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.
The above is a shot of one of the photos inside Mariko Ashibe's（芦部真梨子）1984 album"Street Scandal ~ Machikado wa Kiken ga Ippai"（ストリート・スキャンダル –街角は危険がいっぱい...The Street Corners are Filled with Danger）. It's nice to get the full title at last. Regardless, I guess Ashibe, which was the name that the Hyogo Prefecture jazz singer was adopting at the time, enjoyed a bit of perilous intrigue back then.
I've already spoken on a couple of other tracks from "Street Scandal": "Highway Dancer"（ハイウェイ・ダンサー）and "Private Friday"（プライベート・フライデー）. For today, let's go with "Hodou no Ballerina" (Ballerina on the Pavement), and maybe that's what Ashibe was trying to attain with her photograph. Considering that the song was written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）, the high-falutin' suspense was most likely guaranteed. The background strings give "Hodou no Ballerina" a touch of elegance and the overall arrangement makes the song feel like a pop adventure among the bright lights of Paris.
Yesterday, I was watching NHK's daily morning information show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）and the theme was hen'ai. I'd never heard of the term before but was wondering if it were transcribed thusly: 「変愛」. Of course, seeing that kanji in my mind, I went "Oh, geez...I didn't think these guys would go into fetishism this early in the day...and on NHK, no less!" . But then, I saw the proper kanji: 「偏愛」. According to jisho.org, the definition is favoritism or partiality, but for the purposes of "Asaichi", it actually referred to particularly unusual hobbies. So, the reporters visited a housewife who has been collecting bags from stores and restaurants for decades, another lady who often spent two hours a day enjoying removing aphids from her plants, and another woman who thrilled at admiring/passing through iron bridges.
Perhaps then, the whole thing about non-Japanese people collecting Japanese City Pop albums can be considered hen'ai as well. I used to collect newspaper articles on Japan and astronomy when I was a kid until all that browning newsprint became too much of a fire hazard.
Anyways, it is Hump Day and so to relieve the usual stress that comes in the middle of the week, I thought that I could provide some examples of those rarefied pastimes via music.
I love my ramen but I'm not quite on the same level as some of these other folks who make going out for ramen a daily ritual. I've even seen magazines devoted to the dish in the convenience stores.
This wasn't covered in "Asaichi", but I can imagine people who would just adore visiting the various museums in a particular city. Tokyo has no shortage of those historical and artistic institutions.
Of course, there is also the lady who has an affinity for going aphid-hunting. It was even reported in "Asaichi" that she's got a good battle comrade in the form of a praying mantis.
I discovered CASIOPEA completely by accident when I was in high school, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I listen to their self-titled 1979 debut album religiously—at least once a month. Seeing them perform live has been on my bucket list for years, and on September 12, 2026, that dream finally came true when CASIOPEA performed at The Wiltern in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.
The September 12 and 13 concerts marked the legendary Japanese jazz-fusion band’s long-awaited return to Los Angeles. After decades of watching old performances through a computer screen, I was finally going to seeIssei Noro (野呂 一生) shred in person. Truly, this was a moment for the ages.
Man, when I tell you the line was long, I mean it wrapped around the building like a rattlesnake. People showed up for this performance. Apparently, the Los Angeles Japanese-fusion community travels as a unit, because I recognized a lot of the same crowd from the Masayoshi Takanaka (高中 正義) concert earlier this year.
Thankfully, the line moved quickly, and I was inside within minutes. The Wiltern is a beautiful historic venue, with an interior that makes any concert feel like a special occasion. Naturally, there was also a bar waiting for me in the lobby—with $20 drinks and some impressively overpriced popcorn.
Once I reached my seat, however, that was when the real magic began.
The current CASIOPEA lineup features founding member Noro—the GOAT—on guitar, Jun Abe (安部 潤) on keyboards, Yoshinori Imai (今井義頼) on drums, and Yoshihiro Naruse (鳴瀬喜博) on bass. Abe joined the band in 2025, when CASIOPEA returned to its original name after performing as CASIOPEA-P4.
The opening portion of the concert felt like a primer on the band’s long history. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t recognize nearly half of the songs—I clearly need to catch up on my jazz fusion—but hearing classics such as “Eyes of the Mind” and “Dazzling” performed live was something special.
One of the highlights was hearing four songs from the band’s latest album,TRUE BLUE. Released in August 2025, it was the first CASIOPEA album to feature Jun Abe on keyboards. Of the four new songs, my favorite was easily “Eagle – Fly Around.”
This was definitely the toughest song in the set. It was bombastic and action-packed while still carrying that signature CASIOPEA whimsy. I could easily imagine it playing during the middle of an anime fight sequence.
Then these cheeky geezers tried to walk offstage as if the concert were over.
Come on now. They obviously weren’t going to end the show with only their new material. They knew their audience, and after a roaring standing ovation, the band returned for an encore featuring “Domino Line,” “Tokimeki,” and “Asayake.”
This was my first time hearing “Tokimeki,” but I was very familiar with the other two. There probably isn’t a CASIOPEA fan alive who hasn’t heard “Asayake.” I would have been completely satisfied if the concert had ended there—but after yet another standing ovation, Issei knew exactly what he had to do.
He brought out the big guns.
“Take Me” is the quintessential CASIOPEA song. It would have been a crime not to play it, and for a moment, it seemed as if they had saved the best for last.
Or did they?
Enter “Fight Man.”
I remember watching the old CASIOPEA vs. T-SQUARE performance and being flabbergasted by how epic that version was. Thankfully, the band did not disappoint here either.
Before I forget, I have to emphasize just how energetic Issei Noro is onstage. This man was 69 years old and still shredding his guitar like it was 1982. Watching him command the stage was worth the price of admission by itself.
Surely, CASIOPEA would end the concert of a lifetime with their most epic live song.
Nope.
We got one final track.
I’ll be honest—“The Sky” was another song I didn’t recognize. It was good, but I probably wouldn’t have chosen it as the final performance. It simply didn’t have the same explosive energy as “Fight Man.” Still, that is a minor complaint about an otherwise unforgettable show.
CASIOPEA live in Los Angeles was everything I hoped it would be: energetic, funky, exciting, playful and technically ridiculous. Honestly, there are too many words I could use to describe it. My only regret is that they did not play my favorite song of theirs ever; Midnight Rendezvous. C'est la vie.
The best part may have been connecting with other CASIOPEA fans in real life and getting together for some good old-fashioned Korean barbecue after the show. It felt great to talk about Japanese music outside the confines of internet forums and YouTube comment sections. For one night, the little online community surrounding this music became something tangible.
Most importantly, I made my bucket list a little shorter.
Lord willing, this will not be CASIOPEA’s final journey to the West. Hopefully, after seeing the reception they received in Los Angeles, they’ll make a quick return. The audience made one thing perfectly clear: America loves CASIOPEA.
Special thanks to all the friends and fellow fans from the Masayoshi Takanaka Discord Server who attended the concert with me—and who provided these excellent photographs!
I have to say that when I'm looking at the single cover picture of Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）in the thumbnail above for the November 1984"Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa" (飾りじゃないのよ涙は）, maybe it's because of the size of the white hat and/or the positioning of the shot, but her shoulders look so wide in that green outfit that she could be a linebacker for the Rams. We Akina fans should be so lucky to see her in an NFL game!😁
Anyways, "Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa" is one of Nakamori's greatest hits and it's a song of fury and defiance set to a rock and funk beat. I recall yesterday when I posted Takao Kisugi's（来生たかお）article on "Machibito Kitarazu"（待ち人来たらず）that there was this yin/yang thing regarding putting songs of differing moods as the A and B sides. Well, I guess this also applies to this Akina single.
I'm happy to say that after so many decades being a fan of Akina-chan, I'm still hearing songs by her for the first time. And the B-side here is one of those songs. "Moonlight Letter" is a pretty gooshy and woozy love ballad about a woman who has just seen off her paramour for the night and is waxing most emotionally about him. Definitely neither fury nor defiance here. Written by Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）, composed by Goto Matsui（松井五郎）and arranged in a gauzy way by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, the song reminds me a bit of "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. I also have to remark that vocally speaking, Akina doesn't go into her high tones as she did with those earlier aidoru ballads and her voice seems to be transitioning into those famous lower registers.
With my previous article being "Night Drive" for all those City Pop fans who want to take it out on the road in the evening, I guess this article can be about the nocturnal jazz while enjoying time at some intimate alley bar downtown. And it's from a source that I hadn't expected.
All this time, the Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）file on KKP was one that really consisted of tracks from one album; namely "Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship） from October 1981. It was indeed a City Pop release and Asaka was good for it. And J-Wiki only lists that album as her only album output in her discography. Well, strangely enough, the discography was lacking by at least one more album. In 1984, Asaka released her purely jazz album titled "Loving For...". Right from the start, we get "My Heart Belongs To You" with the singer and band providing a smoky version which deserves its own tumbler of scotch. Finally glad to add a totally new angle to the Asaka file.
Welcome to another Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". I'm starting things a little differently today with an Author's Picks. I was inspired to do this one this way from actually viewing a segment on Wednesday's edition of NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）morning infotainment program which focused on the Kawasaki Industrial Site.
I not only remember seeing this glittering otherworldly complex of lights and metal but for one night, I was actually within it! That night, due to a teacher falling ill, I was assigned to teach a lesson for a couple of the employees working within the complex and yep, it was pretty stunning especially when seeing it from the train. Entering the area felt like boarding the mother ship.
The Japanese tourism industry certainly didn't let the opportunity go. There are now tours on foot, bus and boat to take a look at the Kawasaki Industrial Site through selected spots. If you're interested, you can take a look at the relevant page at Japan Experience. Also, the above video is by YouTuber Hachimantai Outdoors.
The reason that I wanted to do this "Night Drive" is because seeing the Kawasaki Industrial Site from the air had me thinking of Kazumasa Oda's（小田和正）lovely ballad "Oh Yeah!". The official music video for Oda's 1991 song had couples enjoying each other's company but there were a couple of scenes in there showing some glorious eagle-view night shots of Tokyo which stayed with me.
Now, to be honest, this Author's Picks isn't something unprecedented. I've already noted "Oh Yeah!" in a 2014 article "J-Canuck's Nighttime Playlist". Plus in 2022, I whipped up "Driving to City Pop" with its cool songs. So, consider "Night Drive" to be the love child of the two articles and I will be choosing different tunes that still reflect in my opinion, the nighttime drive experience in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, etc. (although of course, you may have your own choices). Furthermore, another inspiration for this one is the old "Night Ride"1980s late-night Toronto show that appeared almost every night in the wee hours on Global Television to relax those night owls.
It happened now and then that an ingenue entered the revolving doors to the 80s aidoruindustry and proceeded to pull off a one-and-done before disappearing back into normal Japanese society. And the way that the description by YouTuber nothingmuch') puts it, Chie Saijo（西城千恵）was one of those young ladies.
The channel also mentions the following: "...she would be one of the last idols (and well, artists in general) that debuted under Yupiteru - as their record department would eventually go bankrupt by the end of the year with this ending up as her only release...however, there is a report under the name Chie Takahashi (as the remark about her is about her debut in July under the same label - it's most likely her real name, but I'm unsure) that she was born on April 21, 1962."
You can read nothingmuch's whole report from this link, but basically the above is most of the information gleaned about the lass. The one single, "Omoide Tazunebito" (In Search of Memories), was released in July 1984, and as written and composed by singer-songwriter Kyoko Kosaka（小坂恭子）, who has her own entries on KKP such as her 1975 "Omoide Makura"（想い出まくら）, this is quite the refined creation for an aidoru with a stately string-led melody that makes me imagine a nightclub in Akasaka rather than a cute cafe near the high school. I could even consider it a form of New Adult Music.
For some interesting reason, I came across a number of songs whose titles amount to "glass windows" in Japanese music including one by the mixture rock band King Gnu. Unless the music industry has a major Windex fetish, I gather that the window has been thematically used as a source of reflection or introspection after a certain unhappy situation.
But for this one, I have Hiroko Mita's（三田寛子）B-side to her January 1984 7th single"Haru no Bouken"（春の冒険...Spring Adventure） to start off this Hump Day. Indeed, this is titled "Glass Mado" (Glass Window), and it's quite the stylish aidoru tune by Mita with a splash of tango. And as noted above, the young lady in question here is looking at the titular window with a sense of sadness after an implied romantic breakup; she can see the reflection of herself as a happy lass yesterday but things cloud over considerably when it comes to tomorrow. Yes, definitely get the Windex!
"Glass Mado" was written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）, composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）and arranged by Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）. I don't hear too much Latin from Hayashi usually so also for that reason, this song stands out for me.
Starting off this week's Reminiscings of Youth on a sad note, I saw the news scroll yesterday state that Frank Beard, the drummer and founding member of the rock groupZZ Top, had passed away at the age of 77 on August 17th. My condolences to his family, friends and fans.
I wasn't a huge ZZ Top fan but there were a few songs that I remember during my youth in the 1980s. One especially was "Legs" which came out in 1984 and had one memorable video. Beard and his two main mates, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill in their iconic hats, sunglasses, long coats...and beards as they carried their furry guitars, acted as the scruffiest guardian archangels while their leggy and beautiful angels helped out a mousy young lady (and her admirer by association) somewhere in an American suburb to succeed over a lot of resistance. It was basically a contemporary rehashing of Cinderella and the classic tale of the bullied getting some revenge on the bullies. I saw the music video for the first time last night and remarked "Yep, that was some fashion back then!"
"Legs" was a song and video that held onto the charts and television screens for a very long time as I recall. I thought it was just a propulsive rock song but according to its Wikipedia article, it's got a lot of genre labels: blues rock, electronic rock, synth-pop, boogie rock, pop rock and new wave. But I'll stick with the rock label. The video itself won the 1984 MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video and the song managed to hit No. 9 on the Canadian charts while in America, it peaked at No. 8.
Since Wikipedia only gives the release year for "Legs", let's find out which two acts won Best New Artist honours in that year's Japan Record Awards.
Not sure what's gotten singer-songwriter Masamichi Sugi（杉真理）so shocked on the cover of his May 1984 album "Mistone". Maybe he just saw the latest trailer for "Avengers Doomsday".
Anyways, I have here one of the tracks from "Mistone", "Terra". Y'know...I don't think I had ever heard a New Wave pop tune from Sugi (usually he tended toward the old-fashioned pop of the 1950s or 1960s) but here is one song that sounds just as if it really does belong to 1984. It's got that nice bouncy little synthpop rhythm to add to the singer's high-falutin' vocals. And there are also those certain nostalgic guitar chords of that decade.
It was just this morning when I saw commenter Brian Mitchell noticing that there were indeed a lot of songs in Japan with the word kanashii（悲しい）or kanashimi（悲しみ）or some variant. They refer to sadness or loneliness and it would fit in with the kayo kyoku tendency to bring up a lot of sad stories within the lyrics albeit the music supporting them has often been quite cheerful. Well, I've opted to show off an Author's Picks (not complete by any means) of these songs which are mostly upbeat except for one. I refused though to post a thumbnail of a sad face...I went with something more symbolic, namely a Wikimedia Commons photo by User Kenlin of someone pouring some sake for someone having the blues.
A little over a year ago, I put up "The First Day of Summer!", an Author's Picks consisting of all of those summery tunes with the explanation point being that all of the song titles contained the word "summer". Well, I figured that I would go for another similar posting but I've relaxed the rules slightly by also allowing the Japanese term for summer, "natsu". So, without further ado then, get into that hammock and pull up a citrus-y cocktail.
The above photo comes from flickr and Wikimedia Commons via author aotaro and it's quite the gleaming Tron-friendly photo of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line spanning across the titular body of water between Kanagawa and Chiba Prefectures. Imagine crossing this one in the wee hours.
Now, the Aqua-Line opened around thirteen years following the introduction of this opening track from Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe's（杉山清貴&オメガトライブ）December 1984 album "Never Ending Summer", but I'd imagine that current City Pop fans would be more than happy to traverse the Aqua-Line while listening to this one in the coupe.
What I'm talking about is "Misty Line Cruising" which was written by Chinfa Kan（康珍化）, composed by Sugiyama himself and then arranged by Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）. From the title and one early lyric, I'd assumed that the story was going to take place on a cruise ship but by the end, I was convinced that the cruising involved was through a car...an automobile occupied by a handsome couple out on their second date after meeting cute in a cafe somewhere. The feeling from the rest of Kan's lyrics is that the sky's the limit now as to what could happen in this relationship. The romantic vibe is thrumming as smoothly as that engine in the car and the melody in "Misty Line Cruising".
Being summer, it's festival season in Japan and I know that it's in full swing whenever I hear about or see Tokyo's Sumida River Fireworks Festival on the final Saturday of July. I've seen it on television from the air-conditioned comfort of my Ichikawa apartment and around thirty years ago, I actually saw it with my own eyes from the apartment of a student who generously invited teachers and fellow classmates over for a fireworks party. We were very fortunate in that the apartment was right by the Sumida River in Asakusa where I used to work, so the fireworks literally exploded right over our heads. Getting back home, though, was quite the adventure in time and physics.
Festivals in Japan also mean bon odori...the great communal dance around the raised stage all draped in red and white like the colours of the Japanese flag. Nothing says the dog days of summer than doing those rhythmic steps while sporting a colourful yukata and geta while a min'yo is being sung and performed on stage.
However, in the last several years, there has been some relaxation of the rules in terms of the music, so instead of the traditional stuff, examples of kayo kyoku and J-Pop have been used to get the crowds all roused up and dancing. Thanks to an NHK report yesterday, I was rather inspired to put up this list that I got from a far bigger list on Line Music. Yes, you can dance to these in the Bon Odori style!
As soon as I heard the boozy saxophone from the intro, I knew that we were in heavy Mood Kayo territory. I could already see the cigarette smoke and hear the clinking glasses of whiskey on the rocks.
The interesting thing is that the singer behind this B-side to her 1984 single"Gion Bojou"（祇園慕情...Longing for Gion）, "Fukanasake" is a bit of a mystery. There's not much information about Hitomi Kaga（加賀ひとみ）although there is an entry on someone else named Hitomi Kaga (same kanji and hiragana, too) on J-Wiki. But looking deep into that article and her file on Discogs plainly shows that we are talking about two different women. The J-Wiki article is of an opera singer who was still in high school in the 1980s while the Kaga here and on Discogs started her career as a singer in the 1960s.
And to be honest, I'd never heard of the word fukanasake before. I found out that it means "hollow kindness" and so I'm guessing that, considering the genre involved here, it's about some lady who was betrayed by a love 'em-&-leave 'em cad in the big city somewhere. Maybe she's drinking her sorrows away in some dingy hole-in-the-wall. Anyways, the song was written and composed by someone whose name in kanji form is one of the rare instances that has absolutely stymied me. Wild speculation with some help from Jisho.org is that it could be pronounced Hiizu Aika（愛佳禾）. It might even be an especially muscular pseudonym for an otherwise famous songwriter but if anyone can give me some insight, that would be great. But for right now, I look as pensive as Ms. Kaga does on the single cover.🤔
Last week, I posted up "Sagamihara Singers" in tribute to the fact that my hometown of Toronto and the city of Sagamihara had a sister-city relationship. Tonight, I'm talking about "Nagoya Singers" but my inspiration isn't connected to any similar bond between Nagoya and a Canadian city. In fact, I don't think Nagoya has any sister-city relationships with any urban zones in my nation although it does have them with Los Angeles, Mexico City and Sydney.
Nope, the impetus for writing about singers or bands who come from Japan's 4th-largest city is today's edition of NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）morning information show. It just so happens that the focus was on Nagoya and all of those scrumptious dishes that originate there and elsewhere in its Aichi Prefecture. When I saw that wonderful dish of grilled eel called hitsumabushi（ひつまぶし）on my screen earlier, I just went "OK...got my second article for Hump Day!". But have a look at hitsumabushi and some of the other famous local treats in the video above from Mui's Diary.
Anyways, I've got four acts here from Nagoya. Please enjoy!
Anyways, Nagoya has been in the news for being one of the hottest places in Japan right now, so I'm hoping that folks there are trying to keep cool and safe. As a PS, you can also take a look at another Nagoya specialty, ten-musu（天むす）, from YouTuber Just One Cookbook.
Happy Monday! Well, the third Monday of July has already passed in Japan but they did celebrate a long weekend culminating in the national holiday of "Umi no Hi" or Marine Day (or Sea Day or Ocean Day). I was watching the NHK news footage of kids and grownups hitting the sea and having oodles of fun while the heat wave bombarded on them. And so I figured about whether I actually had done a tribute to the national holiday. As it turned out, I did do a tribute back in 2023, also on the third Monday of July.
But I still wouldn't let the idea of another Author's Picks go. So thanks to a J-Wiki entry called "Umi wo Daizai to Shita Gakkyoku"（海を題材とした楽曲...Songs Themed on the Sea）, I was able to find some more ocean-frolicking-themed tunes that I had already written about way back when. Without further ado then:
I knew that the city of Mississauga right on the west side of Toronto has had a sister city relationship with Kariya in Aichi Prefecture since 1981. For one thing, an old friend of mine from my hometown had a position as a liaison between here and Kariya by being assigned there on the JET Programme. What I hadn't known was that Toronto itself has had a similar relationship with the city of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture since 1991 (so I guess we're celebrating (?) 35 years of friendship this year). I only found out about the connection in the last year when I was curiously looking for whether Toronto itself had any sister cities in Japan. The ironic thing is that I had a couple of students who hailed from Sagamihara including one who was my regular Wednesday night Arashi-loving superfan student.
As for singers from Toronto, we have Drake, The Weeknd and Alessia Cara. But I was also wondering which singers hail from Sagamihara. I could find three such people.
I swear that the more I see the cover of Etsuko Sai's（彩恵津子）July 1984 debut album"Reach Out", the more I think that the stylish house behind Sai is the same one that got illustrated on Tohoku Shinkansen's（東北新幹線）album cover of their 1982 "Thru Traffic". And I'm still going to say that the good folks at paint companies such as DuPont and Glidden must be salivating in joy at the lovely exterior.
Regardless, I have another track from "Reach Out" to join other tracks such as the title track and "Heart wo Knock Shite"（ハートをノックして）that have gotten their due on the blog. This time, it's Track 5,"Mujaki na Hito"(Innocent Man) which was written by Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）and composed by Hiroyuki Iso*（磯広行）. Incidentally, I've seen online that Iso is a percussionist who's also acted as backup chorus on songs such as "Kanashimi ga Tomaranai" (悲しみがとまらない）by Anri（杏里）.
It was a tad difficult to categorize "Mujaki na Hito" although I have nothing against the song itself; it's a lovely tune with an old-school Hollywood jazziness and sophisticated pop feeling. Kinda feel like mixing a couple of martinis for me and the missus whenever I hear that sax-y intro (nice strings, by the way). But by the time I reach the chorus, that boppy bass and the keyboards take me into City Pop land or something appropriate for Resort Pop.
*I'm not totally sure on the correct pronunciation of the composer's family name. As usual, if anyone can confirm or correct it, that would be greatly appreciated.
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