Kobukuro -- Kono Hoshi no Tsuzuki wo（この地球の続きを）

Wikimedia Commons

 

Having regular access to Japanese television via Jme and before that, TV Japan, I've been able to keep tabs on the Osaka Expo this year which opened to the general public a couple of days ago. Other than that, I haven't heard a single thing on the event anywhere else including Canada and America. Up to this point, the advance ticket sales hadn't been great although the opening Sunday had a lot of issues with long lineups and smartphone hang-ups regarding maps and registration. Will it be a success? We'll just have to see.

I figured that there just had to be an official theme song for the event but I didn't actually hear it until today's "Uta Con"（うたコン）broadcast. I didn't even know that it was the pop duo Kobukuro（コブクロ） who had been behind it until they showed up on the program. And it was all the way back in February 2022 when Shunsuke Kuroda (黒田俊介) and Kentarō Kobuchi (小渕健太郎) were given the assignment to come up with that official theme.

Later that year in July, Kobukuro presented their theme song at the "1000 Days to Go!" Expo-related event at Universal Studios Japan with the digital single coming out the following day. "Kono Hoshi no Tsuzuki wo" (The Continuation of This World) takes listeners on a magic carpet ride with the help of a children's chorus, some pounding piano and of course the soulful voices of Kuroda and Kobuchi. With the underlying intoning of "Let's go and see the future!", it fits as the campaign song for all of those goodies within the various pavilions on display. So, "Kono Hoshi no Tsuzuki wo" was in existence long before the Expo's full bloom in the past few days but then again so was "Sekai no Kuni Kara Konnichiwa" (世界の国からこんにちは）, the theme song for Expo 1970 in Osaka which had been created back in 1967.

Osaka Songs

 

Well, the Osaka Expo is now fully underway. Back last week, I posted a Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）enka in commemoration of the event, and earlier today, NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン ）provided a song festival for Osaka in tribute as well. I realized then that I may not have put up a list of Osaka-based kayo kyoku on KKP as of yet, and checking some of the key files, I apparently have not done so. Therefore, without further ado, here are some of those songs, a few of which were featured on "Uta Con".

(1976) Senri and Mari Unabara -- Osaka Rhapsody （大阪ラプソディー）

(1986) Takajin Yashiki -- Yappa Sukiyanen （やっぱ好きやねん）

(1981) Harumi Miyako & Tadashi Miyazaki -- Futari no Osaka （ふたりの大阪）

(1982) Masaki Ueda -- Osaka Bay Blues

(1979) BORO -- Osaka de Umareta Onna （大阪で生まれた女）

And of course, we gotta pay tribute to the 1970 Expo in Osaka.

(1967) Haruo Minami -- Sekai no Kuni Kara Konnichiwa (世界の国からこんにちは）

Yukino Ichikawa -- Inochi Sakasete（命咲かせて）

 

The last time I wrote about enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）was back in May 2024 for what was her most recent single at the time "Nocturne"（ノクターン）which had come out a couple of months earlier. Some months after that, Ichikawa was unfortunately diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We hadn't heard or seen her on any of the kayo-based shows on NHK for months so we were wondering about what had happened to her, and well, we finally found out some time afterwards.

Happily though, Ichikawa has recovered and she has resumed her career after her hiatus of many months of treatment. She recently appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）and last night, she also showed up on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）to the encouragement of her fellow singers and fans and a lot of hearty yells of "Welcome back!". Not surprisingly, a lot of tears were shed as well.

For her return performance, Ichikawa sang "Inochi Sakasete" (Let Life Blossom) which was released as her 25th single in April 2015. Written by Shinichi Ishihara（石原信一）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, it's an enka tune about coming back from turmoil and accepting love once again. Considering the circumstances, it wasn't surprising that Ichikawa sung that one, and hopefully she'll continue to progress in her health and career. The song managed to reach No. 25 on Oricon.

Ryoko Moriyama -- Navigation

 

Still keeping on the Camellia Diamonds subject now that I released my Author's Picks on the songs used for their commercials, I also wanted to individually mention one other song that was also used for Camellia but hadn't been put on the blog previously. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the ad on YouTube but as I remember it, it featured a model in a white billowy dress in some desert looking distinctly nonchalant about her situation. As a substitute, I've put up a Bing AI image.

Playing in the background of all that sand was folk/pop singer Ryoko Moriyama's（森山良子）"Navigation", her April 1990 43rd single. One other reason that I wanted to have "Navigation" all on its own here was that the song was something that I had long searched for on YouTube to post onto KKP since I started the whole thing back in 2012. I'm happy to say that the search is over.

"Navigation" is truly one of the later examples of exotic kayo (or considering the time of release, it should be called exotic J-Pop?) considering most of that sub-genre popped up in the late 1970s. It feels like some very dramatic Middle Eastern adventure with a hint of South American tango. As was the case with many a Camellia Diamond jingle, I decided that I had to get the single. However, I went one better: I ended up purchasing the album that "Navigation" became a part of..."We Shall Overcome wo Utatta Hi" （"We Shall Overcome"を歌った日...The Day That I Sang "We Shall Overcome"） which was also released in the same month as the single. Incidentally, Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）and Yukiko Marimura（万里村ゆき子）were the composer and lyricist respectively.

Looks like Camellia didn't want to leave the desert all that quickly. Below is another ad from them featuring supermodel Linda Evangelista but the song is decidedly far more active. Welcome aboard, B'z!

Oh, Those Camellia Diamonds CM Songs（カメリアダイアモンド）

 

Back in the 2010s, I noted through a couple of articles that there was that series of Parliament Cigarette commercials that popped up late at night. Those were famous for showing off some classy scenes of the high life, a lot of it based in Manhattan where the beautiful people were having the time of their lives at some swanky soiree. Meanwhile, the songs used in the ads were of the Quiet Storm variety: soulful love ballads featuring folks such as Bobby Caldwell and Carl Anderson, both of whom have sadly left this mortal coil. They didn't get me to take up smoking (thankfully), but I still appreciated the commercials for their dreams of the good life.

Well, there has been another series of cool and classy commercials for Camellia Diamonds in Japan over the years, and the thing about these ads is that they have pointedly featured supermodels and female celebrities varying from Lea Thompson to Sharon Stone. The above one is showing off Canada's own Linda Evangelista to the stirring voice of Kahoku Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）. And speaking of that singer, unlike Parliament's use of American singers, Camellia was more than happy to employ Japanese singers and bands with their high-energy goods. You can take a look at the long history of those ads below, thanks to YouTuber pstexe.

So, I've opted to start off this KKP business week with some of my own choices of Camellia Diamonds commercial tunes that I've enjoyed. I hope you do, too.

(1990) Kahoru Kohiruimaki -- Moving Action

(1989) Masayuki Suzuki -- Wakare no Machi (別れの街）

(1993) Keizo Nakanishi -- You And I

(1984) Mariko Takahashi -- Momo Iro Toiki （桃色吐息）

(1987) Kiyomi Suzuki with Rats & Star -- Lonely Chaplin (ロンリー・チャプリン）

I've also put up another Camellia Diamonds song in its own article. Check out Ryoko Moriyama's（森山良子） "Navigation".

Keiko Mari and Toshiaki Yokota & Rio Alma -- Hadashi no Mama de（裸足のままで）

 

As I have mentioned a few times over the course of this blog, my first time in Japan was in 1972 as a wee lad, and as such a young kid, I don't remember much about that initial foray into the country of my ancestry aside from playing about on my grandfather's farm during the summer. In retrospect though, it was a rather quiet time there although I know that I drove my relatives up the wall with my antics which included an emerging arachnophobia that lasted several years.

Most of the time was spent in the southern end of Wakayama Prefecture, but I know that we spent some days as well in Osaka where another group of relatives resided and so I got to see some of the big city in the early 1970s which included seeing plastic food on display outside of restaurants, telephones of all sizes and colours, and vast underground shopping malls. Considering how hot Japan could get even back then, those malls were a godsend. Maybe then, the early 1970s weren't all that much different from the late 1960s when the nation was plowing away and growing economically. Perhaps seeing videos like the one above can bring wistful memories of a somewhat more innocent age although I'm sure that the cities were more polluted back then and the leisure boom was still years away for most citizens.

Still, when I listen to "Hadashi no Mama de" (Going Barefoot) which was a June 1969 release by a collaboration between actress/singer Keiko Mari（麻里圭子）and the group Toshiaki Yokota & Rio Alma（横田年昭とリオ・アルマ）, I can't help feel a certain sighworthy nostalgia for a long-past time. It's all about the gentle summer stroll sans shoes on one of the countless beaches along the Japanese seashore. 

It was the dream team of lyricist Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）behind "Hadashi no Mama de" which also has a certain bossa nova lilt. There is pretty much nothing in terms of information on Yokota & Rio Alma as far as I could find, so I don't know whether they were a Group Sounds band or a vocal group (will gladly accept any data that commenters can give me). However as for Mari, she was raised in Tokyo and started life in entertainment as an extra in film scenes. She made her debut as a recording artist in the genre of enka in 1967 but some advice from TV personality Kyosen Ohashi（大橋巨泉）got her to veer into kayo kyoku instead. Up to the end of 1972, Mari released around fifteen singles and three albums.

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Mizue, Minako, Shinji & YMO

 

Mizue Takada -- Watashi wa Piano (私はピアノ）

Minako Yoshida -- Koi wa Ryuusei (恋は流星）

Shinji Tanimura -- Subaru （昴）

Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Taiso (体操）