Kiyoshi Hikawa -- Hatsukoi Ressha（初恋列車）

 

Let's see...over the 13-year history of this blog, this will be our 925th article regarding an enka song. I encountered the list of such tunes that have reached No. 1 on Oricon, and I actually had to scroll from the very first Oricon chart-topping enka, Masao Sen's（千昌夫）"Hoshikage no Waltz"（星影のワルツ）in 1968, all the way down to the year 2005 to find another enka chart topper since we've covered most of the hits. Mind you, some of those No. 1 hits in the scroll strike me more as conventional kayo kyoku than enka.

However, that song I found from 2005? Oh, yeah...it's an enka tune alright. I'm talking about Kiyoshi Hikawa's（氷川きよし）"Hatsukoi Ressha" (First Love Train) which was released in February of that year. Written by Ryuiichi Satomura（里村龍一）and composed by Michihiko Ohta（太田美知彦）under his pseudonym of Akira Kitano（北野明）, the song is all about a man jumping onto a train headed for the north country to track down that first love he left behind all that time ago. The arrangement is so enka that it practically cries for an ochoko and tokkuri of sake.

Released as his 8th single, along with that No. 1 ranking on Oricon, "Hatsukoi Ressha" won several awards including the Gold prize at the Japan Record Awards, and eventually the song ended up as the 39th-ranked single of the year. Hikawa made his 6th appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen that year but it was to sing another song and not this one. I swear, though, that there have been so many enka songs about heading up to northern Japan, I'm guessing that northern Japan has been grumbling "Hey, where are our royalties?!". 

SOUL'd OUT -- To All Tha Dreamers

 

When it comes to an average neighbourhood anywhere in Japan, if you threw a rock anywhere there, you would have a better-than-even chance of hitting (besides a commuter): a) a karaoke box, b) a McDonalds, c) a café (franchise or independent) or d) a patisserie. Considering that three of the four choices have rather tasty fare, Japan is quite the foodie nation. 

Patisseries, bakeries or bread shops...whatever you like to call them, when I was living there, I would always get some wonderful stuff whether it was the one near my school or the place right under my subway station. And it was there that I first came across the wonderful Bacon Epi. I'd had never had it before in Toronto, but it is a bread roll with bits of bacon in there and it's one of my most favourite things. I've heard that some bakers even put a drop of bacon grease into rolls just before they go into the oven, and that's all she wrote. Sold out! But getting back to the Bacon Epi, just one speck of deep-fried pork in the dough makes all the difference...the aroma, the umami and the flavour just spreads out and punches that bread into heaven.

Anyways before I end up salivating onto my desk, I will segue into the 2004 anime adaptation of the manga "Yakitate!! Japan"（焼きたて!!ジャぱん...Freshly Baked!! Ja-pan） which is all about a young man with ambitions of creating a national bread for Japan. Even the brief scene above has me swooning over the various types of bread there are all over the planet.

Not quite sure how a disco-influenced ending credit sequence fit into an anime about breadmaking, but hey, it's anime. Anyways, the second ending theme for "Yakitate!! Japan" was "To All Tha Dreamers" by the hip-hop/pop group SOUL'd OUT. Written and composed by the group, yup, I got the usual distinctive vocals of Diggy-MO' with some of the good ol' disco. Being their 8th single released on New Year's Day 2005, it was also the title track for their second album that came out a month later. Both single and album did well on the charts with the former breaking into the Top 10 at No. 7 and the latter reaching No. 2 (it eventually became the 56th-ranked album for 2005).

I don't know who's behind the female vocals and chorus for this remix version but my accolades go to them. I'm also tempted to jump onto the disco floor!

Bread & Butter -- Kakure Basho（隠れ場所）

 

During my last years in Japan, the doner kebab was something of a celeb target for the foodies of which there are tens of millions in the nation. The above photo isn't a great one since it seems to focus on a couple of guys I don't know but behind those two and the rest of the maddening crowd, there is a whole cluster of doner kebab trucks. Well, many months before, I used to know this one lone truck in an alley among the buildings of Akihabara that I frequented during my visits to the electronics goods area. There were a few other customers there, but basically I savored that truck as my own little refuge of foodie paradise.

In my previous article, Kalapana Black Sand Beach（カラパナ・ブラック・サンド・ビーチ）was a former paradise before a volcano spoiled the fun there thirty-five years ago. But it looks like the veteran singing duo Bread & Butter（ブレッド＆バッター）featuring the Iwasawa Brothers have their own "Kakure Basho" (Refuge). They came up with this mellow song for their April 2005 album "Sky"; it sounds timeless as if it could have been created for any of their past albums going back to 1980. It's so laidback (even the trumpeter at the end must have been lying in a hammock) that I swear that the boys must have been in a Hawaii state of mind when they came up with it. Maybe the Aloha State is their refuge or perhaps it's some place a whole lot closer such as the resort city of Hakone.

capsule -- Tokyo Smiling

 

I've been watching the NHK news recently and along with the stories on the recent election and bear attacks, there has been the information on the heat and humidity that have been pounding Japan relentlessly, even the northern regions such as Hokkaido. I don't think that much of the working class or even the academic class has been smiling about walking about my old stomping grounds of Tokyo while bathed in 35+ degree Celsius weather but I'm hoping that the various countermeasures such as shaved ice and neck fans have had some cooling effect.

Speaking of Tokyo and smiling, I've got another track here by the Shibuya-kei/techno duo capsule from their February 2005 5th album "NEXUS-2060" to accompany "happy life generator" which I had written about last month. "Tokyo Smiling" is another cheerful tune by Yasutaka Nakata（中田ヤスタカ）that has him and vocalist Toshiko Koshijima（こしじまとしこ）providing that mix of DeVol-friendly Shibuya-kei and technopop that infuses the lyrics regarding female smiles making things alright for one guy as a tonic for all that ails him.

The music video of Koshijima and company making like a 1960s jet-set team of cheerleaders prancing about is adorable. Anytime that I can actually see the vocalist beaming is a good day for me. 

Crystal Kay -- Koi ni Ochitara（恋におちたら）

 

As I've mentioned before, our Japanese streaming service Jme currently broadcasts NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン） at around 8 pm Japan Standard Time which is actually 7 am Eastern Daylight Time here. Unfortunately, I forgot that today's episode was one of their special longer shows so it premiered at 6:30 which meant we missed the first thirty minutes but I was able to catch up on most of it during the later rerun.

I did manage to catch Crystal Kay for the first time in a long while though. The last time I posted anything about her was back in 2020 just before the pandemic roared in. I never became a huge fan of hers but my memory engrams sparked at hearing her 17th single from May 2005, "Koi ni Ochitara" (If I Fall in Love), the song that she performed on "Uta Con" tonight.

She's usually deeper into the R&B...perhaps more hip-hop, but with "Koi ni Ochitara", it's a bit more of a lighthearted pop love song with a touch of soul. Written by H.U.B. and composed by Misako Sakazume（坂詰美紗子）, the chorus especially has this catchy sing-songy quality that can entrance everyone from kids to grownups. It hit No. 2 on Oricon and became the 30th-ranked single of the year. It was also used as the theme song for the Fuji TV drama "Koi ni Ochitara ~ Boku no Seikou no Himitsu"（恋におちたら〜僕の成功の秘密〜...If I Fall in Love ~ The Secret of My Success）. The song is also available on her 6th album "Call Me Miss..." which was released in February 2006; it scored a No. 2 ranking on the Oricon weeklies and ended up as the 50th-ranked album for that year.

capsule -- happy life generator

 

Not sure whether there was a hard stop to the breezy Shibuya-kei that the duo capsule had been recording in the early 2000s and then they went into full techno. Most likely, it was a gradual transition judging from what I'm hearing from this song of theirs "happy life generator".

Until now, the most recent capsule article on KKP had been about their 2008 song "more more more" which was definitely more into the harder synths and stuff. Meanwhile, "happy life generator", a track from capsule's February 2005 5th album "NEXUS-2060", seems to have grafted a little techno while maintaining that Shibuya-kei happy-go-lucky feeling. As usual, Toshiko Koshijima（こしじまとしこ）applies her sweet and breathy vocals to her partner Yasutaka Nakata's（中田ヤスタカ）lyrics, melody and arrangements. There is an English translation for "happy life generator" at this site as the song goes on to describe a person going on with life as best as they can without the significant other. At least, there is still the peanut butter.

As for "NEXUS-2060", it peaked at No. 59 on Oricon.

Skapontas -- Perfect Place

 

Toronto has never been a perfect place and it's certainly not a perfect place now...meteorologically speaking. We're currently getting walloped by a snowstorm which will most likely not end until the wee hours of tomorrow morning so it should be an interesting hike out there on Valentine's Eve. Skiers should be celebrating...if they can get access to the slopes.🎿

Let's think of a perfect place then. Calm blue ocean and all that. It's been well over a decade since I mentioned the now-disbanded ska band Skapontas（スカポンタス）which showed up with their cover of Yukio Hashi's（橋幸夫）classic "Koi no Mexican Rock"（恋のメキシカン・ロック）. Well, to redeem myself, I'm putting up their "Perfect Place" which is a track on their June 2005 album "So Peace" （So ピース）. Composed by Skapontas trumpeter Ayumi Ozaki（尾崎あゆみ）who you can see at the front of the kitchen table on the album cover, it's as mellow as can be with some jazz and rock thrown in there. No need to think of skis and horrible winter commutes while listening to this one. Just lay back in that hammock while sipping some Jamaican rum.

Well, time to dust off the heavy boots and the shovel.

Orange Lounge -- Love is Orange

 

At this point, I think I can honestly say that when it comes to fruits as part of Japanese band names, orange wins out easily. On "Kayo Kyoku Plus" at least, we have the Mixture Rock band Orange Range, the jazzy orange pekoe and the aidoru group Orange Sisters, and it's no wonder. There's nothing like orange juice to wake folks up with that citric tang!🟠

I don't do any sort of gaming but I have heard of Beatmania in which a player plies their ability as a DJ. Of course, there are plenty of songs to compete upon, and the 2002 "Beatmania IIDX 8th Style" included this one number called "Love is Orange" which is this fairly peppy James Bond-friendly jazz number sung in French (the genre is given as Hard Chanson). The newest orange addition to KKP was responsible for this distinct tune and they are known as Orange Lounge consisting of Konami game music composer Tomosuke Funaki（舟木智介）and vocalist Shizue Tokui.

A few years in 2005, Funaki released an album titled "Marble" (under one of his noms de guerre, TOMOSUKE) and from it, a slightly more languid version of "Love is Orange" was included. It still has some elements of that Bond jazz in there but I consider it more as a techno 60s French pop ditty. From the lovely French delivery of Tokui, one would think that the song is about a breezy footloose-and-fancy-free walk down Les Champs-Elysees in Paris, but the lyrics actually depict some nasty romantic breakup.

Tomita Lab feat. SOULHEAD -- Like a Queen

 

Over the course of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've done articles on albums featuring tracks and sometimes I've felt that some of those tracks deserved their own articles because I liked them so much. So, there was a bit of regret in there.

However, in one case, I'm going to rectify that today. Back in 2018, I featured the 2006 album "Shiplaunching" by Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）and on that album, there was R&B sister duo SOULHEAD and their contribution "Like a Queen". With Tomita Lab taking care of the melody and legend Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）handling the lyrics, aside from that slightly odd New Wave intro, "Like a Queen" truly rides in like a most gorgeous queen with the wonderful harmonies of Yoshika and Tsugumi Sawayama backed by a gosh-darn fine funky orchestra of strings and horns. It's the type of song that I love to hear whenever I've gone through a hard day.

Another reason that I'm doing a follow-up on "Like a Queen" is that the even more improved music video with the full version of the song has popped up once more on YouTube. Still retaining its theme of transportation in the big city, instead of the gold car from the 1970s, this time, the focus is on a young lady commuting through one fantastical and rhythm-accurate neighbourhood while upgrading her mode of transportation. Considering our mess of transportation systems here in Toronto, the lass has my envy and desire of shimmying to the music.

Yoshinori "HARCO" Aoki -- Night Hike

 

Depending on the neighbourhood, Tokyo can provide plenty of pleasant night walking including the Odaiba area which is presented to you above. Probably the closest that I ever got to a night hike though was back in July 1999 when a bunch of us ended up seeing "The Phantom Menace" at the special midnight first showing in Shinjuku (I tried to rationalize my feelings before ultimately failing). 

Back then, the transit system tended to close down just a little after midnight so all of us "Star Wars" viewers had to figure out transportation home without subways, trains or buses. In our case, we simply hit a nearby ramen joint for about half an hour before taking a night hike of sorts (pretty safe walking) north of Shinjuku toward Takadanobaba. Some of us opted to take an expensive taxi ride home while me and two others decided to spend the next few hours at an all-night manga kissa until the subways opened up again. Luckily, it was a Saturday.

Another track from the "City Music Tokyo: Junction" that I wrote about back on the 1st is Yoshinori "HARCO" Aoki's（青木慶則） "Night Hike". I hear it as a technopop tune created by the musician from Kanagawa Prefecture but I also get that urban contemporary feeling in the arrangement, too. As well, I enjoy the flowing and mellow keyboard work that gives "Night Hike" a warmth and elegance to something this synthy. 

"Night Hike" may have been introduced me to me via the 2022 compilation album but it originally showed up as the title track to HARCO's 6th album from April 2005. He has had his music career since 1990 but between 1997 and 2017, he primarily used HARCO as his nom de guerre before returning to Yoshinori Aoki since that time. Aoki has also done work on commercial jingles and narration, and his wife is fellow musician Michiko Aoki（青木美智子）, aka Quinka, with a Yawn.

Chiyuki Asami -- Tasogare Cinema（黄昏シネマ）

 

The above is a theatre near the Toei Animation Museum in Nerima Ward, Tokyo. My friend and I visited the museum in 2014 although we didn't actually see a flick at the T-Joy. As someone who's been catching movies for decades, a multi-year move to Japan didn't change my habits for the most part and so I continued to see the Hollywood blockbusters in Tokyo. I think in the last half of my stay in Ichikawa, I noticed that theatres were getting more advanced up to the level of VIP versions which I've gotten spoiled on. But before then, a number of the movie houses had been darn old with seats small enough that at one point, I was virtually wearing them like a diaper...yes, let's not imagine that, shall we? I don't think red velour is that absorbent anyways.

It's those old places of Ginza, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro that I used to frequent that get the spotlight in Chiyuki Asami's（あさみちゆき）"Tasogare Cinema" (Sunset Cinema). I first wrote about the Yamaguchi Prefecture native in November 2023 regarding her 2004 song "Inokashira-sen"（井の頭線）, and noted how her choice of music settled in that middle ground known as New Adult Music between folk and enka.

"Tasogare Cinema" was released as her 10th single in April 2010 and it's a poignant ballad about a woman returning to a neighbourhood for the first time in a decade where she and her ex-boyfriend used to hang out. An old theatre there was one of their haunts and she goes inside noting that her old flame is probably now still living in the neighbourhood with his current girlfriend or wife. Written by Mami Takubo（田久保真見）and composed by Masato Sugimoto（杉本眞人）, there is very much a "que sera sera" feeling in the song as if the woman has moved on with her life but still wants to remember old times. The single peaked at No. 40 on Oricon.

"Tasogare Cinema" also appeared in an earlier version as a track on Asami's 2nd album from June 2005 "Asami no Uta II"（あさみのうたII...Asami's Songs II）. The original version has an even more elegiac feeling with that orchestra backing the singer up. On the other hand, the later 2010 single feels more along the lines of some of the power ballads from the 1970s and maybe early 1980s such as Michael Johnson's "Bluer Than Blue" and Saburo Tokito's（時任三郎）"Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai" (川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）.

Bennie K -- Dreamland

 

Several years ago, I posted an article on Bennie K, a pop rap duo consisting of Yuki Yamamoto（山本有希）and Chieko "Cico" Yamamoto（山本知恵子）...no relation with each other by the way...and their big hit "Sunrise" from September 2004. They definitely had their fun in the sun for a while back then and though I'm not a fan of rap, "Sunrise" was catchy enough so that even I ended up purchasing the CD single.

I also noted in that article that there had been another Bennie K song following "Sunrise" that also got a lot of popularity. Well, I finally rediscovered that song and it turned out to be the follow-up to "Sunrise". Yup, it was their 9th single from June 2005, "Dreamland". 

Words and music were by Bennie K, Mine-Chang, Hazzie（ハジ→）and Red Rice from Shonan no Kaze（湘南乃風）. As with "Sunrise", "Dreamland" is also a high-energy pop-rap tune that still brings a lot of B-52s "Roam" vibe with it. It would become their biggest hit by peaking at No. 2 on Oricon, breaking the 2-million barrier in terms of ringtones and ending up as the 18th-ranked single for 2005. "Dreamland" also rang a bell with me because it was one of the campaign songs for Coca-Cola commercials.

Kohei Dojima -- Sore wa Isshun no Dekigoto datta（それは一瞬の出来事だった）

 

Yup, we're into September now with the arrival of the customary long Labour Day weekend. The only thing is that we're going to get into some really torrid weather for the better part of a week. So, let's hold off on the pumpkin spice lattes for now.

I think it was just in the mid-summer that I introduced singer-songwriter Kohei Dojima's（堂島孝平）"Soshite Bokura wa Kanade Au ~ We Play Music"（そして僕らは奏で合う）from 2005 which I compared to Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Flying Kids and Original Love. I'm always interested in songs and singers that have a lot of inspirations.

By the same token, I'm getting much the same with "Sore wa Isshun no Dekigoto datta" (That was Something That Happened in the Moment) which was a part of Dojima's October 2005 24th single "So She, So I/Sore wa Isshun no Dekigoto datta". I gather then that the single was a double-A-side. Written and composed by Dojima, compared to "We Play Music", "Sore wa Isshun no Dekigoto datta" goes a bit more into the AOR via sophisticated pop (thanks to that lone trumpet) but there's also some nice 70s feeling with the electric piano. It's a seasonally appropriate tune about a rather awkward moment in a couple's relationship. I can only hope that it doesn't end up with a baby carriage several months down the line. 

Kohei Dojima -- Soshite Bokura wa Kanade Au ~ We Play Music（そして僕らは奏で合う）

 

Nice summery day out there which contrasts with what the forecasters had threatened last weekend about this week's weather. We could do with some rain, though.

Let's begin today's round of KKP articles with something just as nice and summery. Some elegant piano launches the wonderful "Soshite Bokura wa Kanade Au" which basically can be translated into that English co-title that it comes with. Written, composed, arranged and performed by Kohei Dojima（堂島孝平）for his June 2005 album "White and Blue", it's a really feel-good pop song with some rock guitar thrown in there for good measure, and I would love to know who's behind the horns. It sounds like Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. Dojima's arrangement of his tune reminds me some of what Original Love and Flying Kids had been doing about a decade before. 

Cappuccino/Toko Furuuchi -- Ku-ji kara no Lily（九時からのリリィ）

 

When I first heard this song some weeks ago, there was that ASMR reaction up my spine since I've always had a soft spot for grand AOR balladry. Some of my examples would be The Eagles' "Desperado", Michael Johnson's "Bluer Than Blue", and on the Japanese side of things, "Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai" (川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）by Saburo Tokito (時任三郎）.

The interesting thing is that "Ku-ji kara no Lily" (Lily From Nine O'clock) was also released in the same year as Tokito's ballad, 1981. It's just too bad that there is very little information on the source band Cappuccino（カプチーノ）. In fact, the only data I could find thus far comes from the vocalist's own blog. She identifies herself as singer Chie and in that year of 1981, "Ku-ji kara no Lily" was the band's debut single.

I don't know how it did on the charts, but it's one of those songs for me that has me thinking of a team pulling off a tough job really well and then staring off happily into the sunset since they're now free. Yes, it's Miller Time!🍺 Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）made the melody and he also produced the single while Yu Aku（阿久悠）came up with the lyrics that speak of a different scenario. It's wistfully about pining away for Lily, a nighttime piano player in a tiny bar who has seen better days but has to settle for her lonely existence. 

I did get some further information from the emcee in the above video (unfortunately that video has been taken down). Found that the vocalist's full name is Chie Sato and she was only a high school senior when she recorded "Ku-ji kara no Lily". Those are some velvety vocals that she possesses.

Soulful chanteuse Toko Furuuchi（古内東子）gave her longer bluesy take on "Ku-ji kara no Lily" as a coupling song for her November 2005 single "Coat wo Katte"（コートを買って...Buy Me A Coat）. It almost sounds like she's taken on the role of Lily herself. Another coupling song on this single is the cheerful "Somewhere in Tokyo".

Jazztronik feat. Miki Imai -- Searching for Love

 

Not quite there yet in terms of summer patio visits. Folks would probably want the temperature by some more degrees before those happen. Still, the sun has been out after a number of rainy days so we'll take what we can get right now and hope for warmer spring weather to result next week.

In the meantime, we can all get aurally comfortable and party-like with Tokyo DJ/pianist/producer Ryota Nozaki（野崎良太）and his collective Jazztronik. I wrote about his "Today" a few years ago and today I've got his even earlier "Searching for Love" from his August 2005 "Cannibal Rock".

I was wondering about that wonderful voice helping to propel the tropical dance club-loving "Searching for Love", and it happens to be veteran songbird Miki Imai（今井美樹）. There's a lot in this one that reminds me of Mondo Grosso's way of getting folks to get up and dance, and maybe it won't be too long before we can all do that again in Toronto. Daisuke Kawaguchi（川口大輔）was responsible for the lyrics.

Hey, you can listen to the Rasmus Faber remix of it as well.

Hiroshi Itsuki -- Dakedo Yokohama（だけどYOKOHAMA）

 

Kayo kyoku legend Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）appeared once more on "Uta Con"（うたコン）a few nights ago where he and the hosts talked a little about all of those songs that were centered on the international port of Yokohama. It was intriguing to find out that at least four of those Yokohama-based tunes had the title city written in different script. For example, Itsuki's 1971 breakthrough hit "Yokohama Tasogare"（よこはま・たそがれ）had Yokohama written in hiragana whereas "Aete...Yokohama"（逢えて･･･横浜）from 2003 had the city written in kanji form. Apparently, there is another song where Yokohama has been written in katakana but I've yet to cover that one.

Itsuki then introduced his March 2023 latest single, his 133rd in fact, "Dakedo Yokohama" (But It's Still Yokohama) which has the city all decked out in full-cap romaji. Written by novelist Hiroyuki Itsuki（五木寛之）, the source for the singer's final and most famous stage name, and composed by Hiroshi himself, the boldness of YOKOHAMA is reflected in the snazzy Mood Kayo arrangement which seems to have that Junretsu（純烈）flair.

Meanwhile, the lyrics have a somewhat bittersweet tint as Itsuki sings about how things have changed over the decades although the city of his songs has remained steady and stalwart. Of course, with any kayo centering on a specific geographical area within Japan (i.e. a go-touchi song), there will be the shoutouts to the area, and "Dakedo Yokohama" is no different as Itsuki croons about Honmoku, Minato Mirai, the Bay Bridge and the late Bund Hotel.

Interestingly enough, the 2023 single has been called the New Version and that's because there had been an original take created as a track for the 2005 album "Itsuki Hiroyuki/Itsuki Hiroshi Sakuhinshuu ~ Furimukeba Nihon Kai"（五木寛之・五木ひろし 作品集～ふりむけば日本海～...Hiroyuki Itsuki/Hiroshi Itsuki Collection ~ Looking Back at the Sea of Japan）. This original version is basically a boisterous rock/funk number.

Misako Uno & Mayu -- Groovin'

 

I was watching the morning information show on NHK known as "Asaichi"（あさイチ）and being a Thursday, the theme was pinpointing a certain area in Japan for a tour. Well, the area of note for today was Tokyo's own bohemian Shimo-Kitazawa, a place that I've visited a few times and has most recently been the setting for the popular anime "Bocchi The Rock!"（ぼっち・ざ・ろっく!）.

I've had this song on the backlog for a while but after watching the very cordial walkabout in Shimo-Kitazawa, I thought that "Groovin'" by Misako Uno（宇野実彩子）& Mayu would make for a nice fit with the area. The song is just as laidback as the neighbourhood but it also has some of that cool beat in there, too. 

The thing though is that "Groovin'" had never been used as a theme for any particular area in Tokyo but as an insert song for a July-September 2005 television drama titled "Slow Dance"（スローダンス）. It was one of the dramas that was slotted into the prized Monday-at-9 pm time and space on Fuji-TV, so I gather that it was a romance drama along the lines of other shows for that schedule including "Tokyo Love Story" and "Hyakuikkaime no Propose"（１０１回目のプロポーズ....The 101st Proposal). A fellow by the name of S.D. Preppy was responsible for the soundtrack and I assume that he was also behind "Groovin'".

As for Uno, she wears a lot of hats in show business including those of model, YouTuber and singer. But she is also a member of the performance group AAA. Mayu is someone that I couldn't find anything about so I'm left wondering whether she was a backup singer brought in for a one-time gig or maybe even one of the production staff recruited to help out in the recording. If anyone can let me know about who Mayu is, please do so.

Ai Otsuka -- Ramen San-pun Cooking（ラーメン3分クッキング）

 

Officially, the high temperature was supposed to hit the heady heights of 15 degrees Celsius. Well, thanks to the winds whipping up something fierce this morning, it sure didn't feel like 15...more like 5 lonely ones. Fortunately, I was out today to meet up with a couple of friends who are fellow translators at a central branch of Santouka for lunch.

But of course, ramen was on the menu so I tucked myself into a savory bowl of spicy miso ramen (although the picture above is that of a similar bowl at Raijin that I took last December). That bowl sure came in handy for bringing back some warmth. I also noticed that there will be a new branch of rival ramen restaurant Sansotei opening up just up the street in a few months so with two other ramen places in the immediate area, that Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood is certainly looking like Toronto's ramen yokocho.

Buoyed by my taste experience today, I have been inspired to search for yet another ramen-based kayo or J-Pop tune to start this week's KKP songs. Well, it didn't take too long to find one to join Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子）smoky and tongue-in-cheek "Ramen Tabetai"（ラーメン食べたい）. Cheerful singer-songwriter Ai Otsuka（大塚愛）whipped up her bowl of fun called "Ramen San-pun Cooking" (3-Minute Ramen Cooking) as a track on her third original album "Love Cook" from December 2005 (great month to give a musical shoutout to ramen).

The above recording though actually comes from Otsuka's "LOVE POP TOUR 2022" DVD + CD set. Regardless, "Ramen San-pun Cooking" is an interesting mix of light synthpop, echoes of 70s Motown R&B and fun delivery by Otsuka and company as they sing and wax philosophically on the three minutes of waiting time between the pouring of the hot water and the time that their instant cup ramen is ready to go. Apparently, Otsuka also likes her miso ramen, too.

The original recording of "Ramen San-pun Cooking" in "Love Cook" actually fit into three minutes exactly. The above video has her doing the song at twice the speed so dare I say it, it took exactly one minute and thirty seconds. Incidentally, "Love Cook" reached No. 1 on Oricon and became the 10th-ranked album for 2006.

Ketsumeishi -- Sakura

 

Well, if all goes well, the cherry blossoms in the Kanto area may be reaching full bloom as of Friday (a full week earlier than expected) and with things basically back to normal over there, I figure that the cherry blossom-viewing parties will be back at places such as Ueno Park and Ichigaya. Just imagine...it will be the return of copious amounts of eating and drinking, bad karaoke, the occasional alcohol-induced fights and neckties around the head...oh, and the odd viewing of the blossoms. I'll have to speak with my student about how everything went.

Back on Monday, I wrote about Arashi's（嵐）"Sakura Sake"（サクラ咲ケ）in tribute to the cherry blossom season but then a commenter (maybe Fireminer) noted another cherry blossom-themed hit which I'm covering here now. Hip-pop group Ketsumeishi（ケツメイシ）has been written about once on the blog through their 2007 "Train"（トレイン）, but they also came up with "Sakura" (Cherry Blossoms) earlier in February 2005 as their 11th single as a major act.

Compared to "Sakura Sake", "Sakura" is a far more wistful song (although with a goodly amount of tempo) about reminiscing about a past love through the fluttering cherry blossom petals in the wind. The lyrics by Ketsumeishi delivered such a bittersweet story that the original music video was basically patterned as a 7-minute mini-drama starring Masato Hagiwara（萩原聖人）and Emi Suzuki（鈴木えみ）. Indeed, it was a Tokyo love story.

"Sakura" hit No. 1 on Oricon and it became the 2nd-ranked single of the year, becoming a million-seller and winning the JASRAC Silver Award. As a non-tie-up song, it was Ketsumeishi's biggest hit. Another accolade that it has earned is that "Sakura" has been used as the train arrival melody at Idogaya Station on the Keikyu Honsen line in Yokohama's Minami Ward since 2015. Idogaya just happens to be where Ketsumeishi leader Daizo Yoshida（吉田大蔵）grew up.

In March 2021, in commemoration of the production of a BEST album, "Ketsu no Paradise"（ケツノパラダイス...Ketsu's Paradise）, a new video for "Sakura" was created starring Asahi Ito（伊藤あさひ）and Rinka Kumada（久間田琳加）. The first album that the song was placed on was their 4th album "Ketsunopolis 4"（ケツノポリス4）from June 2005 which also hit No. 1 and was the 2nd-ranked album of the year.

For those in the Kanto area, have a very good cherry blossom-filled weekend!🌸