Michio Miyagi -- Haru no Umi（春の海）

 

Hopefully, Nakamise-dori in my old stomping grounds of Asakusa still isn't that super-crowded right now after all of the New Year's hoopla. But looking at that time stamp in the bottom-right corner and probably with the increased foreign tourist activity, I can't be sure on that.

It's a bit late now that I'm typing this on January 7th but this particular song, "Haru no Umi" (The Sea in Spring), has become so ubiquitous during Japan's New Year's Holidays that it basically went over my head and beyond my ears as something to be covered. It's been used on many a variety show and even anime episodes with a New Year's theme including this little talk between seiyuu Shintaro Asanuma（浅沼晋太郎）and Yoko Hikasa（日笠陽子）. Plus, stores pipe it over the speakers to get folks into that Holiday mood.

However, I've finally seen the light, so to speak. And in fact, this one song had me creating two new categories in Labels: 1) New Year's since I've got a couple of other tunes, "Hotaru no Hikari" (蛍の光）and "Ichigatsu Tsuitachi"（一月一日）on KKP to signify the holiday, and 2) Traditional Instrumental because I can't think of any other way to describe "Haru no Umi". I certainly can't put this down as enka, minyo or Mood Kayo.

"Haru no Umi" is arguably the most famous work of koto player and composer Michio Miyagi（宮城道雄）from Kobe who lived from 1894 to 1956. It was first composed in 1929 and is usually performed as a duet of shakuhachi and koto. I gather that "Haru no Umi" is to Japanese New Year's as "Jingle Bells" is to Christmas, but up to now, I only heard the first minute or so of this creation. It actually lasts for almost eight minutes.

I actually don't know even whether Miyagi had intended "Haru no Umi" to be a New Year's-themed piece. According to his essays via J-Wiki, the kotoist created the song under the motif of his memories of passing through the Seto Inland Sea on his way to Tokyo in 1917. I gather that the coming of a new year is akin to the coming of spring.

In 1932, "Haru no Umi" became a hit record after Miyagi had performed the song with French violinist Renée Chemet.

Takarazuka Revue Company -- Mon Paris（モン巴里）

Anyone who has lived in Japan long enough eventually finds about the Takarazuka Revue Company（宝塚歌劇団）, the all-female musical troupe that has pulled out all the stops to entertain fans for over a century. As an English teacher, I've met students who have been huge fans of Takarazuka and there was one short stint with a teenager who aspired to enter the exclusive academy to become a performer. Her mother was also a huge fan so their house was absolutely covered in posters with their favourite stars on the walls. If I'm not mistaken, the Takarazuka fan shop is located underneath the Imperial Hotel (which I now understand is undergoing a major renovation which will take years to complete) in Hibiya, Tokyo near the hall where the troupe performs when it's in the capital.

Am I a fan? Not really. Takarazuka is a bit too lavish for my tastes but a good friend and I were walking through the area one Saturday night, when we just happened to come across a very fascinating sight of the fans waiting for the top star to come out of the hall for a greeting and a handover of bouquets of flowers. The fascinating part was that it was all done silently as it is always done. We could've heard a pin drop on the pavement.

At least a couple of folks here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" are former Takarasiennes, Rumiko Koyanagi（小柳ルミ子）and Mao Daichi（大地真央）.

I'm not sure when I first heard "Mon Paris" but I think it was probably an episode of NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）since I know that Takarasiennes, past and present, have come onto the show over the years. Also, I am uncertain whether this is an official theme song for the troupe but since it seems to have been performed a lot over the decades, perhaps it is. It does make sense thematically because Paris and France have been favoured settings for the troupe's plays.

From what I could glean from the J-Wiki article for "Mon Paris" is that it began as the first grand revue in Japan by the Takarazuka in September 1927. Takarazuka playwright Tatsuya Kishida（岸田辰彌）was behind it all, and a couple of years in 1929, he even came up with the lyrics for a song under the same title while Kyo Sakai（酒井協）, a Takarazuka composer provided the jaunty melody. For the above version, a student from the Flower Troupe, Miyako Nara（奈良美也子）, performed the song. A single was released from two companies (one was Columbia Records) and it became a huge hit.