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.
To any and all American readers of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", Happy Fourth of July and also a Happy Sestercentennial (250th birthday). I recall that three years ago, I also provided a special list of America-related songs on July the 4th and mentioned that we would have to do something about 2026. Well, the day is here.
And so, this is my "America" Tunes 2. Unlike the first one which mostly dealt with songs that had "America" in their titles, I'm being a bit more geographically precise so I'll be listing those numbers referring specifically to states and cities. Without further ado then:
Partly inspired by my previous article on Naomi Chiaki's（ちあきなおみ）"Waltz"（円舞曲）and also thinking it would be nice to begin the work week with something a little different, I've opted to complete my Monday entries with some of the dance-titled kayo kyoku and J-Pop out there since it seems as if the Japanese also enjoyed cutting a rug if vicariously for most people.
Well, I did mention yesterday about St. Patrick's Day today and so young Kayo has decided to take part in the annual St. Patrick's Day parade somewhere on Earth. And rest assured, she is old enough to enjoy a pint of Guinness at some Irish pub though the bartender may ask her for ID. She might even be flattered by the request.
It's a bit of a tall ask but I was looking around to see if there were a kayo kyoku associated with the Irish holiday, and sure enough, I couldn't find anything. Then I searched for any Japanese songs that had a connection with Ireland itself. Once again, I got nothing. So, next I made the trek for any song title that had the word "green" or "midori".
Happily, it was there that I got the hit. Let me introduce you to "Midori no Uta" (The Green Song or The Greenery Song) which was released in 1948 and it is a duet between the legendary Ichiro Fujiyama（藤山一郎）and children's song vocalist Aiko Anzai（安西愛子）. Written by Riki Nakamura（中村利器）and composed by Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, "Midori no Uta" is a typically Koseki upbeat march, this time celebrating the verdant land surrounding the citizenry. It was still the early days of recovery from the war so I'm not sure whether all involved with the kayo kyoku were reflecting on home and hearth in the regional towns and villages while the younger generations were toiling away in the factories in the big cities. Perhaps Tokyo had some greenery in patches where people could visit and relax.
There's not much of a writeup on Anzai but on J-Wiki, she was born in Tokyo in 1917 and after her singing days, she became a Lower House member for the Liberal Democratic Party for three terms. She also had high status in a few organizations including one as vice-chairperson for the ultra-conservative Japan Conference lobbying group. She passed away in 2017 at the age of 100.
Over the last number of days, I've been getting into recording some of the programs from TV Japan for posterity since as all viewers will know, the specialty channel will end its broadcasting history as of March 31st. But from March 20th, the new Internet streaming service Jme will be going into operation as the inheritor of Japanese television supply for the masses in North America.
If I were to tape any "Uta Con"（うたコン）episodes, I should have done so tonight since everyone put on quite a show, opening with their tribute to the current NHK morning serial "Boogie Woogie"（ブギウギ）which will be ending its own run at the end of March. Apparently, "Uta Con" won't be returning until April which is when Jme will be in full service but TV Japan has assured us that the weekly music program will be available on the new platform.
Getting back to "Boogie Woogie", it's been the fictionalized story of the legendary Queen of BoogieShizuko Kasagi（笠置シズ子）and her career. I've been getting to know her for the big hits of "Tokyo Boogie Woogie"（東京ブギウギ）and "Jungle Boogie"（ジャングル・ブギー）, both done in 1948, a year in which all of her records had the word "boogie" in the titles.
In between those two songs was "Hey Hey Boogie", which was performed on "Uta Con" tonight by actress Sakura Kiryu（吉柳咲良）, who will actually be making her debut on "Boogie Woogie" in the last several episodes as the new ingenue, and the singing group Junretsu（純烈）. Enjoying what I had heard there, I looked up the original version by Kasagi and gave that a listen. Written by Ko Fujiura（藤浦洸）and composed by Ryoichi Hattori（服部良一）, who had taken care of every other boogie song for the singer, the Queen of Boogie continued her streak of flamboyance and good feelings through her performance. I'd say that the song may especially be good for laughter therapy.
As of late, J-Canuck has been doing a series featuring the various Gosanke (御三家) trios in Japanese music. His article featuring theEnka Sanba Garasu (演歌三羽烏) did catch my attention since it featured the three enka greats: Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎), Michiya Mihashi (三橋美智也), and Hideo Murata (村田英雄). It was a little surprising to see that this trio had been given this collective label as I know them as the Sannin no Kai (三人の会). Still, the music industry back in the day did seem to have a thing for labelling a trio of popular male singers as a bunch of ravens/crows. That, then, brought to mind the trio I knew with this very label: Sengo Sanba Garasu (Three Ravens of the Postwar Era).
The Sengo Sanba Garasu include Haruo Oka (岡晴夫), Yoshio Tabata (田端義夫), and Toshiro Omi (近江俊郎). I would argue that they could've also been a Senzen (prewar) Sanba Garasu since they debuted in the 1930s and Okapparu and Batayan had spawned a number of classics in the immediate prewar era. But some of their most recognizable hits did come from the immediate postwar era, including Omi's late breakout single "Yu no Machi Elegy" (湯の町エレジー) from 1948. Those hits seemed to have been a reflection of those living in a devasted nation, encompassing both their sadness and hope in the war's aftermath. With their song, perhaps these ravens served as the harbingers of solace for the many who needed it. Now, if only the crows outside my place sounded as good as these guys.
Y'know, I wonder if there had been a Senzen Sanba Garasu. Even if there wasn't such a trio, I can imagine who'd be the three: Ichiro Fujiyama, Dick Mine, Noboru Kirishima... or Taro Shoji... or Bin Uehara. Okay, the last one may just be favouritism rearing its head.
Not being particularly an overall fan of the arts, I can still gather that one form of art has begat another form in terms of inspiration. One example was something that I'd read on the Wikipedia article for the Christmas classic "Sleigh Ride" created by Leroy Anderson in 1948. Apparently, Mitchell Parish's lyrics for the song were inspired by printmaking company Currier and Ives' 1867 lithograph "American Homestead, Winter". Indeed, it's a lovely Xmas scene.
Of course, with my limited knowledge of the visual arts, I'm always going to think of "Sleigh Ride" as a musical representation of anything by Norman Rockwell, the go-to artist whenever I think of homey and peaceful Americana. Crisp winter air, the aroma of turkey and/or apple pie wafting from the kitchen window and the sight of that horse-led sleigh sliding steadily over the fresh snow will forever join Anderson's music of jingle bells, clopping hooves and happy and busy instruments which often go into triumphant marching mode.
I've never experienced a Christmas of this magnitude so hearing "Sleigh Ride" on the radio and then YouTube always brings a certain level of envy to accompany the cheeriness of the season. Perhaps it would indeed be lovely weather to enjoy a sleigh ride together with somebody someday.
I wanted to include Johnny Mathis' version of "Sleigh Ride" from his 1958 album"Merry Christmas" since it is of course the sung version which features Parish's lyrics. Hey, plus it is Johnny behind the mike; his voice is worth it and he's already got an entry on the Xmas part of Reminiscings of Youth through one more track on "Merry Christmas", "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)". The legendary Nat King Cole also shares space on that article for his own rendition.
Ah, speaking of Nat King Cole, his daughter Natalie Cole gave her own rendition of "Sleigh Ride" in her September 1999 album"The Magic of Christmas". I don't think that anything will top the original Anderson instrumental version, but I have to admit that as a guy who loves his Christmas and jazz in equal measure, Natalie's collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra to create this blow-out-the-doors swing jazz and pop orchestral cover is the bee's knees. There's a bit of the tongue-in-cheekiness in the horns blasting away like crazy but everyone's having fun here; maybe Cole and the bunch were fueled by a little too much nog.
Incidentally, "Sleigh Ride" is known in Japan as "Sori Suberi"（そりすべり）.
So, going with the September 1999 date, what were the Songs of the Year according to the Japan Record Awards from that year?
Ah, also to let you know of a small announcement. Scott of the podcast "Holly Jolly X'masu", Rocket Brown of "Come Along Radio" and yours truly will be setting up shop in Masa's Neo Tokyo server in Discord on Saturday December 17th from 6 am Pacific Standard Time/9 am Eastern Standard Time to go over some of those Japanese Christmas tunes and any of our own Xmas war stories. I've got a couple of those. In any case, you may want to check in with Rocket about any further details on his Twitter account or Discord. Hope to see you then.
I've been to individual onsen（温泉）but alas, I never had the opportunity to really experience a full-blown onsen town or yuu-no-machi（湯の町）. My anime buddy and a couple of his friends were fortunate enough in the pre-pandemic times to make it out to Ginzan Onsen（銀山温泉）in Yamagata Prefecture to take in the wonderful townscape where tourists in their yukata could do their own version of barhopping by trying out the various types of hot springs. Since my buddy is also a photography hobbyist, he had the grandest time taking shots of the area which is especially spectacular at night. I gather that there is a certain mystique and romance with the combination of light and dark at Ginzan with bright white wisps or billowing clouds of steam escaping.
By the way, the above footage of Ginzan Onsen came under the aegis of Kuga's Travel, one YouTube channel that I have been subscribed to for quite a while now.
Yesterday, I was watching NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...New Broadcast Satellite Songs of Japan）, the longer and slightly grander version of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）which focuses almost solely on kayo kyoku genres such as enka and Mood Kayo, and one of the special segments for that episode was a tribute to the late composer Masao Koga（古賀政男）. Koga will always be known as one of the master architects for kayo kyoku, and his brand of music, affectionately called Koga Melodies（古賀メロディー）, is notable for the sad Latin guitar imbued into his songs. Our resident kayo kyoku expert, Noelle Tham, gave a tasting on Koga's music several years ago via "The Works of Masao Koga" on KKP, so have a read of that if you like.
One of the songs that was featured on Noelle's article was actor/director Toshiro Omi's（近江俊郎）"Yuu-no-Machi Elegy", a ryukoka（流行歌...literally, popular song） from 1948 which centered around the realization of love lost in an onsen town. Toshio Nomura（野村俊夫）applied the lyrics to Koga's melancholy melody and the result was a huge hit for Omi, selling around 400,000 records, although the J-Wiki article for "Yuu-no-Machi Elegy" (Onsen Town Elegy) also stated that it took 23 missed takes to get to a satisfying one since Omi couldn't quite hit the low notes right. As well, the song had initially been titled "Yuu-no-Machi Blues" but because the finished product by Koga didn't have that blues feeling, the switch in titles was made.
I discovered that the guest on "Shin Nihon no Uta" was veteran enka singer Eisaku Ohkawa（大川栄策）who had been a student of Koga's, and I think that he was the ideal singer to cover "Yuu-no-Machi Elegy". It's always advantageous for any singer to have a certain unique and recognizable quality in their voice. There is soul in Aya Shimazu's（島津亜矢）vocals and Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）has always had that working-man oaken quality in his voice. With Ohkawa, his high, nasal and somewhat mournful qualities probably struck the late Koga as things that could apply very well to his music collectively. So it wasn't any surprise that Ohkawa's version of "Yuu-no-Machi Elegy" was released as his 10th single in July 1972.
Once again, Saturday is among us so it's time for the latest round of go-touchi songs, a series that I began about a month ago to commemorate some of the geographically based kayo depending on the official regions within Japan. Last week, we took care of the Kinki region including Osaka. This time, we're doing a two-for-one deal just like I did for the very first entry which looked at Hokkaido and the Tohoku region up in the north. Today, it will be the small island of Shikoku which consists of Ehime, Kagawa, Kochi, and Tokushima Prefectures and the westernmost Chugoku region on the main island of Honshu which has Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi Prefectures.
6. Angela Aki -- Home for Tokushima Prefecture (2005)
As usual, let's finish this off with some scrumptious dishes from the two areas. Today, we have Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki（お好み焼き）and then sanuki udon（讃岐うどん）from Kagawa Prefecture. Next week will be the final segment as we look at Kyushu and Okinawa.
Over the past several weeks that the sports events of the Tokyo Olympics, the Paralympicsand the annual high school baseball tournament at Koshien Stadium in between, there have been a lot of cancellations on the NHK schedule. That includes the kayo program "Uta Con"（うたコン）, and though I haven't exactly curled up into a traumatized fetal position because of its weeks-long disappearance from the television, I'm hoping that it will be returning fairly soon. It would be nice to get some of the old music back into my ears again.
Well, until that happens, there is always YouTube. And indeed, I did find an oldie but a goodie from November 1948. "Sayonara Rumba" (The Goodbye Rumba) was performed by Akiko Futaba（二葉あき子）as one of her string of hits in the immediate postwar period along with her cover of "Yoru no Platform"（夜のプラットホーム）.
Written by Ko Fujiura（藤浦洸）and composed by Takio Niki（仁木他喜雄）, "Sayonara Rumba" has that flavour of that swanky Latin nightclub in a snazzy area of Tokyo such as Ginza (although I'm not sure how ritzy the neighbourhood was in 1948 so relatively soon after the war). In addition, judging from Fujiura's lyrics about fondly but adamantly saying goodbye in some nighttime establishment after a torrid love affair, perhaps "Sayonara Rumba" can also be considered to be a predecessor of the typical Mood Kayo. Simply have that final dance on the floor before fading away in two directions.
Covers of "Sayonara Rumba" have been done over the years by singers such as Mitsuko Nakamura（中村美津子）.
With the broadcast of the current NHK morning serial "Yell"（エール）, a fictionalized account of the life and times of composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, there has been a running series of 10-minute vignettes on the national broadcaster highlighting famous songs by Koseki. One song that the composer created was for the annual Japanese High School Baseball Championships in the summer held at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture and that was the song that was featured in one of those vignettes.
Unfortunately with COVID-19, the championships have been cancelled this year, a turn of events that probably had baseball fans all over the nation shocked and saddened since in my estimation, this has been a summer event that has had even more prestige than the professional Japan Series, Japanese baseball's equivalent of the World Series in the Major Leagues. I remember when I was teaching in Gunma Prefecture, I was asked to teach some summer school English to kids but one day, the children were acting a little more antsier than usual and when I asked them what was up with them, one of them sheepishly requested if they could watch the high school championships on TV. Being a softie (which did me good and bad over the years), I acquiesced and got them in front of the community centre TV where we watched one of the games. But make no mistake. These championships are a big deal in Japan.
According to Wikipedia, the championships first began in 1915 and were held annually until for a few years between 1942 and 1945, they were cancelled due to World War II. The games were back in business from 1946 and in 1948, Koseki with lyricist Daisuke Kaga's（加賀大介）help created a theme song for the Koshien championships which matched their pomp and glory.
Titled "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku" (The Laurels of Victory Shine on You), the theme was first performed by popular singer Hisao Ito（伊藤久男）, who was first introduced onto KKP by enka expert Noelle over a year ago. Having listened to it many times over the years since the competition was often shown in the sports highlight reels daily, I swear that Koseki created something that could have even fit as a national anthem for any country. The song has been used in the opening and closing ceremonies, and I believe in the opening ceremonies, it's been the song that the competing teams march to as they enter the stadium. I can only imagine the swell of pride that the players feel when they do come in and hear the strains of "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku".
Up until 1996, "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku" had been performed by local high school chorus groups but afterwards, singers and bands such as BORO and Ryoko Moriyama（森山良子）have performed the song from time to time. In NHK's "Yell", there was even a scene at the stadium in which the genesis of the song was depicted, and in the above video, one of the actors in the show, Ikusaburo Yamazaki（山崎育三郎）, does his rendition on a music program. Hopefully, it will be performed again at the championships as early as next year. Incidentally, this wasn't the only famous baseball-themed anthem that composer Koseki had created.
With the current NHK morning serial drama "Yell"（エール）being based on the life and times of songwriter Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, there has been a series of 10-minute vignettes focusing on key songs by the man. I already wrote about one song that I discovered through one of those vignettes, "Nagasaki no Kane"（長崎の鐘）.
Another episode that I've recently seen is the one for a 1948 song composed by Koseki, "Francesca no Kane" (The Bells of Francesca). Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）was the lyricist for this particular kayo which dealt with a woman experiencing a variety of emotions such as shock, rage and mourning since he was losing the man that he loved to a higher power. He was breaking things off because he was entering the monastery. "Francesca no Kane" is the musical equivalent of that bitter pill to swallow as Akiko Futaba（二葉あき子）sadly relays the woman's feelings. There was also a spoken verse provided by actress Taeko Takasugi（高杉妙子）, the wife of lyricist Kikuta, who effectively spat out her mocking disdain for her soon-to-be former beau while undergoing what sounded like delusional denial about her plight.
Through the J-Wiki article on "Francesca no Kane" with the original sources being a 1980 autobiography about Koseki and a 2019 book on the songwriter called "Koseki Yuuji ~ Ryuukou Sakyokuka to Gekidou Showa"（古関裕而～流行作曲家と激動昭和...The Popular Composer and The Turbulent Showa Era）, I got one answer on my question on "Who was Francesca?". Apparently, Koseki asked Kikuta about the name, assuming that it was the monastery where the young man was heading for. The lyricist simply replied that he had no idea; he picked the name because he liked the sound of it!
In later recordings of "Francesca no Kane" following the release of a movie filmed based on the kayo, the spoken verse was taken out of the song for some reason, so a lot of that feeling of a romance gone bitterly south was eliminated. In its place, the song took on the atmosphere of a requiem for all of those lost in the Hiroshima bombing via the wartime experiences that composer Koseki and singer Futaba had undergone. According to that 1980 Koseki autobiography, Futaba had also said that when she sang "Francesca no Kane" at the Nihon Gekijo in Tokyo in the summer of 1949, she saw the images of those high school friends whom she had lost. She then resolved that she would always sing the song until her own death. Futaba passed away in August 2011.
The J-Wiki article also mentioned that singers such as Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）and Tokiko Kato（加藤登紀子）have covered it. I managed to find Julie's performance above, and it's definitely more of a sultry and sullen rock thing here.
Took me more than a year to finally get around to it, but here's a tribute to the great composer with his trademark square glasses and neat mustache, Masao Koga (古賀政男), via a Creator article.
This'll be my first entry under this label - I'd always wanted try my hand at a Creator article ever since J-Canuck started it this sort of write-ups, and I wanted to do one on a composer whose works I could more or less pinpoint easily, so who better than this legendary Showa era songwriter? All the more I thought he was a good and fitting candidate as I got the opportunity to visit his museum in Tokyo in 2016. However, I knew that this would be a big undertaking, considering Koga's title of Father of Kayokyoku and the fact that there are numerous famous pieces of music under his name. One article wouldn't suffice - it might, but it would be an extremely lengthy one. As such, I had to wait until I had the time and the will (the most important) to consolidate what I know about him into a couple of articles, and so, I thought now would be good since my schedule is pretty free, and "Uta Kon" paid their annual tribute to him this week, and his 113th birthday is coming up.
As mentioned, Koga had an extensive discography, so I'll try my best to put down what he was known for, as well as some interesting ones I'd come across. In this first part, I will include Koga's bio and his early works from when he began his composing duties in the 1930's to the post war period in the late 1940's. Sorry if something you're looking for doesn't show up - it might in part 2 though.
The picture on the right shows Koga when he entered Meiji.
Alright, let's begin with some background information. Koga was born on 18th November 1904 and his real name 古賀正夫 was the same as his stage name, with only a slight change in the third kanji character. He hailed from a village by the name of Taguchi Mura, now known as Ohkawa city, in Fukuoka. After the death of his father, Koga moved to Korea where his brother worked and spent most of his adolescence there. In that period of time, he got acquainted with the taishogoto, or the Nagoya harp, as well as the instrument he was often associated with, the mandolin.
In 1923, Koga returned to Japan and attended Meiji University, where he joined the school's mandolin club (明治大学マンドリン倶楽部). However, a few years later in 1928, it seemed like he hit quite a rough patch as he actually planned to kill himself at an onsen town in Miyagi. Fortunately, after being inspired by watching the sun setting in Zao, he decided to release his frustrations in a less morbid way by creating his first piece of music, "Kage wo Shitai te" (影を慕いて) - I can now see why this song is so depressing.
Sato's version.
In 1929, he would play "Kage wo Shitai te" at one of the mandolin club's performances and caught the attention of a popular singer at the time, Chiyako Sato (佐藤千夜子). As a result, she recorded the song a year later in 1931 with Koga, then using his real name, on the mandolin and guitar. It did not sell very well, but this marked the start of Koga's path as a composer. Once he graduated from Meiji in 1931, Koga went to Nippon Colombia Records, which from what I've been seeing was the record company back then, in hopes of being a regular employee under the company's literary section due to not having confidence in his songwriting abilities. But he got signed on as a contract composer instead. From there on out, by collaborating with prolific lyricists and the early showa era's shining stars, multiple hits that are still being remembered today were spawned.
At the moment, I am able to pick out two of Koga's distinctive songwriting styles, the first of which is what I call the quintessential Koga Melody where you can hear the eerie notes of the mandolin clearly in the midst of a brooding score. The other was a bit difficult for me to pick out and it's not really guaranteed that having these traits in the music means they were made by the man himself, but when Koga creates jolly tunes they seem to have a very festive, exuberant, and light quality, and I tend to hear crashing cymbals in the background from time to time. With that being said, I shall go on to talk about the songs that brought him fame and status.
One of Koga's frequent collaborators was the classically trained Ichiro Fujiyama (藤山一郎), who had encountered the new composer when he was still in music school (Tokyo Music School). "Oka wo Koete" (丘を越えて), "Sake wa Namida ka Tameiki ka" (酒は涙か溜息か), and "Aoi Sebiro de" (青い背広で) are just some of the Koga-composed works from Mr. Fujiyama's (it's my nickname for him) discography, but I think their most successful hit was "Tokyo Rhapsody" (東京ラプソディ) from 1936. As I had mentioned not too long ago, this optimistic tune about the wonders of Tokyo is quite the ear worm. If I'm not mistaken, Koga came up with the melody to "Tokyo Rhapsody" with the idea of exploring the metropolis by car, where one drives around and gets to take in the sights and sounds of the different parts of the city. Perhaps those in the car are new to the bustling city, which would explain the excitement conveyed. Fujiyama had also recorded his version of "Kage wo Shitai te" in 1932 which then became successful and probably became the de facto version of it.
Another artiste whom I always see having mustachioed composer's name pop up when the title flashes on screen is Noboru Kirishima (霧島昇), who was quite the contrast to the almost constantly grinning Mr. Fujiyama. Kirishima's Koga-collaborations included "Reijin no Uta" (麗人の歌) and "Shin Tsuma Kagami (?)" (新妻鏡), which was a duet with Akiko Futaba (二葉あき子), but they seemed to be most well-known for "Dare ka Furusato wo Omowazu" (誰か故郷を想わざる). Koga had written this bokyo tune from 1940 with the equally renowned Saijo Yaso (西條八十) after he returned from a cross-cultural sharing program of sorts in the US. It's got a rather jaunty melody to it to accompany the premises of a fellow far away from home fondly reminiscing the good times spent in his village hometown. Not surprisingly, it was very well received by soldiers at war at the time who could relate. Koga had drawn inspiration for "Dare ka Furusato wo Omowazu" from his time at his own hometown in Fukuoka.
Going a bit on a tangent to give you some trivia I uncovered not too long ago since I have mentioned Yaso: The Lyricist Award at the Japan Record Awards were known as the Yaso Saijo Award at one period of time. I found it nice that they named that award after the songwriter - it was a good way to honor him. On another note, Koga and Ryoichi Hattori (服部良一) were the ones who started the Japan Composer's Association (日本作曲家協会).
Alright, moving on. The two contributions Koga made for Mr. Fujiyama and Kirishima that I shared were showcased his livelier side, so the next few tunes will bring the spotlight on to the melancholic side, which he was probably most noted for.
Koga's own life experience played another role in the making of "Jinsei no Namikimichi" (人生の並木路), sung by actor and jazz singer Dick Mine (ディック・ミネ) in 1937. Early in the article, I mentioned about Koga's move to Korea after his father had passed on - well, the songwriter had translated the suffering and pain he felt at that time to a melody for this bleak song about a pair of siblings having to support each other away from home. The reason for the siblings' departure from home didn't seem to be specified in Sonosuke Sato's (佐藤惣之助) lyrics, but it does remind me of the Studio Ghibli film "Grave of the Fireflies".
Up next is a piece that, to me, is the definition of Masao Koga: "Jinsei Gekijo" (人生劇場). While the original take was recorded by Shigeo Kusunoki (楠木繁夫) in 1938, whose version I have put up, it was made popular by Hideo Murata (村田英雄) in 1959. This was where I got to know Koga's typical unnerving musical styling - especially in Murata's version where the use of the mandolin is obvious.
Although actor and movie director Toshiro Omi's (近江俊郎) hit "Yu no Machi no Elegy" (湯の町エレジー) is more about pining for love lost at an onsen town, I can't help but wonder if the wistfulness in the music from this 1948 hit was influenced by that incident Koga went through two decades ago. The melody of "Yu no Machi no Elegy" also focuses on the acoustic guitar rather than the mandolin, and that brings to mind similarly melancholic compositions from Toru Funamura (船村徹) years later. Y'know, I never really liked this song for the longest time, but with the number of times I have been listening to it over and over again recently on my own accord and while writing this section, I'm quite glad to say that it has grown on me... unfortunately that means "Izu no yama yama..." will be stuck in my head for the weeks to come.
Now that I've covered the more depressing works from early in Koga's career, I would like to end off this first segment of my tribute to the great songwriter on a silly note with "Uchi no Nyobo nya Hige ga aru" (うちの女房にゃ髭がある). Yep, Koga created comical stuff too, even for something titled "My Wife Has a Mustache". This aMAzing song was the theme song to the movie of the same name starring Kyouji Sugi (杉狂児) that featured a timid salary man who is ruled by his wife. It's a happy-go-lucky tune that amusingly undermines the guy's fear of his wife - he's clearly bothered by her facial hair (probably grown after they got hitched and he's got no where to run), but is beyond terrified of telling her and facing the consequences, as you can hear from Sugi's stammering when the wife, played by Geisha singer Yakko Michi (美ち奴), confronts him. Man, I would love to hear Hachiro Kasuga's (春日八郎) version of this. Speaking of Michi, Koga had also created a successful song for her called "Ah, Sore nanoni" (あゝそれなのに) for the same movie.
Sudden epiphany from 16/11/17: Although I find that it might be unlikely that "Uchi no Nyobo nya Hige ga aru" might have a deeper meaning as it was meant for a comedy, I just realised that what if the wife having a mustache is another figurative way for saying that she runs the house? It could be a twist on the saying "The one who wears the pants in the household", just that instead of pants it's having a mustache. I mean, madame here could may as well have a solid handlebar too while wearing the pants (mustache).
Okay, that's all for this half. I hope you've enjoyed this so far and would look forward to Part 2.
P.S. I would love to have a T-shirt with that caricature of him in this photo.
Whenever a song were to be firmly wedged into my brain, I realise, more often than not, the song in question would be a pre or post war song. Could be a new discovery or an old favourite, be as it may, the moment I listen/hum along to/think of a ryukoka, it would linger in my head for days. I believe that's what J-Canuck calls an ear worm. I'm not sure why music from that era sticks to me like industrial strength super glue. Probably it's because they're simple and catchy, which explains why a good number of them are still popular over seventy years down the road.
This brings us to what I shall be sharing today: My list of some of my favourite ryukoka at this point in time that were spawned during the 1930s and 1940s. I had initially planned on including stuff from the 50's as well but decided against it after some thought. The reason being, if I did so, the list would inevitably comprise of Hachi, Michi, Muchi and Minami. Now, as much as I like them, I feel that I've been talking about them a lot, and adding the four here would then make the list rather predictable and therefore... boring. That being said, there is one fellow here that, I feel, won't be much of a surprise either.
In this article, I've narrowed my picks down to one song per singer for simplicity's sake, and I'll also be highlighting the lines from each entry that always comes to mind. For the latter, it's not necessarily because I fully understand what the words mean, but mostly because I like how it sounds when sung - strange, but it is what it is.
Well, anyway, let's get to it, shall we? The songs aren't listed in any particular order.
Ichiro Fujiyama -- Tokyo Rhapsody (1936)
Tanoshii miyako koi no miyako (楽しい都 恋の都) Yume no paradise yo hana no Tokyo (夢の楽園よ 花の東京)
Tanoshii miyako indeed, Mr Fujiyama.
Oh boy, the chorus has been on repeat in my brain for the past few weeks. Out of all the tracks on this list, "Tokyo Rhapsody" (東京ラプソディ) is the most recent addition to my ryukoka favourites. Although I've been a fan of Ichiro Fujiyama's (藤山一郎) other evergreen classic, "Aoi Sanmyaku" (青い山脈) for a much longer period of time, I couldn't get enough of the faster pace and exuberance portrayed in "Tokyo Rhapsody". The video above has the newer version as well as the original. I really enjoy the new take of it for the cool and funky arrangement - just makes the song ten times catchier!
Hana wo ukabe te nagareru mizu no (花をうかべて 流れる水の) Asu no yukue wa shirane domo (明日のゆくえは 知らねども)
"Soshu Yakyoku" (蘇州夜曲) is a tune that has been covered dozens upon dozens of times in Japanese and Mandarin. I've put down the very first recorded take of it here by Noboru Kirishimaand Hamako Watanabe (霧島昇・渡辺はま子), but frankly, I'll always be happy to hear this song sung by just about anybody. While it's definitely the softest entry here, I do enjoy it for its beautiful melody - especially so in ASKA's atmospheric and languid version, which I listen to most - and romantic set of lyrics.
Dick Mine -- Tabi Sugata San'nin Otoko (1939)
Mita ka kiita ka ano tanka (見たか 聞いたか あの啖呵)
Wouldn't be list of pre and immediate post war ryukoka without something from the matatabi (股旅) label. Apparently, that's the proper term used to call songs featuring those wandering ronin. Coming back to the topic, there are a couple of matatabi enka from the late 30's that I'm always listening to - actually, I believe they're the ones that solidified my love for matatabi enka/ryukoka - but the one I tend to pick first is Dick Mine's (ディック・ミネ) "Tabi Sugata San'nin Otoko" (旅姿三人男). It's jaunty music is mainly what draws me to it... but I think that's about it because some of the lyrics still have me scratching my head and trying to figure out how they relate to each other.
Y'know when I mentioned that there's going to be a predictable artiste featured here? Yup, it's good ol' Batayan. There are also many works by Yoshio Tabata (田端義夫) that I favour but as with the aforementioned self-imposed rule, I can only choose one. So, I chose "Genkai Blues" (玄海ブルース). It was between this or the other matatabi tune I implied earlier, "Otone Tsukiyo" (大利根月夜), and the former was picked as I tend to find myself singing/humming this slightly bluesy madorosu entry more often.
Katsutaro Kouta & Issei Mishima -- Tokyo Ondo (1933)
Haa hana wa Ueno yo (ハア 花は上野よ) Choito yanagi wa Ginza (チョイト 柳は銀座) Tsuki wa Sumida no tsuki wa Sumida no yakatabune (月は隅田の 月は隅田の屋形船)
Here we have another entry dedicated to Tokyo, but this one has a Japanese flavour to it rather than Western. The festive bon odori melody and the constant "yoi yoi yoi" of "Tokyo Ondo" (東京音頭) is really quite hypnotic and catchy, latching on to me the moment I heard it at Kiyoshi Hikawa's (氷川きよし) event in Ikebukuro. As with "Soshu Yakyoku", I've put down the original version of "Tokyo Ondo" here by Katsutaro Kouta and Issei Mishima (小唄勝太郎・三島一聲). However, I normally listen to Hikawa's abridged version with it's updated score and five verses instead of the insanely long ten stanzas in the original - I'm fond of the song, yes, but there's only that much of a bon odori song I can take in one sitting before I call it quits.
Haruo Oka -- Akogare no Hawaii Koro (1948)
Hare ta sora soyogu kaze (晴れた空 そよぐ風) Minato defune no dora no ne tanoshi (港出船の ドラの音愉し) Wakare tape wo egao dekireba (別れテープを 笑顔で切れば) Nozomi hatenai haruka na shioji (希望はてない 遥かな潮路) Ah ah ah akogare no Hawaii koro (あゝ 憧れのハワイ航路)
Coming to the end of the article (thanks for sticking around), the last ryukoka that has been a perennial favourite of mine is Haruo Oka's (岡晴夫) "Akogare no Hawaii Koro" (憧れのハワイ航路). Ah, that was a time when I thought the mannerisms of the likes of Oka when performing were utterly amusing - honestly, I still find it quite funny now.
As you've probably noticed, I've highlighted the entire first stanza of "Akogare no Hawaii Koro" instead of simply a line or two. My reason for this is that firstly, I have it so firmly implanted into my brain that it doesn't take much for me to utter out the whole thing; secondly, this one stanza from the optimistic lyrics, combined with the jolly melody, gave me my first taste of what music was like in post-war Japan when I was still happily listening to just Chage and Aska. It was weird at first, but it was hard not to like it after a few listens.
That's the end of this article. I hope you enjoyed listening to these ancient classics. I might do one on my favourite songs from the 50's and/or 60's sometime, but we'll see how it goes... When I do, I promise I will be objective in my choices and the article won't just be filled with Hachi's works.
During last week's NHK-broadcast special charity concert in Shizuoka Prefecture, I did hear a lovely bluesy ballad called "Kimi Mate Domo" which was originally sung by Aiko Hirano（平野愛子）in 1948. Written and composed by Tatsuzo Azuma（東辰三）, it was a torch song about pining for that special someone who would probably never come or come back. The original recorded version has that old-fashioned stateliness.
However, to be honest, I have much preferred the later versions of "Kimi Mate Domo" since they have possessed more of that good time swing. And apparently it has been covered a number of times by a lot of different folks. Kazuko Matsuo（松尾和子）, for example, gave her cover of the song in 1963. And that picture of her above sums her stylings on the song perfectly: as someone who is by herself for another night at the bar while sucking back on that cigarette. Plenty of atmosphere there as she seems happily resigned to her fate.
The big surprise for me is that actress Saki Takaoka（高岡早紀）has given her own sultry take on the song with the added English title "I'm Waiting For You". When I first knew her, it was as the buxom tarento on the variety show circuit, and Marcos V. has written about one of her early tunes as an aidoru, "Nemurenu Mori no Bishoujo"（眠れぬ森の美女）from 1988.
But it's been many since that song. And in 2013, she performed "Kimi Mate Domo" as the ending theme for one of her movies from that year, "Monster" where she played a woman who had undergone serious plastic surgery to escape from a horrific childhood of being bullied due to her facial deformities. I'm actually quite impressed with her vocals here. The song itself was a track on her album of standards, "Sings-Bedtime Stories" from October 2014.
In my job, I don't get too much of an opportunity to go out of the house during the weekdays so when a couple of friends contacted me last week to see if we could all get together for dinner out in the west end of Toronto, I was more than happy to oblige. Commuting is one thing I do not miss at all in my current career but hopping on the subway in mid-afternoon made for a nice change of scenery.
Speaking of scenery, Toronto is in the latter half of autumn so some of the sparkle in the fall colours has started to fade, but it was still good to see what was still on the trees on the ride over to the end of the line. Got back home to find out that "Kayo Concert" was pre-empted for a kayo charity concert in Gunma Prefecture (one of my old haunts). There was the mix ofenka, New Music and anisonin there but then I heard this lovely old chestnut tonight as well.
As soon as I heard the orchestral version of "Sato no Aki"(Autumn in the Village), I knew it was a tune from many decades back and the fact that it was most likely a children's song. And in fact, it was a song originally sung by Masako Kawada（川田正子）, a singer of such tunes. Nobuo Saito（斎藤信夫）wrote the lyrics and Minoru Kainuma（海沼實）took care of the melody and the song was released as a single in 1948, although Kawada had first performed it on a radio program as far back as 1945.
Becoming a standard listed in the songbook for music classes in elementary schools, it's no surprise that a lot of singers have performed it over the years. The above is Masako Mori's（森昌子）version while Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）covers it below.
In 2007, "Sato no Aki" was selected as one of the Nihon no Uta Hyakusen（日本の歌百選...Collection of 100 Japanese Songs）sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
That skit by The Drifters (ザ・ドリフターズ) in the clip above was one of the first I've watched from the comedy group, and it's also one of my favourites. This sketch has the 5 fellas doing a parody of what normally goes on during NHK's "Nodojiman", and despite some purposely made inaccuracies for laughs and how ridiculously idiotic it got, it was a great introduction to the singing competition for yours truly... although it did made me anticipate the ringing of the bells immediately after the contestants opened their mouths when I actually tuned in to the real deal on TV for the first time last year.
Anyway, since the skit featured "Nodojiman" in post-war Japan, our four contestants, played by Boo Takagi (高木ブー ), Ken Shimura (志村けん), Koji Nakamoto (仲本工事), and Cha Kato (加藤茶) respectively, all "sang" some really, really, old kayokyoku, or should I say, ryukoka. And out of all the 1/10ths of a song I've heard, I took a liking to the one Takagi's characterhad attempted to sing, "Nagasaki no Zabon Uri" as it had a rather cheerful start and I easily understood those few words he belted out, that being, "Kane ga naru naru" (the bells are ringing), right before his time in the limelight came to an abrupt halt when our pretentious and faux courteous MC and bell-ringer, played by Chosuke Ikariya (いかりや長介), appropriately struck the bell once... ...Now you know why I had the impression that the contestants would only survive about 5 seconds on stage.
Now, on to "Nagasaki no Zabon Uri". It did not occur to me to look for information regarding this song, I suppose it's because I was just satisfied hearing that one line or less from that Drifter's skit. In fact, it was only just this Wednesday when I re-watched the video for the nth time that the curiosity of finding out the original singer of "Nagasaki no Zabon Uri" got to me. I found it rather quickly after copying and pasting the Japanese characters for "Nagasaki" and "no" in the YouTube search bar, and I immediately recognized the name of the original singer as I skimmed through the results. He was Minoru Obata (小畑実). I got to know this native of North Korea via a medley of ryukoka that featured Batayan and Dick Mine - the number of times I hit repeat on that video is astronomical - and he seemed like a rather jolly fellow with his face beaming and all as he warbled in a very nasally voice.
Obata had that same merry manner as he sung "Nagasaki no Zabon Uri", an upbeat and jaunty tune about selling pomelo fruits (that's what a "Zabon" is) at the Nagasaki harbor. The music, composed by Obata's mentor, Yoshi Eguchi (江口夜詩), just makes you envision a bustling market scene with people moving in all directions with various goods, including pomelos, on a breezy, clear day. No sadness here! Not even in the lyrics that were written by Miyuki Ishimoto (石本美由起). Well, "Nagasaki no Zabon Uri" is a post-war song (released in 1948) after all, so I guess its meant to lift the dampened spirits of the folks.
Here's some background information on Obata. Born in North Korea as Gang Yeong Cheol (강영철) in 1923, he decided to move to Japan, together with tenor singer Genjiro Nagata (永田絃次郎) when he was sixteen, where he enrolled into the Japan Music School (日本音楽学校). He became one of Eguchi's students after graduating in 1941, and debuted the same year in February with "成吉思汗" (translates to Genghis Khan). He had participated in the Kohaku3 times, first in 1953, then 1954, and finally in 1957.
kingrecords.co.jp
If you're wondering how a pomelo looks like, it's in the picture below. I see them here (Singapore) occasionally at some super marts, but they spike in popularity during the Mid-Autumn festival as they are eaten with the moon cakes. The clear, pulpy flesh is bittersweet, some times more bitter than sweet, and I don't really fancy it, though I don't mind them in this dessert (originating from Hong Kong) called "Mango Pomelo Sago"... Actually I may find myself picking the pomelo out of the mango puree and grimacing whenever I bite into a bitter pulp...
I was watching the latest "Kayo Concert" tonight and it was particularly interesting since the host, Tetsuya Takayama（高山哲哉）, introduced the show's theme as Rhythm Kayo. I know about Mood Kayo and Techno Kayo but it was the first time to hear about this new old genre of kayo, and Takayama and the guests explained it as that part of Japanese music from yesteryear which has a danceable beat. I've already covered at least a couple of the songs that are included in the genre (and were sung tonight): Shizuko Kasagi's（笠置シヅ子）snappy "Tokyo Boogie Woogie"（東京ブギウギ）and the hip-swiveling "Koi no Mexican Rock"（恋のメキシカン・ロック）by Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）.
The remarkable thing about this Rhythm Kayo is how the Japanese songwriters back in the early postwar period were more than happy to incorporate at least some hint of the exotic song stylings from other countries and bring in the names of dances into the titles such as "rock", "flamenco" or "boogie". And yet, there was still that baseline of kayo in the songs. But of course, that borrowing of outside styles would continue later into the century through New Music and City Pop and the like.
Of course, "Tokyo Boogie Woogie" would lead things off on NHK's Shibuya stage but then the guests went into another one of Kasagi's numbers that I hadn't ever heard before. Titled "Jungle Boogie" (no relation whatsoever to Kool & The Gang's namesake song from the 70s), the original was sung by Japan's boogie queen back in 1948 for the movie "Yoidore Tenshi"（醉いどれ天使...Drunken Angel）, the first collaboration between legendary director Akira Kurosawa（黒澤明）and famed actor Toshiro Mifune（三船敏郎）. In fact, it was Kurosawa who was behind the lyrics of the song which Kasagi lunged into like a hungry cheetah. There were certain points where I thought she was going to channel a really ecstatic Louis Armstrong. Ryoichi Hattori（服部良一）took care of the melody; he was also the composer behind the more famous "Tokyo Boogie Woogie".
Here is a brief excerpt from "Yoidore Tenshi".
As I was looking for any original video with Kasagi for "Jungle Boogie", I found out that Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra covered the old chestnut back in 1991 for their album, "World Famous". I love the video and their version certainly has that jive brio that also makes me wonder whether Kome Kome Club had ever covered it. Considering the brief neo-swing fad that popped up later in the decade, TSPO's take on the song had me musing that it beat bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers to the punch by a few years.
Just two days ago I managed to come across this rarity: A pack of 4 CD's filled with Enka and Kayokyoku from back in the day at 'That CD Shop'! As you can see I used rarity. That's because you can almost never find CD's of those genres being sold here in Singapore and also, being a pack of 4 would usually mean that it would cost a bomb, right? Nope, that thing only costed less than 20 bucks (SGD)! I guess no one wanted to buy it until I came along.
Anyway, those CD's had many classics from the 50's and 60's by singers like Hideo Murata (村田英雄) - its got 'Jinsei Gekijo' (人生劇場)! - and for the Mood Kayo side we've got Frank Nagai (フランク 永井) and Wada Hiroshi & Mahina Stars (和田弘とマヒナスターズ). But what was really interesting was that there were even songs from the 40's! And that was where I found the song that had been popping up in my mind occasionally since I had discovered it a couple of years ago while watching Chage & Aska discussing about old songs on a talk show.
That song was 'Akogare no Hawaii Koro' by Haruo Oka (岡晴夫). Its now the oldest song I'm quite fond of, being released in 1948! I'm sure that makes it one of those cheerful and uplifting post-war tunes talking about longing for the beautiful sunsets and coconut tree-lined paths of the exotic islands of Hawaii.
I had actually found it quite silly back then how Oka sang this song: Eyes open as wide as his mouth and seemingly staring into space while standing quite still in front of the microphone. Especially so as he began the distinguishable start with his equally as distinguishable nasally voice.
Same performance as the clip shown on the talk show C&A were on.
HAAAAAre ta sora soyogu kaze Minato defune no dora no ne tanoshi
And that would get stuck in my head from time to time to the point that it'd be annoying since I only clearly remembered those 2 lines above. It was written by Miyuki Ishimoto (石本美由起) and the jaunty, quintessentially 40's music was composed by Yoshi Eguchi (江口夜詩). From what I gather, it was quite popular since it was used in a movie by the same name in 1950 starring Oka himself and a 13 year old Hibari Misora (美空ひばり) and its sung quite often nowadays too by other singers, most probably when there is a post-war song special or something on that line.
Oka, born as Tatsuo Sasaki, debuted as a Kayokyoku/Ryukoka (流行歌) singer in 1939. Ryukoka was basically any kind of pop music and Enka branched out from that genre, but now it just refers to pop music from the 20's to the early 60's. He had never participated in the Kohaku since he insisted on live performances, which was quite a shame. Unfortunately he passed away in 1970 at only 54 years old.
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