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.
Hope everyone is having a good Sunday out there. Indeed, we're in the final Sunday of August and so for us in Toronto, we're in that annual zone of pop culture appreciation as Fan Expo wraps up and the hype surrounding the Toronto International Film Festival heats up over the next couple of weeks.
Commenter Brian Mitchell was asking about a singer that I hadn't heard before. Yumi Shizukusa（滴草由実）is a Kagoshima Prefecture-born singer and songwriter who also happens to be an artist and radio personality. From what I've read so far, she retired from singing about half a decade ago but had been active between 2002 and 2021. There's one song from her 2015 album"Blue" titled "All My Life" that attracted my friend's ears.
According to her J-Wiki profile, Shizukusa delved into soul, rock and pop and with "All My Life", it feels like some especially sultry R&B...perhaps with some 90s dance beats and tribal percussion. I get the vibe that I have heard it somewhere before but I can't really remember when and where, and the J-Wiki article on "Blue" doesn't specify any tie-up between "All My Life" and any anime or commercial. But from the music video, I can see that it was filmed in Odaiba by Tokyo Bay.
As I've mentioned in the past, I've sometimes used the 5th and final slot for my articles on Urban Contemporary Fridays to place something a little out of the ordinary. This time, I'm going with an Author's Picks devoted to songs that have some form of Friday or Saturday in the titles since we're going to transition from Friday into Saturday in a few hours, and not surprisingly, a lot of these songs are City Pop in nature. Friday night is the time in Japan to whip off the tie and go crazy at an izakaya or karaoke box while Saturday could be more of the same or maybe friends can meet up for brunch or coffee in the morning. One song actually doesn't haven't a Friday or Saturday in its title but I figure that "Pay Day" by EPO is close enough to a celebratory Friday to get an honorary nod. Anyways, have a good weekend everyone!
It's indeed a Friday night as I type this so I'm sure younger and more energetic folks than I are enjoying their time dining, dancing and drinking somewhere out there. Temperatures are more reasonable and seasonable in the evenings now.
A few years ago, I posted an article regarding the band Lucky Kilimanjaro and their 2021"Ame ga Furu nara Odoreba Ii ja nai"（雨が降るなら踊ればいいじゃない）, noting that vocalist and songwriter Yukimaru Kumaki（熊木幸丸）and his guys love to bring in the Neo-City Pop and disco. Well, one of their earlier songs from their one and only mini-album as an indies act, the July 2015"FULLCOLOR", can be said to the ideal mix of those two styles. "Burning Friday Night" which was written by Kumaki and composed by the entire band has a hint of an old song by The Emotions but through the gauzy filter of Sakanaction（サカナクション）. So, maybe no disco strings per se but the beat is certainly disco-friendly.
Cooler temperatures out there but at least the sun is also out so no complaints from me. Welcome to another Friday Urban Contemporary session on KKP.
The last time I wrote about the cool-as-heck band Suchmos, it was for their comeback single "Eye to Eye" from July 2025, and it did attract a lot of attention from appreciative fans.
Well, I've decided to look back at their career and arrived at their debut single from June 2015, "Miree/Pacific". That first song "Miree" had also been included in Suchmos' 1st EP,"Essence" which had been released in April that year. Written and composed by the band's late bassist Hayata "HSU" Kosugi（小杉隼太）, according to this Musixmatch page, the song goes into how love is the reassuring constant navigating throughout the vagaries and superficialities of life; sounds like a more hopeful version of a certain City Pop song I and millions of other people know.
HSU's melody is a pleasant smooth drive with the top down on the Shuto Expressway. A differently arranged version of "Miree" (below) was provided on the band's first full album"The Bay" which came out in July 2015. This one has more of a beefier bass and seems a bit more measured in overall delivery, and I think I prefer the single.
The above is a shot of my grilled eel lunch that I had in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture almost a decade ago. I figured that this would be the ideal shot for my latest entry in the "Koufuku Graffiti" (幸腹グラフィティ...Gourmet Girl Graffiti) franchise, a category that I haven't updated since 2015 when I first saw the anime at my friend's place. Up to now, I had covered the opening and ending themes along with the insert songs.
As with anything in the movie field, anime has covered everything from the goriest horrors to the zaniest comedies, and basically for me, I've always had a preference for the quiet slice-of-life type of show, and "Koufuku Graffiti" has been one of the most famous examples (mind you, it has those rather orgasmic scenes of ingestion). Having a couple of good friends enjoy Japanese dishes from episode to episode has been my manna from heaven...no psychological angst, no fierce rivalries and plenty of deliciously portrayed food that I've been eating since I was a tadpole myself.
Well, yesterday, as I was finishing off my usual five in the Urban Contemporary field as would befit a KKP Friday, my mind went back to that 2015 anime and wondered about its original soundtrack. Foe one thing, it was composed and arranged by singer-songwriter Kotringo（コトリンゴ）who already has a fair number of articles posted including her time with the cool band Kirinji during the 2010s and her cover version of the folk classic "Kanashikute Yarikirenai"（悲しくてやりきれない）as the theme song for the acclaimed anime film "Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni"（この世界の片隅に...In This Corner of the World）.
For another, the soundtrack for "Koufuku Graffiti", known as "Edible Melodies" (the link will take you to Amazon), never seemed all that obtrusive which I think fits Kotringo's personality. There was never any hint that an electric guitar would be shredded at any time during the series. The music is all very whimsical, wistful and warm with the priority given to the visual joy of some of my old dishes from my childhood being animated in most glorious detail. The above track for example, Track 11's "Ippon Yozakura Tamagoyaki"（一本夜桜卵焼き...Night Cherry Blossom Fried Egg） centers around the flute and strings and sounds just like a number one would hear in an art gallery cafe.
By the way, you can also access this link to hear very brief excerpts from the soundtrack at Apple.
One trope that pops up throughout the soundtrack is that Kotringo herself provides some of her vocal effects through humming or scatting, and that is the case with Track 15"Omurice Horror"（オムライス・ホラー...Rice Omelet Horror）. It really does sound rather sinister although Kotringo's vocal beats let us know that it's not all bad out there. I do recall one episode where there was indeed an omurice accident. Omurice isn't exactly a novice dish, you know.
I definitely remember this piece, Track 22"Atatakai O-nabe"（あたたかいお鍋...A Warm Bowl）, playing in the background, although the video here is of a cover version by AniMuffin Piano. If I'm being accurate here, it was playing during the quiet scenes and since there were a whole lot of quiet scenes in "Koufuku Grafitti", I'm sure that it was getting played at least once an episode. There's quite the nice waltz-y lilt.
I guess because the soundtrack was so subtle and relaxing, it hasn't gotten a lot of videos up onto YouTube, so I just have the above Episode 1 in its entirety to show off a few more tracks. Right from the start, there is a rendition of Track 1 "O-inarisan no Aji"（おいなりさんの味...The Taste of Sushi Rice in Deep-Fried Tofu Skin） which pops up whenever the main character of Ryo remembers back to the past, including her memories of her late grandmother.
At about 5:00 of the video, in comes the petite force of nature that becomes Ryo's foodie friend, Kirin, so her theme song which is Track 3 has some of those Kotringo verbal beats and a circus-like arrangement. One more song that I'll throw in is "O-ryori Humming"（お料理ハミング...Cooking Humming） Track 20 which gets played at 13:40 and is one of my favourite parts of the soundtrack because it not only sounds a tad Xmas-y but it also comes across as something cheerful from an old-timey sitcom or Hollywood comedy.
As I hinted above, "Edible Melodies" isn't a soundtrack to emphasize the action or the laughs for an anime. Think of it as a light and tasteful vinaigrette to add a little something to the salad.
Back in 2018, I introduced a band onto the blog called Special Favorite Music via their 2017 single"Ceremony" which had quite a bit of groove with the interesting inclusion of a violinist and a flutist among their band members.
I'm now going a bit further back in their discography to 2015 when they released their EP "Romantics" with the track of choice today being "Gold". Written and composed by Naohiro Okuda, the brass and violin are more in the foreground here and the whole arrangement sounds like an upbeat indies pop number straight from Shimo-Kitazawa, Tokyo. The music video is pretty fantastical although the slightly out-of-focus shots of people in animal masks were pretty creepy.
According to their Biography page, Special Favorite Music went from a 7-piece band down to a trio from 2019 but from 2024 which was their 10th anniversary, they apparently recruited new members. So, it'll be interesting how the folks sound now.
I've had takoyaki, the great Osakan street food, from time to time when I was living in the Tokyo area and have even tried the Toronto variety. Of course, I'm no expert on it but I believe that the ideal takoyaki is piping hot and creamy on the inside while the outside is pleasantly doughy with all of the nori, mayonnaise and thick sauce covering the balls. We've got commenters on this blog who live in Japan, so would like their input on the ideal takoyaki. One other point that I'd like to add is that whenever NHK shows tourism in Osaka, they always put up scenes of the folks navigating their palates through the searing hot snacks.
Now with the Holidays over, regular programming has continued to return. "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）is another NHK stalwart that has come back onto screens this week and the crew was in Takatsuki this time around. One of the songs that an old couple performed was indeed takoyaki-themed.
Well, you can't get more obvious than the title of "Takoyaki Biyori ~ Fuufu Yatai" (A Good Day For Takoyaki ~ Husband & Wife Stand). This is a duet between enka singers Yutaka Oe（大江裕）and Hiromi Yamaguchi（山口ひろみ）, the latter of whom is getting onto the blog for the first time and for the former, it's about the earliest in his discography that I've come across. Released in December 2015, it's a grand old enka about the ups and downs of a husband and wife making their way through life and finances by cooking up and selling takoyaki. They sing and speak so sugary sweetly at each other in their Kansai dialects that I figure that there must be something behind the heavenly veil, and sure enough at the very end, I get to hear some of Yamaguchi's razor-like tongue.
"Takoyaki Biyori" was written by Miwa Ito（伊藤美和）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）. As for Yamaguchi, she hails from Osaka and her mother and aunt were a postwar comedic duo named Kamogawa Kamome and Chidori（加茂川かもめ・ちどり）. While in university, Yamaguchi was introduced to the enka legend Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）and shortly after became one of his many apprentices with her debut in 2002. Up to last year, she has released 29 singles and a couple of original albums.
I have covered the female group Sayonara Ponytail（さよならポニーテール）a few times in the past, including their "Shin Sekai Koukyougaku"（新世界交響楽）which was one ending theme to the truly chaotic anime "Kill La Kill"（キルラキル）.
Just by happenstance, I stumbled across another song by this mystery group whose members have apparently never appeared live in concert or through any other visual media. They may not have even seen each other...at least as a full group. But anyways, there is much to like about their "Tenshi ni Fureta yo!" (We Met An Angel!) which was written by Emi Inaba（稲葉エミ）and composed by Susumu Kawaguchi（川口進）. It's got a nice groove but also has this wistfulness which comes with being reminded of those salad days in school. Plus, I like the illustrations accompanying the video which make it look like the disparate members of SayoPony actually hung out together all those years. The song was a bonus track on the group's three-disc album "Enban Utopia"（円盤ゆ～とぴあ...Disc Utopia） which was released in November 2015.
The crazy thing is that the SayoPony song is actually a cover of an insert song from the popular anime "K-ON". I'd always heard about this show from my anime buddy but never got to see it although it's gained quite the reputation over the years since it was first shown in 2009. I was surprised by the original version that was performed by the in-universe band Houkago Tea Time（放課後ティータイム...Afterschool Tea Time） with its different pop-rock flavour as performed by Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, Yoko Hikasa（日笠陽子）, Satomi Sato（佐藤聡美）and Minako Kotobuki（寿美菜子）, seiyuu that have become very familiar to me through other roles in other anime. "Tenshi ni Fureta yo!" was placed as a track on the October 2010 album "Houkago Tea Time Second"（放課後ティータイムII）.
Hello there! Some of you faithful viewers of KKP may have noticed that I was absent yesterday from any new articles. That is because Monday was saved for a computer parts shopping spree downtown with my good friend who is also someone very blessed with computer-creating and computer-repairing skills. We brought back everything to my place and he used a few hours to give some fine upgrades to my two computers and they're now humming with increased speed and capacity now. My great gratitude to him. There's still one more part to come in but basically we're done.
As such, I thought I would put up another Author's Picks with the theme here being songs which have something to do with computers. One entry might seem a bit odd but in that case, you can take a look at its original article to find out why I chose it.
Welcome to another Urban Contemporary Friday on Kayo Kyoku Plus. When I think of the crooning singer-songwriter Yasuhiro Abe（安部恭弘）, I will always think of him as one of the princes of 1980s City Pop in Japan.
So, when I saw one of his more recent songs I couldn't help but be a little surprised and delighted. "Sequence" is a track from his 2015 album"Time is", his first album release in a dozen years and though he obviously moved on from City Pop, the song is still in that comfortable area of café/bar-friendly jazzy AOR and pop. His vocals hadn't changed one whit either. While Abe took care of the melody, Goro Matsui（松井五郎）was the lyricist.
Ol' "Kayo Kyoku Plus" buddy JTM and I were having our usual monthly chat on all things pop culture last Sunday and he mentioned that he had encountered an Internet radio station devoted to popular Japanese music. Called Asia Dream Radio, I had assumed that this was a relatively new addition to the J-Pop/kayo kyoku cybersphere.
Wow! Was I wrong. It's been around since 2015 at least although I'm not sure if it was as jam-packed with the variety of channels that it has now according to its website. Asia Dream Radio has the subtitle of "The Heart of J-Pop Music" and its channels cover everything from kayo kyoku to hip-hop. There's even a channel devoted to boy bands, so I know that one of my friends would certainly be interested in that one considering she's a huge Snow Man fan.
The crazy thing is that it all originates from the Toronto area, my neck of the woods, via the TorontoCast corporation. So I gather that for all of you high school and university students who like to have the nonstop Japanese pop while cramming or pulling off all-nighters, Asia Dream Radio may be the thing for you.
By the way, the above video has all of the usual radio jingles promoting the station which reminds me of one funny scene from "Family Guy".
It was at the end of April when I first introduced the girl group Kit Cat as they recorded a collaborative effort alongside (M)otocompo titled "FLASHBACK 50".
As I mentioned in that article, Kit Cat had their run supposedly from 2013 to 2018 with the members being Jose, Asuka and Eve. One single that they released was "Hang Around" in 2015 which kinda has more of a surf rock vibe rather than the synthpop that they have been associated with. The music video has the lasses enjoying a slumber party at one of the ladies' houses.
The last time I wrote about enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）was back in May 2024 for what was her most recent single at the time "Nocturne"（ノクターン）which had come out a couple of months earlier. Some months after that, Ichikawa was unfortunately diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We hadn't heard or seen her on any of the kayo-based shows on NHK for months so we were wondering about what had happened to her, and well, we finally found out some time afterwards.
Happily though, Ichikawa has recovered and she has resumed her career after her hiatus of many months of treatment. She recently appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）and last night, she also showed up on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）to the encouragement of her fellow singers and fans and a lot of hearty yells of "Welcome back!". Not surprisingly, a lot of tears were shed as well.
For her return performance, Ichikawa sang "Inochi Sakasete" (Let Life Blossom) which was released as her 25th single in April 2015. Written by Shinichi Ishihara（石原信一）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, it's an enka tune about coming back from turmoil and accepting love once again. Considering the circumstances, it wasn't surprising that Ichikawa sung that one, and hopefully she'll continue to progress in her health and career. The song managed to reach No. 25 on Oricon.
It's been quite the rabbit hole over the past few weeks regarding singer-songwriter Maimi Tanaka（田中マイミ）. I first found out about her as the executive behind the theme song for the shopping emporium Don Quixote in Japan, and then I discovered that she once had a discography and a clientele of other singers including former Pink LadyKeiko Masuda（増田恵子）.
(Unfortunately the video has been taken down.)
Admittedly, her own discography is very small compared to the list of songs that she provided other singers. However, one song from her own list when she was known as Mami Tanaka（田中真美）was the pleasant title track from her sole 1981 album"Namida no Lonely Boy" (Lonely Boy in Tears). Written and composed by her, it's got the amiable country twang in the arrangement. Not sure how it did on the Oricon charts.
It's an obscure song to be sure, so I was surprised that it was selected as one of the tracks on Junichi Inagaki's（稲垣潤一）fifth album of his series of duet albums titled "Otoko to Onna 5"（男と女5...Men and Women 5）released in September 2015. With Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）as the arranger, this version of "Namida no Lonely Boy" has a more 50s or 60s pop feeling filtered through some percolating synths.
Inagaki's partner for "Namida no Lonely Boy" was none other than actress/singer/model Anna Tsuchiya（土屋アンナ）. I knew about her when I was living in Japan as someone with the personality of a tough lady who didn't suffer fools at all, but I'm a little surprised that she had yet to appear on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". She was mentioned once before in passing because I had done an article back in 2014 for Ringo Shiina & Neko Saito's（椎名林檎・斉藤ネコ）"Heisei Fuuzoku"（平成風俗）which was basically the soundtrack to the 2007 "Sakuran"（さくらん）, a movie starring Tsuchiya herself. In any case, although the above video has the full version of the duet, the music video below is truncated.
It's been several months since putting up an article based on a Lucky Tapes song but once again, I'm going very early in their discography. Almost ten years back, to be exact.
I recall back in 2022 posting an article for the Neo-City Pop band's "Friday Night" from their first full album "The Show" from August 2015. Like that song, its track mate "Yureru Dress"(Fluttering Dress) has the funk of a modern city but this time, it's been fortified with some good ol' disco as a couple trip the light fantastic. Fine horn and electric organ solo, to boot. Vocalist Kai Takahashi（高橋海）was responsible for words and music while guitarist Kensuke Takahashi（高橋健介）also helped out on the melody.
It's been about eight years since I witnessed my first bona fide professional enka singer with my own eyes when Hiroshi Tayama（田山ひろし）sang at the Toronto Buddhist Church in the northern part of town back in the summer of 2016. Back then, I'd hoped that the Hiroshima Prefecture-born Tayama would make a big breakthrough but alas I haven't heard anything about him in the last several years although his most recent single was released in 2017.
Tayama released this single, "Kairyuu"(Sea Dragon), back in 2015. If I've gotten Kyoko Asahina's（朝比奈京仔） lyrics correctly, the song details a man in the Nagasaki area looking toward the sea as he grieves his departed wife. Junpei Oda's（小田純平）melody is of the enka that I've been hearing for the last number of decades with the traditional arrangement punched up by an electric guitar. Tayama's vocals reflect the man's conflicting emotions of grief and pride over the all-too-brief time spent with the love of his life.
It was during our old ritual of anime-and-meals Sunday between my anime buddy and me when this trio of dapper technopop fellows known as TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN FUND made themselves known through their contributions to the anime industry. I was dazzled by the supreme catchiness of "Witch Activity"（ウィッチ☆アクティビティ）from "Witchcraft Works" as well as "Round&Round&Round", their collaboration with Bonjour Suzuki（ボンジュール鈴木）, for the long-running show "Mahoujin Guru Guru"（魔法陣グルグル...Magical Circle Guru Guru）. Also, I remember "Uchiyoserareta Bōkyaku no Zankyō ni"（打ち寄せられた忘却の残響に）from "Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru"（櫻子さんの足下には死体が埋まっている...Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation） featuring Yuki Otake（大竹佑季）.
Well, even before "Witch Activity" and "Round&Round&Round" came out as singles in November 2015 and August 2017 respectively, TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN FUND had their debut single in March 2015 but only on digital. "visible invisible" also had nothing to do with any anime and it sticks out from any of their anime-friendly music in that it's a pretty laidback technopop tune with what sounds like simulated whale song mixed with some romantic piano. Overall, there is a feeling of late-stage Yellow Magic Orchestra and even a hint of David Bowie/Queen's"Under Pressure" in the delivery. Heck, even the stark music video above is something that I could imagine YMO filming themselves.
Indeed today being the third Monday of May in Canada, it's the holiday Monday known as Victoria Day, named after Queen Victoria, the great-great-great-grandmother of the currently reigning Charles III and the Mother of Confederation. Practically speaking, though, we Canadians recognize the long weekend as the first big holiday going into the summer and I figure later this afternoon and this evening, folks will be heading back to Toronto after some well-needed R&R. Are you not amused?
Just out of a sense of whimsy, I tried to see if there were any kayo kyoku or J-Pop tune that actually had the name "Victoria" in its title. Crazily enough, I could find "Victoria" in Yahoo.jp, and it is the second single by the short-lived aidoru group known as Mademoi 54th（まどもあ54世）, pronounced as Mademoi Go-juu-yon-sei. The name was formed from a combination of the French word "mademoiselle" and the number 54 to coincide with a father-daughter-ish relationship with the producer behind the group, comedian Louis Yamada LIII of the manzai duo Hige Danshaku（髭男爵...The Bearded Baron）.
I figure that at least a video showing Hige Danshaku in action can help explain what the duo was all about. Louis Yamada LIII is on the right as the jaunty nobleman while on the left is his butler Higuchi-kun（ひぐち君）. Although I remember watching these guys on television, I had no idea that Yamada had the time and energy to put together his own aidoru group which follows Hige Danshaku's gimmick of being nobility
Lasting between October 2014 and November 2016, Mademoi 54th put out two singles with "Victoria" as the latter release which was out in September 2015. Written by S. Manaka and composed by juri, I'm not sure why but "Victoria" certainly liked taking some swatches from the opera "Carmen". Otherwise, it was the usual super-cheerful aidoru tune. There were four members in the group: Serina Ohtomo（大友千里菜）, Yuu Muroi（室井ゆう）, Nodoka Sakurai（櫻井悠） and Ruki Furuse（古瀬瑠希）.
As I mentioned in my previous article on Masako Oka's（岡雅子）"Yume Zaiku"（夢細工）, Japan has entered its annual Golden Week holidays and so has its television programming. So, this morning, instead of the usual hour-long NHK "News Watch 9", we only got an abbreviated version of the news for half an hour and then for the next hour, we were able to watch a new hour-long episode of "Sekai wa Hoshiimono ni Afureteru"（世界はほしいモノにあるふれてる...This World is Filled With Wants）, the program specializing on the voyages and adventures of Japanese buyers looking for innovative products to place in their stores back home.
"Seka Hoshi" did have a regular spot on either Tuesday or Wednesday but it's now been coming out as the occasional special. I've enjoyed the series as something calming to watch so I was able to lap up the latest trip by co-host Ryota Suzuki（鈴木亮平）as he enjoyed the sights, sounds and food of Italy including the magical city of Venice. I confess that I've never had much of a desire to travel but after seeing the images of the shops, canals and restaurants in the Italian city, some spark of interest welled up within me about this particular place.
Well, I figured that there must be a kayo kyoku about Venice somewhere since Shinichi Mori（森進一）was able to get a hit out of his 1982 song "Fuyu no Riviera"（冬のリヴィエラ）. And sure enough, it didn't take much of a search to discover that another enka veteran, Ikuzo Yoshi（吉幾三）, came up with his own tribute to Venice, "Venezia Monogatari" (Venice Story). A track from his February 2015 album"Ai Arigato"（愛・ありがとう...Love, Thank You）, Yoshi wrote and composed this love-drenched tale of romance within the City of Canals. With the instrumentation and rhythm involved, I have categorized it as a New Adult Music piece (somewhere between enka and pop) but there was still something...probably Yoshi's vocals...that still pulled the song strongly back to the enka side.
NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）had their final broadcast before going on a multi-week hiatus during Golden Week. Now, the annual spate of holidays ranging from the last days of April into the first days of May doesn't begin for a few more days yet, but I figured that I can still provide a few of the songs that got into their "Uta no Tabi"（歌の旅...Song Vacation） theme segment yesterday along with throwing in one of my own choices.
As it stands right now, though, with the Japanese currency plummeting down to 155 yen to the dollar, perhaps there won't be as much tourism from Japan to overseas destinations this Golden Week although Americans, Canadians and other people will be more than happy to fly over to Japan for the next little while. Maybe that's why some of the songs from "Uta no Tabi" were most definitely domestic. In any case, here are the selections.
.jpg)
.JPG)
