Bruce Cockburn/Barenaked Ladies -- Lovers in a Dangerous Time

World Atlas via Wikimedia Commons

On this blisteringly hot day, Canada is 159 years old. Happy Birthday to the Great White North! Personally, I'm trying to stay cool in my room with the decades-old electric fan helping me out. 

Of course, being a national holiday and all, Reminiscings of Youth will be having a special article today (along with the regular weekly one tomorrow) to commemorate Canada Day. Glad to read that Ottawa-born singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn (pronounced KOH-bərn...like James Coburn) is with us at the age of 81. Forty-two years ago in 1984, he released his "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" which became a Top 40 hit here and a long resident on the music video charts on television. There were some contrasts here: 1) the contrast of young teens finding fresh new love during a time when the spectre of the Cold War was still looming large and 2) Cockburn's button-down and soothing pop-rock arrangement meshed with a performance video of what I could describe as something quite avant-garde Cirque du Soleil. 

In Canada, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" reached No. 24 on the RPM charts while on US Billboard, it peaked at No. 56.

Barenaked Ladies was a band born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. It's nicknamed Scarberia because of how desolate parts of it can look like during the winter (just look at the music video) but it also has a ton of restaurants of all nationalities that can keep people very happy and fed. Anyways, Barenaked Ladies was the same band behind the theme song for the long-running American sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", and they've been a bunch of good local boys who love to rock with a sense of humour. I first found out about them through a friend's car tape-cassette recorder when he was playing a compilation of their stuff which included their cover of "Lovers in a Dangerous Time". 

It's a friendly, folksy and peppy take on Cockburn's original and watching Ed Robertson and the gang perform from the back of a pickup truck while it drives on the streets of Scarborough in the dead of winter is probably one of the most Canadian things I've ever posted on the blog. Their cover first appeared on the 1991 Cockburn tribute album "Kick at the Darkness" and it was released as the band's debut single in 1992.

The original song peaked on August 18th 1984, so why don't we see what was hitting the top of the Oricon charts a couple of days later? Let's go with a scattering of songs here with Nos. 5, 7 and 10.

5. Mariko Takahashi -- Momo Iro Toiki （桃色吐息）

7. Southern All Stars -- Miss Brand-New Day

10. Mari Iijima -- Ai Oboeteimasuka? （愛・おぼえていますか）

KAN -- Iezu no I Love You（言えずのI LOVE YOU）

 

Unfortunately, I have to start this week of KKP with another fuhou（訃報）. She wasn't a singer...at least, not a professional one, but Tamao Nakamura（中村玉緒）had been an actress and entertainer since 1953. She had also been the wife of the burly actor Shintaro Katsu（勝新太郎）who didn't suffer fools gladly and suffered media and medical experts even less apparently. Nakamura passed away on June 9th at the age of 86 from pneumonia.

However, I got to know Nakamura through her appearances on commercials and variety shows where she usually played the role of a sweet-tempered kimono-wearing lady with a slightly dotty personality. And the main show that I knew her from was TBS' "Sanma no Super Karakuri TV"（さんまのSUPERからくりTV...Sanma's Super Tricky TV） which lasted from 1992 to 2014. Broadcast on Sunday nights, it was basically the big Kansai comedian, Sanma Akashiya（明石家さんま）, talking trash with his regular panel of tarento including Nakamura while various segments played out on the telly.

Nakamura would often be involved in some of those segments herself with the usual humorous results as her personality would allow.

As would be the case for any long-running variety series on Japanese TV, "Sanma no Super Karakuri TV" had its fairly long list of ending themes. The first one of those was "Iezu no I Love You" (The "I Love You" That I Can't Say) by the late singer-songwriter KAN who left this mortal coil about three years ago. Released in March 1992 as his 12th single, "Iezu no I Love You" was written and composed by the singer with Akihiko Matsumoto（松本晃彦）handling the arrangement. It's an adorable and slightly jazzy tune that would have a lovably hangdog expression as a face...which matches with KAN's visage. 

It reached No. 13 on Oricon and was a track on KAN's "Girl to Love" album which was actually released in June 1988, so I gather that "Iezu no I Love You" was a very belated release from that LP. The album did quite modestly by scoring a No. 86 ranking, but that was before the singer hit the big time with "Ai wa Katsu"（愛は勝つ）a few years later.

In any case, my condolences to Nakamura's family, friends and many fans.

Keiko Utsumi -- Futari dake no Kyuujitsu（二人だけの休日）

 

Finally, we have a proper spring day out there with seasonal temperatures and bright sunshine. And just in time for the Victoria Day long weekend, too. Plus, the other wonderful thing is that we've got another Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".

Today, we start off with singer-songwriter Keiko Utsumi's（宇都美慶子）"Futari dake no Kyuujitsu" (Only Our Holiday) from her September 1992 4th album "Ren'ai Shosetsu"（恋愛小説...A Love Romance） as introduced by a radio DJ who apparently is only a sporadic student at Berlitz. Written by Utsumi and composed by Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）, the song strikes me as the prototypical 90s City Pop tune with those certain synths at play, and as soon as I learned that Yamakawa was behind the melody, I immediately pressed "play". Lots of good groove and soul in this one and I always appreciate a good sax solo (although for some reason, they had brought in a rather twee synth sax earlier in the song). As for Utsumi's lyrics, they don't completely describe a blissful relationship (the fact that her recipe for vegetable juice sounds more like a recipe for vegetable stew doesn't help) as the arguments start flying near the end with things finishing up on an uncertain note. Hey, love and life downtown!

Haruo Minami -- Nobunaga (信長)

2026 marks Haruo Minami's (三波春夫) 25th death anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the Minami Creates team has bestowed upon us an official lyric video of one of the kayo world's most revered figure's long form kayo-rokyoku (chohen kayo rokyoku...長編歌謡浪曲) works, Nobunaga. On top of that, it was streamed on most, if not all, music listening platforms. 

To be honest, Haru-san has recently taken a bit of a back seat, what with Hachi and Mr. Nakano usurping the majority of my attention. Wading into rokyoku territory and watching the odd narrative-singing show live, usually at Asakusa's Mokubatei theatre, has ensured Haru-san got some love outside of his birthday and death anniversary celebrations - it's so hard to love all my bois equally. But even with that said, I've fallen behind on delving deeper into his discography, so Minami Creates dropping Nobunaga on 14th April (the day of Haru-san's death anniversary) was a welcomed present. 

Seeing as how it's been a hot minute since I talked about Minami, here's a brief intro to chohen kayo-rokyoku, conjured up by the man himself. As the name implies, it’s an even fusion of kayokyoku (pop music) and rokyoku (narrative singing). Imagine a kayo or enka with its 3 stanzas. Now imagine fitting a rokyoku's fushi (the singing part) and/or tanka (the spoken part) into the kayo/enka's musical interludes. There you have the basic structure of one of Minami's music babies. Duration-wise, they can be as short as 4 and a half minutes or as long as 20 minutes, but are, on average, about 6 to 10 minutes in length. This makes them longer than the average 3-ish/4 minute kayo, but much shorter than the average 25-35 minute rokyoku set. 

The idea of making rokyoku more quickly consumed and digestible, and thus more acceptable to a population that was beginning to lose interest and patience for the older genre, was a significant factor that pushed Haru-san to make this bite-sized (relatively speaking) fusion a reality. From my understanding, he'd already been thinking of some way to make “singable naniwabushi (the older term for rokyoku)” (utau naniwabushi) since he restarted his rokyoku career upon returning from Siberia, where he'd been a POW. Despite switching career tracks (rokyoku artist to pop singer) in 1957, this idea began to take shape when Haru-san was given the rokyoku-like Otone Mujo (大利根無情) in 1959. Its massive success led to a him releasing a spate of rokyoku-inspired kayo and kayo that were based on actual rokyoku stars of the past, like Ippon-gatana Dohyo-iri (一本刀土俵入り), Tochuken Kumoemon (桃中軒雲衛門), and Meigetsu Ayataro Bushi (名月綾太郎ぶし). Still, I'd say these were still more kayo than rokyoku at this point.

I believe that it was only in 1962 when Haru-san first experimented with longer forms of this genre with Soga Monogatari (曽我物語). This fresh take on kayo-rokyoku finally came into the limelight in 1964 with the heroic, Chushingura-affiliated drama Tawaraboshi Genba (俵星玄蕃). Since then, Haru-san would regularly create chohen kayo-rokyoku for the next 30 plus years of his life, making Japanese historical figures, folk tales, and rokyoku more accessible to the average pop music listener. 

Moving on to the song itself. Nobunaga is one of Haru-san’s many self-written projects, albeit one from later in his life, having been released in January 1992 in an album of the same title. This tune is not to be confused with Oda Nobunaga (織田信長), which Minami created in January 1970. The latter is considerably shorter at 4 minutes, while the latter is twice its length at 8 minutes. Nevertheless, I think Nobunaga can be seen as a plus alpha to Oda Nobunaga. If it's not already apparent, these 2 songs were based on the revered daimyo regarded as Japan's first unifier. 

For reference, here's Oda Nobunaga

From what I gather, Haru-san mainly focused on the infamous end to the daimyo in Oda Nobunaga, wherein he perished in the Honno-ji temple fire ambushed by his once-trusted retainer Mitsuhide Akechi. The later Nobunaga includes this incident, in addition to listing the efforts the daimyo made to bring the fragmented lands under his rule, which, aside from waging several important battles, included improving transport networks and loosening trade barriers across the Kansai region. One such policy was the raku-ichi-raku-za, which made trade possible anywhere within castle town grounds, as opposed to having it be restricted to designated areas. Music-wise, both of Haru-san's Oda-centred works have proud and heroic-sounding melodies, fitting for an all-powerful daimyo. However, I feel that Nobunaga is elevated by Nobuyuki Sakuraba's (桜庭伸幸) fantastic arrangement, which paints a Oda in a more intimidating and powerful light with the thunderous rolling drums; the ko-tsutsumi and flute further draws out an air of ancient grandeur.

My knowledge on Japanese history before the Taisho era is paltry, and I know next to nothing about Oda. So, listening to Nobunaga and its predecessor took me back to my old days. I remember learning about the likes of Taira no Kiyomori and Kinokuniya Bunzaemon through Haru-san's kayo-rokyoku, using them as stepping stones to delve deeper into that the drama of these figures online so that I could get more context to better understand his work.

Haru-san had written in one of his books Utagei no Tenchi (歌藝の天地) that one of his wishes was for the world to remember his songs, even if it's been 2 decades since his passing and his name forgotten. The Minami Creates team, helmed by his daughter Miyuki Minami (三波美夕紀), seem to have been working tirelessly over the years to make sure this wish of his comes true. Well, suffice to say that, 25 years after his passing, the name "Haruo Minami" is still remembered alongside his chohen kayo-rokyoku.

May the 4th Birthdays

 

Yes, along with the fact that May the 4th is Greenery Day in Japan, it's May the 4th as Star Wars Day everywhere on the planet. I figure that if I'm going to commemorate Greenery Day, then why not this pop cultural holiday as well. The opening scene from "A New Hope" will always be one to awe the heck out of me. I'm sure that the first audiences to see the movie back on May 25th 1977 had eyes and mouths fully agape at the sight of the Imperial Star Destroyer chasing and capturing the Rebel Blockade Runner over Tatooine. 

But let's focus on this day, May the 4th. I figure that it might be time to look at a few birthdays of Japanese singers. Cue "Entertainment Tonight" theme!👉

Happy Birthday to...

Kazuko Aoyama（青山和子）

Momoko Kikuchi（菊池桃子）

Fusanosuke Kondo（近藤房之助）

Daisuke Ono（小野大輔）

And Happy Birthday to Audrey Hepburn who would have been 97 years old today!

Midori Songs

I gather that Golden Week has reached the halfway point so according to NHK this morning, the U-turn rush has already begun with the cars heading back to Tokyo stuffing the highways rather than the opposite. 

As of 2007, May the 4th became known as Greenery Day in Japan so I'm not sure whether there are (or were, as of this writing) any horticultural events throughout the country but hopefully, the plants and trees are growing luxuriantly. In Japanese, Greenery Day is translated into Midori no Hi（みどりの日）so I thought that it would be nice to have an Author's Picks on some of those songs sung by ladies with the given name of Midori.

(1962) Midori Hatakeyama -- Koi wa Kamiyo no Mukashi kara （恋は神代の昔から）

(1978) Midori Kinouchi -- Yokohama Eleven （横浜いれぶん）

(1992) Midori Karashima -- Hitomi - Genki （瞳・元気）

(2019) Midori Oka -- Kami no Tsuru（紙の鶴）

Hiroko Kasahara -- Tooi Natsu no Kyujitsu（遠い夏の休日）

 

This article's song title illustrates our feelings about those hot vacations...far away. We're well into spring but it sure doesn't feel like it today. We even saw a few snowflakes a few days ago flying about like gnats.

Anyways, allow me to bring back actress and singer Hiroko Kasahara（笠原弘子）. She's been in show business just about her entire life with her acting career beginning when she was around five years old in 1975 and then getting into the seiyuu industry in 1983 before finally going into recording in 1986. She's got quite the long discography despite it being the aspect of her overall career starting the latest.

From her June 1992 7th album "Tooi Natsu no Kyujitsu" (Distant Summer Holidays), I introduce the title track itself. Written and composed by Minori Hotate（保立稔）, it's a breezy and brassy contemporary version of 60s girl pop punctuated hard by a sax solo bent on jazzy excursions. It would make any current Torontonian swoon for the hot sunny days along the beach.

Hikaru Nishida -- TRUTH

 

Not sure if any of the KKP viewers have also been viewers of the current Olympics happening in Italy but I've been catching my fair share of the action including snowboard, ski, hockey and speed skating. 

Having posted back number's "Doushite mo Doushite mo"（どうしてもどうしても）which is serving as NHK's official theme song for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina (or perhaps for copyright purposes, I should say NHK's "winter sports" theme song), I decided to see what other past tunes have been used as Japanese television network themes for the Olympic games. Well, I found out that TBS' first-ever Olympic theme was introduced for the 1992 Barcelona Games and it's the coupling song to Hikaru Nishida's（西田ひかる）July 1992 13th single "Ikiterutte Subarashii"（生きてるって素晴らしい...To Be Alive is Wonderful）.

"Truth" is a song that was written and composed by Hiromasa Ijichi（伊秩弘将）and it's got that jumpy and jaunty arrangement that reminds me of much of the discography of Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）. And that shouldn't be a surprise since Ijichi also whipped up tunes for Watanabe as well. Following "Truth", TBS wouldn't punch in another Olympic theme for its coverage until the Nagano Winter Games in 1998 and that turned out to be the hit "UNITE! THE NIGHT!". As for "Ikiterutte Subarashii", it reached No. 24 on Oricon.

The Manhattan Transfer -- The Christmas Album

 

Nope, this isn't another Reminiscings of Youth article. My personal opinion has always been that Christmas and jazz go together like hamburgers and French fries, and one fast food restaurant that has often brought that together is The Manhattan Transfer. And on this Christmas Eve, I've decided to finish off tonight's round of KKP stuff with one of my favourite music acts doing what they do best.

In November 1992, the famed vocal quartet released "The Christmas Album" which is filled with plenty of stylish jazz renditions of some of the most popular Christmas hits with the backing of an orchestra that would have Nelson Riddle smiling from the great beyond.

One fine example is the Transfer's take on "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!". A lot of folks would know this 1945 classic by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne from its Vaughn Monroe original when it was used at the end of "Die Hard". That one was quite the bouncy tune about snuggling up with the significant other as the fire and repeated ingestion of popcorn added to the warmth. The Transfer's rendition takes the jauntiness out and replaces it with silky-smooth and slowly simmering romance to really get those feelings of nestling up in the lodge. I wouldn't blame the happy couple in the song if they didn't get off the sofa until the 27th.

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" already has representation on the blog through Tony Bennett's most wonderful version from 1968. But this one by the Manhattan Transfer is also plenty of fun with the orchestra going all snazzy and swingy. With the additional subtitle of "Santa Man", it's very hep, and all of the gang have put their vocalese on full. It's just a shade over three minutes but they have managed to pack in a lot of melodic dynamite.

Speaking of Tony Bennett, he makes a guest appearance on "The Christmas Album" via his and the Transfer's take on "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)", a chestnut that probably has even more articles on KKP such as the iconic version by Nat King Cole. As with all of the other versions, this collaboration between Bennett and the Transfer brings up the nostalgic warm-and-fuzzies and the Normal Rockwell images of Christmas at home surrounded by a nightly winter scene and lots of family and friends.

Let me take this opportunity then to wish all of the readers, commenters and contributors to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" a very Merry Christmas.

Ruiko Kurahashi -- Atarashii Asa ni...（新しい朝に…）

 

Got some more Xmas shopping done today...this time for dinner on the 25th. Not as many people as there were at the mall on Saturday, but still a lot more than usual for a weekday morning. I still think I'll probably need a few more supplies tomorrow.

It's been a fascinating time exploring the career of Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）, one of the more underrated Japanese singers that I've come across in my many years of exploring kayo kyoku and J-Pop. The beginning of her career in the early 1980s was one of refined older pop with an orchestra often backing her up as a creation that hovered between Fashion Music and City Pop. But then going into the 1990s, it seems as if Kurahashi went for a lighter, breezier and more contemporary sound.

Nowadays, it's not easy to find a Kurahashi song that hasn't already been covered by me since I've been a big fan of hers, but I managed to do so. My collection of her singles and albums stopped in 1991, so this one is a new one for me since it was released in December 1992. Titled "Atarashii Asa ni..." (On a New Morning), it is as expected: enjoyably light, breezy and more contemporary as described above. Used as the ending theme for the NTV newsmagazine program "The Sunday", I'm sure that this was the type of song the network desired as something audibly hopeful after some serious topics. Kurahashi herself took care of the lyrics while Makihiko Araki（荒木真樹彦）was the composer.

Miho Nakayama -- Arukinasai!（あるきなさい。）

 

There is a sad but grateful anniversary today in the Japanese music world. It was a year ago today that singer-actress Miho Nakayama（中山美穂）passed away at the age of 54, and I'm sure that many of her fans have been paying some tribute to the former 80s aidoru-turned-pop diva. They may be listening to her discography or watching her movies and TV shows. Hers was an untimely departure but she left us a grand number of singles and albums stretching for a few decades.

From me, I've decided to post an article about Miporin and one of her more obscure songs. I've written about her single and title track "Mellow" from her 1992 album. Well, this is the second track following that title track which starts it all off, "Arukinasai!" (Walk, Dammit!).

Written by Nakayama without going to her songwriting pseudonym of Issaku（一咲）and composed by Yusuke Asada（浅田祐介）, this is a rather weirdly put-together mash of a few genres and perhaps befitting of its lyrical and overall tone. Miporin's story seems to revolve around a flighty and footloose-and-fancy-free woman who might annoy the heck out of everyone around her, so perhaps the title is their collective admonition to her. At the same time, it could also be the lady's own inner voice to get out there and see the world. Melodically, it's a pop song grafted with some R&B dance elements and a spaced-out middle. Even the singer happily gets into the funk with her delivery.

Michiru Kojima -- Tokyo Pessimist（Tokyoペシミスト）

 

I've known a few pathological pessimists during my life and I've tended not to listen to them too long or much. In fact, phasing them out of my sphere has been my policy. During my years in the Tokyo area, I don't think I'd ever gone pessimistic (mind you, I'm not an optimist either). Certainly, I did have my blue periods but generally it was a nice life in one of the biggest cities on the planet.

Well, those ominous winds at the beginning of the song give an indication of what "Tokyo Pessimist" must be all about. A track from Michiru Kojima's（児島未散）March 1992 "floraison" album, despite the title, it's still a pretty cool-sounding and soulful 1990s City Pop tune although the protagonist within the song may be going through a bad spot. The melody is by Takashi Yamazaki（山崎孝）while the lyrics are by Miki Fuudo（風堂美起）, the pseudonym of former 80s aidoru Mie Takahashi（高橋美枝）. Another Kojima and Fuudo collaboration can be found here.

Mieko Aoki (MIEKO) -- Mou Ichido Merry Xmas（もう一度merry X'mas）

 

We've got another singer here who doesn't have a whole lot of information forthcoming online. Mieko Aoki（青木美恵子）, who also went by her first name in full caps, MIEKO, has got some data on one site in which it's shown that she was born in Tokyo. Making her debut in 1982 through live band performances, she released her first solo album in 1990 (she released a total of five albums). Aoki has provided other singers with lyrics and melodies over the years, and even helped out as backing chorus for singers such as Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫）and Masaki Ueda（上田正樹）.

In 1992, Aoki released a CD single titled "Mou Ichido Merry Xmas" (Merry Xmas Once More) which was written and composed by her. As was often the case with a lot of J-Pop songs back in those early 1990s at least, "Mou Ichido Merry Xmas" has some buzzing electric guitar to go with the soft pop sounds and Aoki's mellow voice. One person online has compared her vocals with those of ZARD, but I also think that there is also some similarity with Midori Karashima's（辛島美登里）singing. 

Mikiko Noda -- Kono Eki kara（この駅から）

 

I remember reading about this 1992 Mikiko Noda（野田幹子）album "Cute" while I was reading through my "Obscure City Pop CDs" book in a freezing Castle Frank subway station in downtown Toronto one February night in 2024 before meeting up with Larry Chan for dinner. It's not easy leafing through a fairly thick tome with gloves on, let me tell you that. But it was from reading on that particular album that I posted up the snazzy first track "Kakete Miyou"（駆けてみよう）, a really nice sophisticated pop tune.

Then, recently, I encountered this lovely mid-tempo track from the same album. "Kono Eki kara" (From This Station) was written by Mayumi Horikawa（堀川まゆみ）and composed by Hiroshi Sato（佐藤博）, and like a lot of songs that I do like, it's got a number of genres mixed into it: soul (quiet storm), jazz and pop. Of course, I'm a sucker for some of that keyboard work...maybe done by Sato himself...and the bluesy guitar solo. I don't think I'm exaggerating too much if I can say that "Kono Eki kara" could be the musical equivalent of a a really smooth Godiva chocolate bar.

Songs for Respect-for-the-Aged Day

 

September in Japan has two statutory holidays: Keirou no Hi（敬老の日...Respect-for-the-Aged Day） on the third Monday and then Shuubun no Hi（秋分の日...First Day of Autumn）. For the former, there's the usual tradition of taking the folks out for lunch or dinner somewhere and probably there is a whole plethora of gateball tournaments across the country. Of course, being an official holiday and all, the TV schedule in Japan is all different today, so as we were watching NHK News this morning (down from the usual one hour to 30 minutes), my family was getting a little confused about whether Canada was having a holiday today (the next one for us in the Great White North is Canadian Thanksgiving next month).

Out of curiosity, I took a look for any kayo kyoku list online consisting of any songs that had an association with Keirou no Hi. There were quite a few out there and most of what I can give here has that theme of gratitude and enduring through the tough times.

(1961) Kyu Sakamoto -- Ue wo Muite Arukou (上を向いて歩こう)

(1974) Masako Mori -- Okaasan（おかあさん）

(1987) Chiyoko Shimakura -- Jinsei Iroiro（人生いろいろ）

(1992) Chisato Moritaka -- Watashi ga Obasan ni Natte mo （私がオバさんになっても）

Moon Songs

 

It was just last night when I posted Issei Okamoto's（岡本一生）"Moon Magic"（ムーン・マジック） as part of the Urban Contemporary lineup for Friday. And then, today I noticed that it was September 13th. For anyone who's into science-fiction, that date should be notable since it was on that day in 1999 when the Moon was blasted out of its orbit through magnetic radiation via the show "Space: 1999". Heck, I even devoted one ROY article to the theme song!

Well, in honour of September 13th 1999 (and thank heavens, we still have the Moon out there [although no Moonbase Alpha😢]) and the fact that all those moon-based traditions are happening this month, I've got another Author's Picks...this time, honouring all those songs that have something to do with the moon, and these definitely only represent the merest of a fraction because as I recall, kayo kyoku do love their moon tunes.

(1977) Tomoko Soryo -- City Lights by the Moonlight

(1981) Shozo Ise -- Moonlight

(1992) Dali -- Moonlight Densetsu (ムーンライト伝説）

(1997) Elephant Kashimashi -- Koyoi no Tsuki no You ni（今宵の月のように）

(2002) Ayaka -- Mikazuki （三日月）

I've come up with a Moon Songs 2.

Mi-Ke -- Namida no Vacation（涙のバケーション）

Well, things have begun to slightly cool down here in my part of Canada after one of the warmer summers in recent memory (nothing to compare with Japan's summer, though). Still, it's still very nice out there and we're several days away from the official beginning of autumn.

That means that there is plenty of time for those last barbeque outings and beach trips to enjoy that last bit of sun and surf. Maybe then, we can do some vicarious summer partying with the trio Mi-Ke singing their New Year's Eve 1992 10th and penultimate single to date, "Namida no Vacation" (Vacation of Tears).

Reminiscent of Group Sounds and 1960s girl pop, there's even a loving tribute to Connie Francis' "Vacation" right at the beginning. Mi-Ke was entering their heyday just when I was leaving my stint on the JET Programme but I was still getting shipments of Japanese TV programs so I was totally in on their success as interpreters of one segment of kayo kyoku during those early 1990s. Despite the melancholy title, "Namida no Vacation" sounds like a pretty happy-go-lucky tune of the times with Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）on lyrics and Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）on the music. It reached No. 19 on Oricon. The song also gave Mi-Ke their 2nd and final invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen following their appearance in 1991 for "Omoide no Kujukuri Hama"（思い出の九十九里浜）.

The Yellow Monkey -- Romantist Taste

 

Up to today, there's only been the one number that I covered by the rock band The Yellow Monkey, and that was "Taiyo ga Moeteiru"（太陽がもえている）from 1995. 

Now, to be honest, one thing that I hadn't written in that article was how the band got its name. Well, I dug into a 1998 "Rockin' On Japan" article via the J-Wiki profile on The Yellow Monkey, and yep, vocalist Kazuya "Lovin" Yoshii（吉井和哉）said that he chose that particular name because it had been used as a racist way of calling Asians. He also pointed out that he had wanted something totally lame and cynical, and something that started with the initial of his family name. Interestingly enough, his choice of name for the band got the royal seal of approval in a way since none other than The Rolling Stones apparently stated that The Yellow Monkey was an amazing name and something that would never be forgotten.

Something that will also never be forgotten? The music video for The Yellow Monkey's debut single from May 1992, "Romantist Taste". All sorts of images come pouring out like lava including one of dozens of squiggling newborn animals (rats, dogs, cats?...got no idea). Yoshii even has some of the little ones in his hands, and with that wild glare in his eyes, I assumed that he was going to munch on them as a snack. That would have left quite an impression with viewers...glad that he didn't do it. 

Yoshii was responsible for words and music, and those lyrics come off as being somewhat Dadaist as well. But I wouldn't say that "Romantist Taste" was unapproachably avant-garde at all. The music is actually quite hearty and happy, and I even ended up humming it several minutes after listening to the song. It made it onto The Yellow Monkey's debut album "THE NIGHT SNAILS AND PLASTIC BOOGIE" that came out the following month that year; it ranked in at a modest No. 79 on the album charts. Still, the best was yet to come for Yoshii and company.

Coffee, Tea or Milk?

 

I'm not sure if this is the gastronomic trend in Japan for 2025, but through a couple of Japanese programs including yesterday's final episode of "Asaichi"（あさイチ）before going on summer hiatus, I found out that the drink known as a tea soda may be getting lots of love around the country. Through the other variety show, the tea soda (which is what the name says) originated in one area of Japan and has remained a local favourite but suddenly it's making its way around the country. 

Now, at first impression, the thought of mixing cold Earl Grey tea and soda water doesn't exactly thrill me but then again, I have to remind myself, I once had the same reluctance with Calpis soda since I thoroughly enjoyed the original Calpis syrup mixed with plain cold water. I'm OK with it now although I will still prefer the unfizzy version. But once the heat over there comes back down to something more humane, those who are heading to Japan on vacation might want to see if a café is serving the stuff. I'd be game to try it out.

Seeing tea soda last night did have me thinking about another Author's Picks, and this time, it's revolving around tunes that have something to do with the basic drinks of coffee, tea and milk. It took a bit of doing, but I was able to track down six. Wherever you are, enjoy a cup or glass!🥛

(1991) Miki Imai -- Tea for Two

(1998) UA -- Milk Tea（ミルクティー）

(1990) Yasuyuki Okamura -- Kahlua Milk （カルアミルク）

(1989) Misato Watanabe -- Tsumetai Milk（冷たいミルク）

(1992) Yoko Oginome -- Coffee Rumba （コーヒー・ルンバ）

(1982) Hi-Way -- Black Coffee（ブラック・コーヒー）

Tomohiko Nishimura -- That's Life

 

Some very sad news I only heard about through J-Wiki last night was that guitarist and songwriter Tomohiko Nishimura（西村智彦）of the band Sing Like Talking (furthest right in the photo) had passed away in June at the age of 61 due to cancer. I wasn't able to pick up a lot of information on Nishimura except for the fact that he and vocalist Chikuzen Sato (in the middle), who had been friends since toddlerhood in their native Aomori Prefecture, started making music together in their final year of high school as part of the band Refiner（リファイナー）.

I had been planning to post my favourite SLT songs in tribute but I found something better. Nishimura did put out a single of his own back in 1992 called "That's Life". It's an instrumental packed with lots of fusion goodness swaying happily between rock and jazz, and indeed it's filled with plenty of life. It also feels like the soundtrack to a happy, healthy and productive downtown neighbourhood of a metropolis with all of its people, stores, restaurants and cafés .

Here's hoping that Nishimura had similar feelings about his life, blessed with music and camaraderie.  My condolences go to his family, friends, fans and of course, his bandmates, Sato（佐藤竹善）and Chiaki Fujita（藤田千章）.