tochi song that is set in Kurashiki, a quaint town in Okayama prefecture where the vestiges of the Edo era remain. It seemed like it with the Kurashiki town council's support, with hopes that it'd boost tourism - one of the pluses that come with being featured in a go-tochi songs. To that end, the song was also quite heavily promoted in the town/the prefecture, enabling it to perform fairly okay in terms of sales. Unfortunately, it didn't really stand up to the test of time, and it wouldn't be wrong to say that it's mostly a deeply buried gem.
I got this at a a used book flea market in Shinbashi for 200 yen
I've not been to Kurashiki yet, but I have in my mind's eye only what photos, videos, TV shows, have shown me, and the romantic picture Tsukasa had so vividly depicted in Kurashiki no Hito: traditional houses with snow white walls and ash grey tiled roofs, waterways lined with willows hanging lazily over the water's surface, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was considered Japan's answer to Venice. I think it's high time I heed the call of this go-tochi song and head down there for one of my solo trips. I'm also a big fan of author Seishi Yokomizo's detective Kosuke Kindaichi series, where several instalments were set in Okayama. There's a little museum exhibition in a town around Kurashiki where Yokomizo had evacuated to during WWII and served as the setting to the series' first tale, so that'd definitely be on my must-visit list.
I would've loved to see Hachi singing Kurashiki no Hito live. From Mikasa, 14 April 1968 Issue
Anyway, let's circle back to Kurashiki no Hito to end things off. Despite it being a relatively unknown Kasuga Bushi, it's sung fairly regularly at the Kasuga Enka Denshokai. I decided to give it a go for myself during my first visit of the year. Ordinarily, I'd be shaking from the nerves, or being too self-conscious with singing the songs "right," but I thought that if Hachi could let loose and put his all into conveying Kurashiki..., so could I. I think it was the only song that I was able to sing with no inhibition. And by golly, that felt so good! And to sing it with/for people who enjoy Kasuga bushi as much or even more than I do felt so good.
*A series of songs with the word "onna"(女) but read as "hito"(ひと) in their titles. It was technically kickstarted by Kasuga with Nagasaki no Hito (長崎の女) in 1963. However, it became associated with Saburo Kitajima (北島三郎), who more consistently released songs of this theme since his Hakodate no Hito (函館の女). By the time Kasuga began to be more consistent with the "Onna series" in the late 1960s, the series' association with Kitajima essentially became almost set in stone.
By chance, did anyone check out the Oscars last night? To be honest, and I have most likely mentioned this in past articles, I had once been a regular watcher of the Academy Awards when I was a kid because of the glitz and the fact that it was Hollywood celebrating Hollywood. But living in Japan all those years gradually weaned me off due to the fact that the live presentation was happening while I was at work.
Then when I returned to Toronto for good in the early 2010s, I realized that I had lost interest in the glitz and the celebration of celebrity. Plus, my track record of seeing those Oscar movies is frankly abysmal. The last Oscar-nominated movie I caught was "Oppenheimer" back in 2024. I don't really consider myself a cinephile and yet, I still cherish some of the older stuff such as "Casablanca" and "Roman Holiday" (as for newer stuff, there is "Inception" and a few of the MCEU movies). And to be frank, when I occasionally catch a movie, the purpose is to get away from reality for a couple of hours and be entertained...not necessarily to be educated or moved.
OK, I'll just jump off my rapidly sinking soapbox and give you my latest Author's Picks. Over the years, I have discovered that from time to time, certain songs pop up which have at least a titular connection with Hollywood or movies, so here's a short but varied list.
Happy Monday! I've always had a fascination for those songs that kinda slipped through the net, so to speak. What I'm referring to are tunes by a singer that never got put onto one of their studio albums from a single such as a forgotten B-side or even an A-side. And perhaps, they never even made it onto one of their early BEST collections.
Being a singer and songwriter, the Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" is pretty long by now, but I think I've managed to find one of those mystery songs. Her "Ashita Koso, Anata"(Tomorrow For Sure, You) was her 6th single from November 1981, and according to one site, it was used as a jingle for a Kadokawa Bookstore commercial. It did eventually get onto a Yano special compilation CD called "Ai ga Tarinai"（愛がたりない...Not Enough Love） which came out in January 1995 and supposedly consists of those ignored songs.
The other notable thing about this particular Yano song is that aside from the singer coming up with words and music, her husband at the time, Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）, and Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）were behind the arrangement (and you can hear him as background chorus). In fact, looking at the list of musicians involved, this was virtually a Tats-and-Yellow Magic Orchestra collaboration with Sakamoto on synthesizer, Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）on drums, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）on bass and Tats also helping out on guitar while Yano was singing away. I wouldn't even say that "Ashita Koso, Anata" was a technopop tune at all. If anything, it sounds closer to being a Shibuya-kei tune (a decade before the genre really came into being) with the happy-happy beat and Tats' chorus. If there had been a music video, I would have imagined a 60s band playing on some old music-variety show. Plus, there is something about the opening of each verse which reminds me of the music from "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". It's one of the rarest of the rare in many ways.
As someone's who communicated in the Japanese language and enjoyed Japanese pop culture for so many decades, it's always been interesting how some of those gairaigo（外来語）have been adopted into regular usage within the nation where I used to live. For example, an air conditioner in Japan is known as the cooler, and the hood of the car is called the bonnet. Speaking of cars, the horn on one isn't called a horn in Japan; it's called the claxon (or klaxon). I've barely heard claxon used for anything in Canada although I think it's used more widely in the UK. In fact, my entry into the lexical usage of claxon was through Junichi Inagaki's（稲垣潤一）mellow ballad hit "Natsu no Claxon"（夏のクラクション）from 1983.
Well, this will be my second song discovery using the term claxon. And it's from another City Pop veteran who used the term for another ballad. "Claxon". The B-side to singer-songwriter EPO's breakthrough 1980 debut single, her cover of "Downtown", I actually did hear this through her debut album of the same name in March of that year.
Written and composed by the singer herself, "Claxon" seems to paint a bittersweet picture of two ships passing in the night via a gas station. EPO has always been great mixing the contemporary with the past in terms of musical stylings, and "Claxon" is no different. It feels like a nostalgic bobbysoxer ballad but there is also something there that says "Yep, it's the Japanese 80s alright!".
Last year, I had the honour of meeting Isao Hayashi's (林伊佐緒) eldest son, Masao Hayashi (林眞佐緒), during a mini fan club gathering in commemoration of the singer-songwriter's 30th death anniversary. It was so surreal - the octogenarian was almost a mirror image of his father, so it was like meeting Hayashi sensei, but also not really, but also really. We had lunch after visiting the Hayashi family grave, and among the several things discussed over sushi, we got a better glimpse into Isao Hayashi the man.
But first, my general impression of Hayashi sensei. He just looks like a chill guy. In photos, he's got this rather laidback, sometimes a little sleepy look. In video clips, he gives off a rather friendly, unaffected air, albeit still looking rather sleepy. His fun little ditties also had me assuming that he would've been fun-loving, and perhaps on the somewhat chattier side. Hypothetically speaking, aside from my Hachiro Kasuga, I think Hayashi would be a singer I would be less afraid to approach. Perhaps I'm not completely off the mark in terms of the "working outside" Hayashi as other singers have testified to him being rather easygoing. However, according to Masao, "at home" Hayashi was essentially silent. On the rare occasion he wasn't on regional recital tours (so, probably less than 10 days per month at his peak), he'd be quietly unwinding at home. The man wouldn't even hum a tune! This revelation surprised us all at the fan club luncheon, but in hindsight, if I had to be out and about for most of the month, the last thing I want to do when I get home is expend more energy. I already get like that after a single day of activity, let alone several weeks. I also recall someone saying that even in later-day TV appearances, he tended to leave the talking to others. I guess Hayashi was just a way quieter figure that I (we) had once assumed.
Anyways, let's poorly segway into the song I'll be featuring this article, Sogen wo yuku otoko (The man wandering the plains) from 1957. Hayashi composed and arranged this himself, and his partner in crime Ryo Yano (矢野亮) took care of the lyrics. It's a Western-themed tune that catches a cowboy on an aimless journey as the sun sets over the plains. It's slow, steady pace is not unlike the walking gait of the horse he's on. Our protagonist is probably a stoic lone wolf who sheds nary a tear, but something about the twilight hours has him feeling sentimental and maybe a little homesick. Hayashi's softer, more emotive vocals here, which is a departure from his usual hearty style, captures the cowboy's blues. Yet, the tender strings still somewhat hold that sense of adventure present in Wild West-themed works, so despite feeling a little down, it seems like our cowboy still looks to tomorrow for his next adventure.
Although Sogen wo yuku otoko has an overall forlorn quality, it encapsulates an amalgamation of my earlier impression of the singer-songwriter with what his son shared: relaxed and easygoing; somewhat reticent, but still warm and kinda fun. I like this song quite a lot - it's great during golden hour - and I guess it's why I'm starting to like Hayashi a little more than before (from the point of coming across Tokyo Serenade (東京セレナーデ), that is).
This saying has been making the rounds in Toronto for a few weeks now: maybe we're done with winter but winter isn't done with us. And sure enough, it isn't. We're getting another dumping of the white stuff including some freezing rain, and the high temperature come Tuesday will be -6 degrees Celsius. Just makes one want to flee for the warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?
Today signifies the Ides of March and thus we are still about a week away from official spring, but hopefully viewers will forgive me if I opt to jump the gun and get some spring here on KKP. We have Candies'"Haru Ichiban" (春一番）and Yoshie Kashiwabara's（柏原芳恵）"Haru Nanoni" (春なのに）as prime representatives of the season. However, I also found this proud harbinger for spring recently.
"Sakura Zensen"(Cherry Blossom Front) was Rumiko Koyanagi's（小柳ルミ子）17th single from January 1976 (so I guess the songwriters were also pushing for an early spring back then, too, huh?), and it's notable for that sharp trumpet heralding the coming of spring and perhaps better things to come. Within Koutarou Aso's（麻生香太郎）lyrics, there is reference to a past love that became part of history during the dark winter but also a look forward to warmth, high school baseball season and of course those hothouse strawberries...all in the prefecture of Kagoshima.
Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）took care of the melody while Shunichi Makaino（馬飼野俊一）was the arranger. "Sakura Zensen" maanged to peak at No. 21 on Oricon, and apparently though it didn't get onto one of Koyanagi's studio albums, it has been included in some of her BEST collections.
Yes, I realize that I did put up that White Day list last night, but I figure that I have one more related song within me. Besides, I also noted that I was one City Pop article short of the usual five that I post so I'm making amends here.
My Satoshi Ikeda（池田聡）file on KKP isn't too long and what I have on him mostly shows his 90s material aside from his debut single which I featured on The Works of Ken Sato（佐藤健）. Therefore, let me introduce "I Love You" which was the B-side to his second single"Jealousy"（j・e・a・l・o・u・s・y） from January 1987. Composed by Ikeda, written by Hiroko Asano（浅野裕子）and arranged by Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）, it's got synths and guitars crashing with abandon to show off that exciting night in the big city.
Wherever you are in Japan, I hope you and your significant other are enjoying White Day!
I remember those old Trident sugarless gum commercials back in the day which boasted that four out of five dentists recommended the snack. I also wondered where they had buried that fifth contrarian dentist.
Anyways, several weeks ago back in January, I posted up the first article for 80s aidoru Yukari Kato（かとうゆかり）which was for her 3rd single"Neppu Hankyu"（熱風半球）from 1983. That particular song was some Latin disco City Pop but going back to her debut single from February 1982, "Sugar Nuki no Saturday Night"(Sugarless Saturday Night) was quite the different animal.
And that's because it sounds like something that would have been played on a 1950s jukebox at Arnold's on "Happy Days". Call Richie and Mary Beth to the dance floor! Kato really chewed on the lyrics like a good juicy steak, too; the Chanels would have been proud of her. As with "Neppu Hankyu", Edison Watanabe（渡辺敬之）was responsible for the melody for "Sugar Nuki no Saturday Night" but for her debut, it was Mayumi Shinozuka（篠塚満由美）who was the lyricist.
I only got the news earlier today through the regular NHK News broadcast, but veteran seiyuu and actress Masako Ikeda（池田昌子）passed away on March 3rd from an intracerebral hemorrhage at the age of 87. In her long career, she had a lot of roles of course, but one of her most famous roles was as the beautiful if enigmatic Maetel in "Galaxy Express 999"（銀河鉄道999）. She was certainly one of the first anime characters that I got to remember as a young kid.
What I didn't know was that Ikeda had also been the regular actress for Audrey Hepburn when creating the Japanese dubbed versions of the latter's movies such as "Sabrina".
Now, my first instinct was to see whether I could find anything that Ikeda had sung during her long career but I realized that she had just stuck to her voice roles and work as a narrator. Therefore, I did some searching within the "Galaxy Express 999" franchise for any songs there. Up to this point, I've only seen several episodes of the original TV anime and then the first movie in 1979 featuring Godiego's（ゴダイゴ）big hit.
If I'm not mistaken, there were two other motion pictures featuring anime's most famous train with the second of these being "Galaxy Express 999 ~ Eternal Fantasy" which came out in theatres in March 1998. Ikeda returned as Maetel but the band taking care of the theme song this time wasn't Godiego but rock band The Alfee. Comparing "Brave Love 〜 Galaxy Express 999" with Godiego's "Galaxy Express 999", whereas the latter was all about the excitement and adventure of being on such a special train, the former which was written and composed by Toshihiko Takamizawa（高見沢俊彦）was a very Alfee-esque song with its triumphant anthemic style. It would almost be like yelling out "Galaxy Express 999...ASSEMBLE!".
The single was released in February 1998 as The Alfee's 45th single and it peaked at No. 9 on Oricon. My condolences go to Ms. Ikeda's family, friends and fans.
Ah...yes. Shiroi Koibito（白い恋人...White Lovers）...commenter Brian Mitchell (who lives in Aomori Prefecture) and a lot of Japanese travelers ought to know the above wafer cookie very well. I even bought some of them myself as souvenirs. It's one of the more famous ones from the Tohoku area and it goes well with coffee or tea.
Now, I realize that it's Urban Contemporary Friday but when I was watching Jme earlier tonight, I was quickly reminded that March 14th is indeed White Day, the day when the guys give their own version of Valentine's Day chocolates to the gals at school or in the office. So it's a bit of a rush job and after looking out for the appropriate songs on this list, I just didn't want to throw all that out and wait until tomorrow, so the fifth slot today will be for songs that have the word "white" or "shiroi" in their titles.
One of my favourite tracks on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Miss M" album from 1980 was "Secret Love". In fact, I love it so much that I gave it its own article a few years after posting about the album. One YouTube commenter even mentioned that "Secret Love" seemed to be the great connector between American AOR and City Pop in Japan.
The song does go down smoother than a Bailey's Irish Cream. However in the 1980 album, there were those horns which suddenly blasted a hole in my eardrums during the instrumental bridge. It was somewhat jarring; otherwise, I would have pegged it as the perfect AOR song.
But that seems to have been resolved when one of the two guys responsible for its composition, guitarist Jay Graydon (the other guy was David Foster, so it was Airplay behind the music), released his third solo album, "Past to Present - The 70s" in 2006. The horns are now gone but the rest of the music and arrangement has basically been untouched, and this time, the vocals are provided by the lyricist Marc Jordan who also does a great job. Still feel like bombing down the Ventura in a convertible during dusk or dawn while hearing this.
The whole thing about anime is that it's filled with oft-repeated tropes and expressions. And one of them is the well-worn offer by a young wife to her husband: Would you like to have a bath, dinner or me? Of course, most of the time, it's played for laughs.
Strangely enough, that's what I'm reminded of when I listen to Keiko Saijo's（西城慶子）"Okaerinasai" (Welcome Home). A track from her 1981 album"Twilight Silence"（トゥワイライト・サイレンス）, it's written by Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. It's also quite the sultry and extended version of the multiple-choice question that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Along with the let's-make-out arrangement, there is some added jazziness which isn't surprising since Saijo is a jazz chanteuse by profession.
Cafe Renoir...there are a number of places in Tokyo whose interiors seem to transport the customer back into the past by a few decades just from the decor and the furnishings. The Tokyo Prince Hotel up to 2016 and Nakano Broadway come to mind. However, when it comes to coffee houses, Cafe Renoir is the coffee house equivalent of that portal to the past.
I've been to a few branches such as the one in Ueno, although the one in the video above (by kei japantravel) seems to be in Ginza. There are interior decor variations depending on the branch but whenever I enter one, I get the impression that I'm surrounded by something from the 1960s or 1970s complete with that smell of tobacco infused into the chairs and the walls (there was a time when people could happily smoke like chimneys in cafes).
Maybe what I will say next is unfair to singer-songwriter Miyako Chaki（茶木みやこ） (to whom I will apologize profusely) but whenever I hear a lot of her music, I get the impression that this was the type of enjoyably light and melodic tapestry that I could hear accompanying a trip to a place like Cafe Renoir. That was the case when I posted my first article on Chaki, "Chizu douri ni Hashirikitta Anata"（地図どうりに走り切ったあなた）, several years ago.
Well, I have the same vibes for her "Bye Bye Blues" which was composed by the lady herself while Ritsu Iwasawa（岩沢律）took care of the lyrics. A track from her August 1977 album"Rainbow Chaser"（レインボウ・チェイサー）, this feels like the type of music floating over and around a couple of buddies painting the town red on a major shopping excursion and then taking a well-earned break in a chic coffee house somewhere in Tokyo of the 1970s. In fact, some of that keyboard work seems to scream for inclusion in a soundtrack of some detective drama. Not sure whether the title is a declaration of farewell to those bad feelings or the dark miasma following a heartbreak. Chaki's music is cheerful enough but of course, kayo veterans know that happy melodies often come with sad lyrics.
I do like the album title though. "Rainbow Chaser" could describe how the Japanese were feeling back in those days when the Economic Miracle was finally paying dividends for everyone. People could actually dream of heading off to foreign climes on a vacation or buying something on the luxurious scale.
Here I was about to start the Urban Contemporary Friday round of songs on KKP with Ginji Ito's（伊藤銀次） percolating "Cherry Night", only to find out at the last minute that I had already provided an article about this track from his 1986 album"Get Happy" back in 2023, almost exactly four years ago. Oh, dopey me!😵
It took some scrolling but I was able to find something Ito and City Pop and it's from the album that followed "Get Happy", his 1987 "Nature Boy". "Heart and Soul" had the same songwriters: composer Ito and lyricist Youta Yumeno（夢野よう太）, but this time, the result isn't overcaffeinated and happy. Instead, it's a more sultry and soulful combination on the side of sophisticated pop, which was a genre that was getting added to the City Pop mix in the late 1980s. Not sure if the song included real horns or synth horns, but hey it's all good.
Back in 2018, I introduced a band onto the blog called Special Favorite Music via their 2017 single"Ceremony" which had quite a bit of groove with the interesting inclusion of a violinist and a flutist among their band members.
I'm now going a bit further back in their discography to 2015 when they released their EP "Romantics" with the track of choice today being "Gold". Written and composed by Naohiro Okuda, the brass and violin are more in the foreground here and the whole arrangement sounds like an upbeat indies pop number straight from Shimo-Kitazawa, Tokyo. The music video is pretty fantastical although the slightly out-of-focus shots of people in animal masks were pretty creepy.
According to their Biography page, Special Favorite Music went from a 7-piece band down to a trio from 2019 but from 2024 which was their 10th anniversary, they apparently recruited new members. So, it'll be interesting how the folks sound now.
A little over three years ago, I did a ROY article on Naked Eyes' "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" which was a New Wave version of an old Burt Bacharach and Hal David easy-listening ditty that I used to hear on AM radio all the time. Not only was I surprised but I was actually quite gobsmacked that a song like this could be made into a synthpop example of coolness.
Well, Naked Eyes pulled off another hit several months after that one. On April Fool's Day in 1983, they released "Promises, Promises" which I remember getting a lot of airplay on the radio and plenty of TV play on the music video shows. I will always remember that svelte young woman drying off her hair to the synthy jazz-soul. "Promises, Promises" hit No. 13 on Canada's RPM while in the States, it reached No. 11. On the Wikipedia article for the song, I read that Madonna even provided background vocals for the extended versions of it.
Up at Straw-Wara, I discovered that three hit tunes from Japan were also released on the same day as "Promises, Promises".
Recently, I have been listening to my various CDs again and one I got to hear once more after a long while was Mioko Yamaguchi's（山口未央子）"Yume Hiko"(Dream Flight) album (pictured lower right) from 1980. Being her debut release, I covered the album and then a couple of songs from the album on their own: the title track and "Itsuka Yurarete Tooi Kuni"（いつかゆられて遠い国）. With the pretty, mysterious and silken Yamaguchi covering the two fresh genres of technopop and City Pop within "Yume Hiko", if I were asked by anyone interested in popular Japanese music of yesteryear for any recommendations, I would definitely suggest this one. Now, I still have four more tracks left to cover from the album so let's get those out of the way.
According to Yamaguchi's 2017 liner notes for the remastered version of the album, "A Dream of Mio" serves as a more organic counterpoint to the earlier and YMO-reminiscent "A Dream of Eμ". As the latter song leads into the next track of "O-Matsuri"（お祭り...Festival）, "A Dream of Mio" leads into the title track. It's only thirty seconds but I couldn't help but feel that there was a bit of Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）whimsy in the arrangement.
Yamaguchi said that she had come up with the words and music for "Aru Yo no Dekigoto"（ある夜の出来事）when she was on the bus for university. And for those old movie fans, she indeed did get the title from the famous Clark Gable flick "It Happened One Night", and just like that classic, Mioko's technopop "Aru Yo no Dekigoto" sounds like a rom-com, and for that matter, it just seems to weave scenes from any anime with a clumsily delivered confession speech. A young lady realizes that she may have blurted out one sentence too much the night before (thanks to some alcohol) and rushes over to the guy's house to confirm. The guy's sly smile says it all.😎
"Waltz"（ワルツ (流舞)）is supposedly one of the fruits of her imagination and labour from attending a course in jazz piano, and it does come across as a most congenial pop waltz which starts off with some of that jazz. Just a personal opinion, but I would like to think that the comical couple from "Aru Yo no Dekigoto", having gotten all their opinions out earlier in the day, are now having their first official date with them dancing to "Waltz" to cap things off. Jake H. Concepcion and Akira Inoue（井上鑑）are helping out on soprano sax and keyboards respectively here.
The final song here and the final track on "Yume Hiko" is the bouncy "Paradise"（パラダイス）. Nice to have some of that City Pop funk in there but there is also some in-and-out of some synthy version of traditional Japanese phrases. In the liner notes, Yamaguchi stated that she had been inspired by Yutaka Yokokura's（横倉裕）1978"Love Light"album which she listened to quite often back in the day, so she wanted to try some of that fusion as well.
Well, it took over eight years but I've finally covered all of "Yume Hiko".
My usual impression of a serenade, and I know that a lot of kayo kyoku have used the word in their titles, is of a tenderhearted love song weaponized by a suitor underneath the window of the target of their affections.
Well, "Jounetsu Neppu Serenade" (Passionate Tropical Wind Serenade) isn't a heavy metal anthem but I don't think it's a soft ballad either. Released by aidoru Masahiko Kondo（近藤真彦）in January 1982 as his 5th single, it's a pretty upbeat tune about falling hard in love from afar for that lovely young lady, presumably in those sylvan glades in the warmer areas of Earth. Written by Ayumi Date（伊達歩）, composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranged by Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）, there's nothing rock-n'-roll about the song, which is usually my genre impression for Matchy. It's more of an easy-listening tropical-tinged tune.
According to the J-Wiki article for "Jounetsu Neppu Serenade", the characters of the crescent moon and star were meant to be included in the title to reflect the starlight mentioned in Date's lyrics. Apparently, this particular song was enough of a tangent from what Matchy usually tackles so that it actually did become quite the long seller in the stores. It hit No. 1 on Oricon and ended up as the 9th-ranked single for 1982.
Once again, we have come to Hump Day and at least here in Toronto, it certainly feels and looks like a Hump Day meteorologically speaking. It's all gray, dreary and drizzly out there. So, let's try for something or someone very up with people and happiness. And I was thinking about Misato Watanabe. I hadn't written about her in quite a while and I realized while going through her KKP file, I had yet to provide my own favourite tunes by her.
Of course, I'm going to start with his one since this is the first song by her that I came to know her by. I think it's also safe to say that "My Revolution" is one of the pop songs of the 1980s in Japan. I will always remember the original music video where she showed herself basically as a human anime figure with that huge hair and just-as-huge eyes.
As I mentioned in the actual article for the song, I misunderstood the meaning of the song...initially assuming that this was some commemorative tune in Misato's career. It was really just about the protagonist's look back on her own decade as a working woman. Still, I'm sure that the singer herself has used the song for her own anniversaries. I don't know of too many tunes that are both elegiac and celebratory.
I think next to "My Revolution", "Summetime Blues" is the Misato tune that I'll always remember her for. It sounds both old-fashioned and contemporary at the same time, and obviously, it has her up-with-people pizzazz. And indeed, it was used as the campaign song for what is now the Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company...gotta keep the insured healthy and happy through the gift of music.
As much as my favourites are along the pop vein, I know that Misato has had the vocals and movement style of a happy and hard rocker. "Koi Suru Punks" (Punks in Love) is one reflection of that from her 1990 "Tokyo" album. Nope, it was never put out as a single but I'm sticking with this one because it is so much fun to hear with ska and rock thrown into the cosmic blender like so much kale for a smoothie.
This is another non-single track...this time for the 1991 album "Lucky", and it's a perennial favourite to be played when the Holidays approach. It may be a domestic creation with Misato herself behind the lyrics, but whenever I listen to it, I just get those Phil Spector Wall of Sound thoughts from the 1960s. Merry Christmas, indeed.🎄
Any particular Misato favourites from your end? Let us know. Ah, one PS...she'll be celebrating her 60th birthday later in July.
Awww...isn't this adorable? This was a commercial for one of my favourite drinks, Calpis, and the title for this ad includes the name of the young girl talking, Saori Tsuchiya（土家里織）. According to her J-Wiki file, she did this in 1972. when she was all of three years old; it was the same year that I visited Japan for the first time and discovered the famous refreshment.
Tsuchiya happens to come from a family of thespians including her parents: Shinjiro Ehara（江原真二郎）and Hitomi Nakahara（中原ひとみ）, and throughout her childhood, she would appear in a long-running series of commercials for Lion White & White Toothpaste alongside her famous parents for about a decade into the 1980s. She literally grew up in front of Japan's eyes.
Her acting career began in the late 1980s but it didn't lead to a similarly long singing career though. In fact, Tsuchiya released only two singles; one was a duet with legendary singer-songwriter Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）in 1987 and then there was her one-and-only solo effort released in June 1988, "BOY". Today, I have the B-side, "Nantoka Shite"(Do Something About It) which was written by Shun Taguchi（田口俊）, composed by Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）and arranged by Kazuo Otani（大谷和夫）. It's a pretty blippy-bloppy synthpop tune with a rollicking rhythm.
Watching "Uta Con"（うたコン）earlier today, I saw that the husband-and-wife folk duo Humbert Humbert（ハンバート ハンバート）were back to perform what has probably become their most famous work, "Warattari Korondari"（笑ったり転んだり）which is also the reassuring theme song for the current NHK morning serial drama "Bakebake"（ばけばけ...The Ghost Writer's Wife）. That will wrap up by the end of this month, and to me, it's been the asadora that has really zipped by as in "I can't believe it's already finishing!" although it did start up all the way back at the end of September.
Maybe it's because the show has basically stayed within one time period instead of going through decades of time and the fact that any turbulent crises were pretty minor and quickly resolved, but it's also been one of the more comfortable and comedic serials that I've seen. Apparently, tourism to the city of Matsue where the story has mostly been based enjoyed a nice bump in tourism. Plus, I think the main character Heavin-sensei's pronunciation of "subarashii" has been copied in jest a number of times.
Just wanted to get my thoughts on "Bakebake" out of the way. In any case, enka singer Yoshimi Tendo（天童よしみ）was back on the show as well to perform her latest single which came out at the end of January, "Tabiji" (The Journey). According to the Teichiku Records Tendo YouTube channel (where the above video originates), "Tabiji" completes the trilogy of Showa Era-inspired songs which includes "Showa Katagi"（昭和かたぎ）and "Showa Gokoro"（昭和ごころ）.
Written by Reiji Mizuki（水木れいじ ）and composed by Hideo Mizumori（水森かおり）, "Tabiji" really does sound like an enka tune out of the last few decades of Showa. Maybe the only thing that's missing is a mournful background chorus. From what I've understood of the lyrics thus far is that a couple married for many years is looking back on their own journey together and haven't regretted the path they've taken. I'm hoping that will also be the case with Heavin-sensei and Toki by the end of "Bakebake".
On last week's extended "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode, enka singer and TV personality Kenichi Mikawa（美川憲一）appeared for the first time in a while. I'd wondered where he was all these months and I only found out right on the show that he'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's and made an announcement back last November. Up to this point, he'd been going through some grueling rehabilitation.
Aside from what he said on the program and that he accepted his friend Sachiko Kobayashi's（小林幸子） assistance in being led to the stage and off, Mikawa didn't show his affliction too much at all which may be a good sign. He sang his classic "Sasori-za no Onna"（さそり座の女）and his vocals were just as fine as before. Then, he sang a song that I hadn't heard before called "Ikiru" which was his 101st single from May 2013.
And I ended up not hearing it. Jme and NHK made one of their not-so-smooth quick cuts which excised his performance of "Ikiru"(To Live). Why? Well, I quickly figured out that "Ikiru" was probably not a Japanese original. And as it turns out, it wasn't. But more on that later. Listening to it finally through the YouTube video above, it sounds like a chanson that has been given a pop arrangement thanks to Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）with new lyrics by Michikazu Yatabe（矢田部道一）.
"Ikiru" actually came from French singer-songwriter Alice Dona's 1981 song"Ma dernière volonté"(My Last Wish) which was written by Sylvain Lebel and composed by Dona.
Maybe Mikawa's appearances on TV or on stage will no longer be as frequent. But I hope that he will be able to get a good handle on his illness and that he will continue to have more years of peace and relative good health.
Aichi Prefecture-born Shinobu Horie（堀江しのぶ）had a brief career as an aidoru in the 1980s and unfortunately, a short life which went only as far as her early twenties.
She was also a TV personality and actress but focusing on her singing career, Horie released four singles between 1983 and 1987 with one album in 1985. Her debut single from April 1983 was "Bikini Vacation" which had that upbeat rock-n'-roll rhythm of yesteryear, perhaps along the lines of another bikini-themed song, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini". This was written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, composed by Ryo Matsuda（松田良）and arranged by Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）.
Horie had been pretty obsessed about losing weight and as she did so, she developed anorexia which led to other complications. Tragically, in September 1988, she would succumb to a form of stomach cancer at the age of 23.
One personal observation I have is that another TV personality born in the same year as Horie who I'd known about when I was living in Japan, Natsuki Okamoto（岡本夏生）, has a startling resemblance to her.
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