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.
It's been getting close to forty-four years since I heard my first Higurashi（日暮し）song on "Sounds of Japan" and that was without knowing the name of the folk/New Music band or the title of that song until I finally discovered it after returning from Japan for good in 2011. Furthermore, it's been fourteen years since I posted that splendid song, "Aki no Tobira"（秋の扉）, onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus".
Up until now, I'd seen Higurashi as a band that had its time in the 1970s before becoming a part of Japanese music history. However, I learned recently that the original members got together one more time in 2017 to release "Everlasting -Unreleased & Rare Tracks-". One of the tracks is "Tsukiyo no Highway" (Moon Night Highway) which was written and composed by members Seiichi Takeda（武田清一） and Yukio Nakamura（中村幸雄）, and the jaunty arrangement has that feeling of Higurashi especially with everyone getting in behind the mike including Naomi Sugimura（杉村尚美）, now Naomi Sakakibara（榊原尚美）. However, there is that contemporary freshness with the instruments and the recording which struck me. I especially like the addition of what sounds like a steel pedal guitar; gives the song a really nice accent of traveling smoothly on that titular highway.
Well, we're basically at the halfway point of 2026, and things here at least are looking very summery. In fact, Toronto is going into a heat wave for the next few days. It certainly was quite the sweaty trek from the store and back this morning. Before folks start complaining though, let's remember that it wasn't too long ago when we were all griping when winter would end.
Then, let's start today's edition of KKP with something nice and rosy and happy. The band Special Favorite Music had a track from their August 2017 2nd full album"Royal Blue" called "Royal Memories". No special genre inflection was attached to this one; it's just a happy-happy-joy-joy pop tune with some Motown horns (though "Royal Memories" doesn't sound particularly Motown) accompanying it. Have a listen to it with the air conditioner on full.
I haven't posted an article on the experimental soul band WONK in over a year so I was happy to find this one called "Cyberspace Love". But it isn't available on any of the band's singles or albums it seems. Instead, one can find it on an October 2017 compilation album titled "MONK's Playhouse".
The chill modern club vibe is there in "Cyberspace Love" although the feeling is almost as if the song was really meant to be played while listeners were actually on their computers or smartphones finding their ideal match via the Internet. Personally, I would just like to enjoy a martini in such a club while listening to this one. The music video is also kinda Kafkaesque as four friends separately see a well-dressed man pop up in all sorts of bizarre environments including one of the guys' coffee cup; I'm not sure but I am wondering if the mystery man is supposed to be the legendary jazz musician Thelonious Monk. As it turns out, the four friends are actually the members of WONK themselves. I never would have thought that I would actually be Neo-City Pop grooving to an animated version of "The Twilight Zone".
We're back on Hump Day today with all of the fatigue that a Wednesday would convey. Plus, over here, there's a good chance that we'll be buffeted with high winds possibly leading to power outages and then some flurries tomorrow. Not exactly an ideal forecast although as I look out my window, things are looking pretty sunny but the weather folks warned us that that would be a mere prelude to the maelstrom.
So, let us start off this round of KKP with something a little mellow and healing. I bring to you singer-songwriter Jun Shibata's（柴田淳）"Ryokataomoi" from her September 2017 11th album"Watashi wa Shiawase"（私は幸せ...I am Happy）. I've heard of the term "ryo" and "kataomoi" but never brought together like this and I guess it could mean "Unrequited Love At Both Ends". I gather that the two people involved have feelings for each other but neither person is aware of the other's emotions and they are too bashful to take that risk.
The ironic bittersweetness aside, "Ryokataomoi" is a sweet ballad with a gently rolling piano and tender strings leading the way. There's almost something nostalgic about the arrangement, and I don't just mean that it's almost a decade old. The overall feeling could even go as far back at the 1970s. Anyways, the album peaked at No. 7 on Oricon.
Now, what would be 7000 miles away from Toronto, Canada? Well, Casablanca and Lisbon are two such cities, but I've also read that Perth in Western Australia is also that distant. I had a student and friend who put up stakes there several years ago and she's been enjoying her time there like gangbusters. It's always wonderful when someone comes to a new place and declares "Yep, this is home for me!".
Let's start off a little gently for the weekly edition of Urban Contemporary Fridays on KKP. Once again, we have the good folks of Nash Music Library helping out and for today, we have their "7000 Miles Away". A breathy-voiced female vocalist comes on board this time to sing what sounds like the typical "absence makes the heart grow fonder" message. There's nothing like being 7000 miles away to push the melancholy knife deeper.
Still, this entry from the 2017 "Smooth & Groove" album is indeed smooth and groovy...and very relaxing. So the commiseration is heartfelt and comfy, preferably with a mug of cocoa. There's a hint of Xmas at the end, but I'd say that this is good for a cooling October as well.
It's the 21st of September and for a lot of folks, that means one thing.
Yup, it's "September" by Earth Wind & Fire, one of my favourite go-to cheer-up songs. Dance clubs are probably going to be playing this or have played this around the planet, and the traffic around Area 51 is a lot busier today.
Now, I already wrote about the EW&F classic back in 2020. Plus, even before that, I had written about Shinichi Osawa's（大沢伸一）remix version from 1999 and even a 2016 anison that was inspired by "September". Therefore, I can provide a couple of more covers in honour.
Nettai Jazz Gakudan（熱帯JAZZ楽団...Tropical Jazz Big Band） is a band specializing in Latin jazz and Big Band which is led by percussionist Carlos Kanno（カルロス菅野）from Orquesta de la Luz. They started out in 1995 as just a bunch of buddies jamming but then it swelled up to an 18-piece group. Their take on "September" was a track on their 2nd album from June 1998"Nettai Jazz Gakudan II ~ September" and along with what "September" has been all about, Kanno and crew also give a lot on what they themselves are all about in their version.
Nearly 20 years later, the vocal group Little Glee Monster took on Maurice White and company's magnum opus as one of the coupling songs on their May 2017 8th single "Dakara, Hitori janai"（だから、ひとりじゃない...So, I'm Tellin' Ya, You're Not Alone）. The soul is definitely with them! And to think that just some days before release, LGM and EW&F got together to do "September".
On July 13, 2025, Nakamori Akina will reach 60. In Japan, it is called Kanreki (還暦) and traditionally marks an important milestone in life. Its importance has waned in modern times since most people live past their 70s. In the Chinese calendar, which the Japanese borrowed, each year is marked by what's called an Eto (干支), or a sexagenary cycle, and there're a total of 60 of them. For example, the year 1965, when Akina was born, was called Kinotomi (乙巳). Because there are 60 of them, they form a cycle every 60 years and therefore, this year, 2025 (=1965+60), is also marked as Kinotomi. From here, it starts a new cycle again and repeats every 60 years (i.e. 2085, 2145 will be marked Kinotomi as well). So, when you reach 60, i.e. when you reach Kanreki, not only is it a celebration of longevity, it also carries a deeper meaning that one has been reborn.
Anyway, Congratulations! This year also marks Akina's 43rd anniversary since her debut in 1982.
"Merry Christmas - Snow Tears" (メリークリスマス - 雪の雫) appeared in Akina's 2017 album also titled Akina (明菜). It's also the last Akina song that I bought. I first came across it on YouTube, and after listening to it, I immediately went to iTunes and bought it myself.
The song was written by someone called Koshin. There's no information I could find. I asked AI (ChatGPT, Perplexity.ai) but it doesn't know who he is either. Lyrics was written by Miran, which is Akina's pen name. In other words, Akina wrote the lyrics herself.
The song is a love story in which the singer remembered her lover during Christmas, who had passed away. She promised that her love towards him would never change, and hoped that her message will reach him, wherever he is. Here's my translation (my own interpretation, no AI) of the song's lyrics.
ね、覚えてる 初めてのふたりの日々
Hey, do you still remember the days when we first met?
続いてく信じてた いつまでも包まれると
I used to believe that it'd continue, and I'd always be held in your arms
ただ夢の中 永遠に終わらない
Just living in my dream, forever and ever without an end
雪が舞う街並みに ひと時ぬくもりを
Snow dances on the streets, and I felt a moment of warmth
どんなに離れていても この愛を伝えたくて
No matter how much separates us, I want to convey my love to you
溢れる雪の雫 降り積もる あなたに...触れたくて
Overflowing tears, like snow, fall and pile up. I am longing for your touch
いつまでも約束は 時を越え薄れない
Our promise will not wear thin over time
微笑み溢れる恋人たちが あの日を重ねてく
My memories layered with overflowing joyful smiles of us two
そう、覚えてる 今でもそう変わらない
Yes, I still remember. My love towards you remains unchanged
距離を越え 灯す光 届くでしょう メリークリスマス
Will this candle light overcome our distance and reach you? Merry Christmas
I know it's summer (at least in the northern hemisphere) and Christmas is still 5 months away. But on Akina's birthday I got to choose whatever song I like to celebrate. I hope you'd too 😁.
Around a month ago, I highlighted the late Hiroshi Narumi's（鳴海寛）"Ame Agari"（雨あがり）which first got onto his 2017 album"Boku wa Uta Tsukuri (Early Works 1975-1978)"（僕は詩つくり...I am a Writer of Songs）, although it was obvious that the recording had been done many years earlier. The song also got onto his 2022 "Around the Thru Traffic".
Well, it looks like the same is true with another song, "Oyasumi" (Good Night). Despite the title, Narumi's melody seems to be reflecting a fun night in progress in downtown Tokyo, including some welcome brassiness. Starting off with some mighty fine funky licks, his vocals seem to fly right up into the stratosphere while the arrangement including the chorus reminds me more of the City Pop of the 1970s rather than anything in the 21st century. The title aside, it is indeed a good night for listeners and urban hedonists.
Singer-songwriter and musician Hiroshi Narumi（鳴海寛）, one-half of the City Pop/old-timey pop duoTohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）, passed away almost a decade ago, but it's been wonderful that his music as part of that pairing with songwriter Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）and as a soloist has been rediscovered over the years. A couple of years ago, I mentioned that there had been a 2022 album put out in tribute to Narumi titled "Around the Thru Traffic" as a compilation of other songs from his other albums.
One of the tracks there that I didn't cover the first time around is "Ame Agari" (After the Rain). Composed by Narumi and written by Takashi Narematsu, it supposedly first emerged to fans' ears as far back as his 2017 album"Boku wa Uta Tsukuri (Early Works 1975-1978)"（僕は詩つくり...I am a Writer of Songs）, although I couldn't track down the year that it had been first recorded.
It's been a pretty rainy day here in Toronto and since it is a Hump Day, I thought it would be nice to have something like "Ame Agari" start off the Wednesday edition of KKP. "Ame Agari" isn't a City Pop or AOR tune at all; instead it's a light and pleasant bossa nova song with Narumi's vocals fitting the melody perfectly.
I came across singer-songwriter Azumi Takahashi's（高橋あず美）YouTube channel purely by accident several days ago. Takahashi is a singer-songwriter who hails from Nagano Prefecture, and according to a brief bio on the website "Sayegusa & Experience", she gained a lot of her vocal power from her participation in chorus groups, snowboarding and cross-country skiing. After graduating from high school, she attended a Tokyo music school to develop her singing abilities and after graduating there in 2008, she was able to join Dreams Come True on tour as a backup singer. Takahashi also released some songs over the next several years but in 2018, she decided to head to New York City to refresh herself. In the Big Apple, she took the opportunity for some busking in the subways where she stunned commuters with her amazing singing. A year later, she even became the Champion of the Year at the Apollo Theatre's Amateur Night competition, being the first Japanese citizen to ever take the top prize.
Before all those accolades came pouring in for her, Takahashi released an album in 2017 titled "Hitorigoto" (ひとり言...Monologue) from which here is one track "Tokyo Kakurenbo" (Tokyo Hide n' Seek). A cool and groovy blues-and-soul song possibly about avoiding commitment in the big city, the singer shows her sexy and growly chops although I think I'm going to have to see some of that subway busking footage to get an idea of her at full vocal power.
A few days ago, I posted the Duke Aces' 2017 take on a Pizzicato Five song "Atarashii Uta"（新しい歌）with all of its Shibuya-kei goodness.
Well, I had been thinking of including the coupling song to that single but with all of the history behind "Atarashii Uta", I decided that I would give "Atarashii Uta" all the breathing room in its article while I provide that coupling song its own space and time. And as it turns out, the venerable vocal group devotes their cords and chords to the classic anime theme to "Tetsuwan Atomu"（鉄腕アトム...Astro Boy） from 1963.
Yasuharu Konishi（小西 康陽）from P5 is behind the arrangement here, too, but this time, instead of the Shibuya-kei, he gives this version of "Tetsuwan Atomu" some seemingly acid jazz oomph with some added soul and funk. The song is less than 2 1/2 minutes long but it feels quite happy and filling (especially thanks to the trumpet) due to all that upbeat vibe.
Just imagine...a veteran vocal group from decades ago collaborating with a songwriter and producer famous for a trendy music genre from a few decades ago. But that's what we get with Yasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）writing and composing a song called "Atarashii Uta"(A New Song) and Duke Aces（デューク・エイセス）tackling it at full throttle. And indeed, it's the familiar voices from yesteryear singing about creating that song for that significant other against a wall of Shibuya-kei sound goodness.
Duke Aces first covered "Atarashii Uta" on the March 2002 Pizzicato Five tribute album"Sensou ni Hantai suru Yuuitsu no Shudan wa. ~ Pizzicato Five no Uta to Kotoba"（戦争に反対する唯一の手段は。-ピチカート・ファイヴのうたとことば-...The Only Way to Oppose War ~ Words and Music by Pizzicato Five）. The project was released on the 1-year anniversary of P5's disbanding. The Duke Aces' cover was once again put out years later in 2017 as a single.
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The original "Atarashii Uta" can be found on P5's 11th studio album"Playboy, Playgirl"（プレイボーイ プレイガール）from October 1998 with the Divine Ms. Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）singing with Hisashi Kato（加藤ひさし）of The Collectors. The arrangement is "slightly more subdued" but still an exciting trip around town. Kato and Nomiya teamed up as well for "Nagame no Ii Heya"（眺めのいい部屋）.
One more version of "Atarashii Uta" can be found as a twee technopop take with Nomiya behind the mike once more through the special album "Haishin Muke no Pizzicato Five ~ Sono San Nomiya no Maki"（配信向けのピチカート・ファイヴ その3 野宮の巻...Pizzicato Five for Streaming Part 3: Nomiya） which came out in November 2021.
Once 2010s aidoru group Especia decided to call it a day and disbanded in 2017, a few of the members went into their own projects including Monari Wakita（脇田もなり）who seems to have become the most active of the graduates.
I realize through past postings of her solo work that Wakita has managed to keep up the Neo-City Pop but within her first solo album "I am Only" from July 2017, I have come across the track "Akai Skirt"(Red Skirt) which brings together some jazz and synthpop into a pleasant and catchy mix about going one's way (especially with that percussion). And it was a delight to discover that words and music were provided by Yuko Iizumi（飯泉裕子）and Seiki Sato（佐藤清喜）respectively. Those two just happen to be the duo microstar and they've made their own beautiful music.
Not sure where Kayo Grace and Mr. Calico are boogeying it up, but I hope that they are getting some air conditioning in the dance club. It's still plenty steamy in Tokyo these days and I've been hearing a lot of people there via NHK that they are begging for the autumn to come sooner rather than later.
As has been the case with Takao Tajima（田島貴男）and Original Love, vocalist and songwriter Kai Takahashi（高橋海）has also become a solo project when it comes to his Lucky Tapes since last year. Hope he is doing well. But let's go back when Lucky Tapes was a three-piece band. In September 2017, the group released their 2nd EP, "Virtual Gravity", and one track was "Boogie Nights". Written and composed by Takahashi, it has a fair bit of that wacka-wacka 70s R&B and even some of that rock and disco in there. Love the bass and the horns.
Our cruise on the Harmony of the Seas back in 2017 was a pleasant one and it was especially nice to take a stroll on Deck 16 at night in the cool sea air as the ship was making its voyage. Couldn't quite make it a midnight one due to certain family members needing to retire early but hey, 9 pm is good.
"Midnight Cruise" is a track from neo-soul group WONK's September 2017 album"Castor", one of two albums that came out the same day with its twin album "Pollux". Written and composed by the band, it does have the soul as well as some nighttime jazz lounging about in its comfy slippers. The lyrics seem to talk about a couple groping their way through a dark and foreboding world although the melody hints at some light at the end of the tunnel.
Will always love Kento Nagatsuka's（長塚健斗）multilayered vocals here. There is something within them that reminds me of the wonderful harmonies of the band Off-Course's（オフコース）vocalist, Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）.
Around Christmas last year, I noted a band known as Minyo Crusaders（民謡クルセイダーズ）that has been attempting to bring some more tabasco sauce into the traditional Japanese music dish known as min'yo for over a decade. Vocalist Freddie Tsukamoto（フレディ塚本）and his band oomphed up "Kaigara Bushi"（貝殻節）recently, for example.
Well, on a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, Minyo Crusaders showed up to reveal what they could do with another min'yo chestnut, "Tanko Bushi"(Coal Mine Melody). Now, an article on my own personal connection with the song was posted all the way back in 2017 so you can take a look at that through the link above. But over here, I've got Minyo Crusaders adding their own salsa or some brand of Latin and jazz into the proceedings for the original 1932 min'yo.
Coincidentally, the Crusaders' take on "Tanko Bushi" was recorded onto their first album which was also released in 2017, "Echoes of Japan". The song about coal mining probably could have gotten the miners off their duffs to swivel them; kinda interesting how the keyboards sound so fuzzy, though. But the horns come in loud and clear. With festival season in Japan happening now (weather permitting, especially this year), maybe the Crusaders will also be coming in loud and clear. Also, in the full version below, you can even hear a little tribute to an old Gershwin classic.
Man, is it coming down out there! We've got waves of thunderstorms pummeling into the GTA today which hopefully will end by this afternoon. But the good thing is that all of the precipitation has been washing out the humidity for now.
About a month ago, I posted an article on a duo called Emi & Gel（エミとゲル）who specialize in the rock n' roll of yesteryear. Their 2023 "Setsunai Anata"（せつないあなた）, a cover of Roberto "The King" Carlos'"Se Você Pensa"(If You Think) , has been given a late 1960s psychedelic rock rearrangement. Well, as I mentioned in that article, both members, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Gel Matsuishi（松石ゲル）and vocalist and drummer Emmylee（エミーリー）, had been involved with other projects in the past.
Emmylee, for example, had another group called Emmylee & The Psyzans（エミーリー&ザ・サイザンス）as recently as 2017. Although it's just been the one song that I've heard so far, "Koi no Teppodama" (Love Bullet) was the title song for their first album released in May of that year, and although the lass and her bandmates there were also focusing on music from those same 1960s, I think from "Koi no Teppodama", the music was more Beatles with fortified oomph in their instruments. Also, for the same reason, I also got some New Wave feeling a la groups such as Plastics from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Just looking at the videos from YouTube's Kuga's Travel, I'd assume that every ferry sailing around Japan would have the Royal Caribbean line green with envy. Of course, not every ferry looks quite that luxurious but heck, I wouldn't mind spending an overnight cruise on the Ishikari.
I couldn't help but remember that Kuga's Travel video when I heard this enka tune, although Kouhei Fukuda's（福田こうへい）"Hokugen Kaikyo" (Strait at the Northern Tip) is far more of a rustic description of the northernmost end of the main island of Honshu...basically the northern tip of Aomori Prefecture. There are plenty of shout outs to the local geographic features including the Tsugaru Strait which has been the target for many an old-fashioned kayo kyoku, the Shimokita Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido.
Written and composed by enka veteran Ikuzo Yoshi（吉幾三）, those lyrics bring up the bracing atmosphere of the environment surrounding that northern area by the sea with high waves rising up the cliffs and the coming blast of winter. I really shouldn't be thinking of a grand staircase and a buffet restaurant on board the Ishikari, but that's how it is. In any case, "Hokugen Kaikyo" was a track on Fukuda's 10th album"Kodama"（谺 〜こだま〜...Spirit of the Trees） from November 2017, and it's another song that I heard on "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...Songs of Japanese Spirit） along with Yuiko Kinoshita's（木下結子）"Hokasarete"（放されて）. Unlike the various genres that I added for "Hokasarete", though, "Hokugen Kaikyo" is 100% zesty enka.
Yes, once again, we have Kayo Grace Kyoku tripping the light fantastic at the good ol' disco somewhere probably in Tokyo.
Speaking of disco, Rocket Brown let me know about this tune by vocal group The Gospellers（ゴスペラーズ）several weeks ago. "Fly Me to the Disco Ball" is the group's 49th single from February 2017. Despite the title, it doesn't have a single disco bone in its arrangement, and in fact, I think it's a rather elegant and inspiring soul tune. Written and composed by Gospellers singer Yuuji Sakai（酒井雄二）with a co-composing credit given to Shoichiro Hirata（平田祥一郎）, the J-Wiki writeup on the song noted Sakai's comments that "Fly Me to the Disco Ball" is reflecting the human desire to fly in spite of being bound by gravity.
The music video certainly has folks in the late evening trying to slip their earthly bounds and reach for the stars...or the disco ball. Or maybe that's simply the booze talking. Regardless, "Fly Me to the Disco Ball" made it to No. 14 on Oricon and can also be found on The Gospellers' No. 5-ranking"Soul Renaissance", their 15th album which was released a month following the single.
The song was also used as the theme for the amusement park Yomiuri Land's"Jewellumination"（ジュエルミネーション） display.
I'm starting off this week's edition of Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" with something a little unusual. A few years ago, City Pop podcaster Rocket Brown had asked me some questions about certain passages within the liner notes of the wonderful 1982 City Pop album "Thru Traffic" by the duo Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）consisting of songwriter Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）and the late great guitarist Hiromi Narumi（鳴海寛）. Yamakawa and Narumi and their one-and-only "Thru Traffic" are a fine example of what can happen when something miraculous and wonderful emerges from the unexpected.
The last time I wrote about Narumi was last September when I posted an article on the digital album, "Around the Thru Traffic", from June 2022 which was a tribute to the guitarist who had passed away in 2015. Last week, I threw "Thru Traffic" into the CD player, lied down in bed and listened to those 40-or-so minutes of pure audio pleasure for a City Pop and J-AOR-loving guy like me. Remembering some of the translation I did for Rocket Brown at that point, I then decided "Why not provide the translation of the whole kit-and-kaboodle for everyone on KKP?". Plus, if I'm not mistaken, the notes also include the reason for the unusual naming of Yamakawa and Narumi's duo.
My copy of "Thru Traffic" is the 2017 remaster in the conventional plastic case. Music journalist Toshikazu Kanazawa（金澤寿和）, the man who was also behind the "Light Mellow" series of CDs in the 2010s, not only included the original 2007 commentary and interview with Tohoku Shinkansen from the first version of the "Thru Traffic" CD which had then been sold in a cardboard jacket, but the first few paragraphs in the 2017 notes consisted of new insights in the two years since Narumi's death in 2015. For Part 1, which will begin below the video of "Summer Touches You", I will provide the translation for those first paragraphs from 2017 and then in the weeks to follow, I'll add on the 2015 translations.
Of course, some of you may have already taken a shot at translating the liner notes yourselves and may come across errors and omissions in my work. If that is the case, please let me know and I'll do my best in correcting them. But that's enough from me since I will now hand it over to Mr. Kanazawa.
It's been two years since the brains behind Tohoku Shinkansen, Hiroshi Narumi, suddenly passed away in 2015. For that reason, much of his music that had not been released for a long time has suddenly appeared as if a dam had burst, something that I’ve witnessed with mixed feelings. Works by someone of his innate musical artisanship bring about the sad reality that people are drawn to his death, making me feel a little helpless. However, when it comes to this one and only album by Tohoku Shinkansen, that’s a topic for another day. I think this new CD reissue of this “unknown miracle masterpiece” is simply something to be celebrated. As for the first-ever CD issue (in cardboard sleeve) in 2007, both Narumi and his partner Etsuko Yamakawa had been extremely thrilled and I was able to receive a great amount of cooperation from them.
Afterwards in 2014, just before the analog boom arrived, “Thru Traffic” was given an analog reissue. Undergoing a limited release, even through reservation, almost all of the LPs were sold out and regrettably, very few of them made it to stores. On top of that, the 7-inch single “Summer Touches You/Up and Down”, which had only been produced as a promotional record back in 1982, was made commercially available with new artwork for the first time which also garnered a lot of praise. It was soon after that when Narumi died. His treasured music was then gradually brought all together and released in series under the Narumin Music label. Actually, at the same time that “Thru Traffic” was reissued once more in 2017, Narumi’s early music collection “Boku wa Shi Tsukuri” (I am a Poet) featuring the man’s genius in full display from 1975 to 1978, and Junko Yagami’s（八神純子）backing band Melting Pot featuring Hiroshi Narumi’s“Live at Egg-Man+” were also put on sale. Especially in Melting Pot’s live record, the popular song “Summer Touches You”, which was performed by them at Yagami's own concert, is included, so you may want to check that one out.
Now, without further ado, I would like to present this revised commentary from ten years previously when the first CD version of “Thru Traffic” came out including an interview with Narumi and Yamakawa which will now have some added poignancy.
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