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.
I heard a rather interesting piece of news last Friday via NHK. Today, June 1st (and indeed, welcome to June 2026!), is the 900th anniversary of the founding of Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. 1126...what a year! Chiba Station right in the heart of Chiba City was a regular stop for me on Monday afternoons since I had a regular class at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; I was picked up by the regular company bus at one corner and spent a 20-minute ride to the factories in the suburbs.
I didn't explore too much of the city outside of the immediate station area, but I do recall having a couple of dinners there and having a quick bite to eat at the station hamburger shop (and no, it wasn't a McDonalds) along with buying a few CDs at the music shop...also in the station. Of course, the monorail was always zipping by above me.
Anyways, in commemoration of Chiba's 900th birthday, I'm bringing in some "city" songs: songs that have the word "city" or "tokai" in them. I would have included Anri's（杏里）"Surf City" here but it had already gotten a shoutout in last week's "HANDS Down!" article. So, without further ado:
I know that I've already put up one anison earlier today but I just couldn't let this particular one go. Heard and saw the trailer and even the opening credits sequence for this anime without the credits last night.
I remember back in January 2017 when I posted fhana's "Aozora no Rhapsody"（青空のラプソディ）, the opening theme to the first season of the beloved "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン...Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid）, I pointed out that I was writing an article on a theme song that I was already liking but whose anime I had yet to actually see since I wasn't due to show up at my anime buddy's house for another round of anime and food for another week (although "Kobayashi-san" was probably already airing in Japan by that point). Well, it looks like I'm posting on an opening theme for an anime that no one has yet to see yet since it's not due out until early April, several weeks away.
But I gather that the original anime "Astro Note"（アストロノオト）has been getting that much buzz to have its creditless opening sequence come out so early on YouTube. And the opening song is also something that I'm getting pretty high upon. "Hohoemi Note" (Smile Note) is a happy and breezy ditty that I immediately likened to some of the pop of the 1980s and that has also been echoed in some of the writeups I've found online. It's performed by Ai Furihata（降旗愛）who already has a fair number of entries on KKP that delve into either the Neo-City Pop and/or 80s synthpop such as "Play Boy". "Hohoemi Note" is neither City Pop nor synthpop but it's 80s so I think Furihata is just the singer for it. Veteran lyricist Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）is behind the words while Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）, who has worked with Furihata before, is the composer here. As for the song itself, it won't be out as a CD until late May but would like to see and hear the complete version before then.
Furihata even has a role in "Astro Note" playing one of the motley residents of Astro Flats, underground aidoru Teruko Matsubara (松原照子). I've rather enjoyed slice-of-life anime where a group of oddly likeable characters end up together. And I'm already seeing a love triangle on the way in this one.
April 13th 2024: Ah, finally...the ending theme is here.
With the title and the appearance of that bunny girl in the video, yeah, I'd say that Hugh Hefner's modest magazine and club had a lot to do with it.
I just encountered this one by pure happenstance when it popped up on the right side of YouTube in the last few minutes. "Play Boy" is Ai Furihata's（降旗愛）latest digital single which was released at the end of June last week, and it's got enough of a buzzy synthesizer in there for me to consider it a synthpop creation by Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）. At the same time, the groove and funk are in there to make me think that it's also in the Neo-City Pop sphere. Furihata was responsible for the lyrics about a fellow falling for a lady (no idea on whether she's actually wearing a bunny outfit) despite her complicated nature.
The setup in "Play Boy" reminds me one time when we were having coffee in the Ginza branch of Cozy Corner, a café franchise. I'm sure that the different branches all over Tokyo have their own atmosphere and clientele reflective of the neighbourhood. The Ginza shop had plenty of very well-manicured ladies (perhaps some were club hostesses) sipping coffee while waiting for their well-to-do beaus to show up. My friend and I made sure we were in a dark and cozy corner since we certainly would have stood out for our pedestrian garb.
Since first discovering singer-songwriter Ai Furihata（降幡愛）and her brand of 80s synthpop and City Pop amid the backdrop of Vaporwave aesthetics a couple of years ago, I've been charmed into purchasing her debut mini-album"Moonrise" which came out in September 2020. As well, earlier this year, Furihata released her first mini-album of cover tunes, "Memories of Romance in Summer", which includes her take on Meiko Nakahara's（中原めいこ）classic "Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne"（君たちキウイ・パパヤ・マンゴだね。）.
Just by pure dumb luck last night, I found out that Furihata will be putting out a second mini-album of cover tunes"Memories of Romance in Driving" which won't be due out actually for a few more weeks. The release date is September 28th. However, one of the tracks' music video is out now and before I knew about the source album, it took me half the song to realize that "Ai wa Kokoro no Shigoto desu" is a cover of late 80s band RAMU's debut single from 1988.
Also to remind folks, RAMU had aidoruMomoko Kikuchi（菊池桃子）fully envelop that City Pop sensation to become the group's vocalist. I had my own translation for "Ai wa Kokoro no Shigoto desu", but I actually prefer the translation given under the YouTube video: "Love Is A Work Of Mind". The RAMU original had been created by lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and composer Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）, and basically the arrangement by Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）follows the same pattern but there seems to be more of a ramp-up in the spacey synths, and the music video is the Vaporwave anime that no one saw coming but has arrived triumphantly nonetheless. Another point that characterizes this cover is that contrasted with Kikuchi's famously breathy delivery, Furihata packs a fair amount of punch into her singing, especially when she sings out "I My Me Mine, My Boy".
Furihata on her YouTube channel has also provided a tasting platter video for "Memories of Romance in Driving", so enjoy the tidbits.
When I first got to know Ai Furihata（降幡愛）, it was through her love letter to the synthpop of the early 1980s via her original "City" from 2020.
I had been under the impression that the native of Nagano Prefecture was gradually pulling away from that aspect of Japanese pop music, but then a few days ago her official YouTube channel put this tasty cocktail up. This time, it's a love letter to an actual song made all the way back in the 1980s by City Pop singer Meiko Nakahara（中原めいこ）.
But the snazzy original "Kimi Tachi Kiwi Papaya Mango da ne" (You're All Kiwis, Papayas and Mangoes, Aren't You?) by Nakahara with Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）helping out with the lyrics isn't a City Pop song by any means, instead being her version of a swing Latin jazz fest which became one of her trademark tunes. Furihata is covering it here as part of her first mini-album of cover tunes, "Memories of Romance in Summer", due out on April 27th. The synthesizers are more in play here than any actual jazz band but the happy vibes from Nakahara's original are still fully infused, thanks to arranger Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）. What also makes it wonderful is the clever music video which creates an anime version of Furihata (I think) in a sequence resembling either an opening or closing credits sequence of an 80s or 90s anime.
Speaking of that video, the style reminds me of the incredible anime music video for Dua Lipa's"Levitation", and that shouldn't be surprising because both it and Furihata's video were produced by the same artist, NOSTALOOK.
There was a time during my long stay in Japan in which I was attending my fair share of weddings. It seemed as if I were heading to the ceremonies and receptions every few months. Naturally, they were very happy affairs although I was worried about the amount of money that I had to hand over in those special envelopes as part of the traditions. However, I definitely enjoyed the lion's share of food at those receptions, and if anyone is lucky enough to be invited to a wedding in Nagoya or the larger area of Aichi Prefecture, accept it! Those folks especially really go all out for the party atmosphere and the cuisine.
I've been out of the wedding-attending zone for about two decades now. At my age, most likely the next wedding that I will attend will be the one for my niece and that probably won't be for many years to come. So, listening to Ai Furihata's（降幡愛）"Secret Sugar" and watching the adorable video above, I got some of those old memories of seeing friends getting hitched, although in a couple of cases unfortunately, they ended up in divorce.
When it comes to Furihata's contributions on the blog so far, I've been accustomed to hearing her provide her form of Neo-City Pop and 80s-style synthpop such as the first song that I'd ever heard from her, "City". "Secret Sugar" is a totally different animal altogether although it was created by the same duo behind those urban contemporary tunes, Furihata herself on lyrics and Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）on melody. "Secret Sugar" is a song that was provided on her September 2021 single"Honeymoon"（ハネムーン）and it's very much in the happy and folksy pop vein, almost along the same lines of an old Carpenters song and maybe some of those 60s Brill Building tunes. The two even incorporate a grand version of "The Wedding March" in the instrumental bridge. The single, by the way, peaked at No. 29 on Oricon.
I've been following a few songs by seiyuu/singer-songwriter Ai Furihata（降幡愛）for over a year now, and it was enough for me to pull the trigger and get her debut mini-album"Moonrise" from September 2020. It's a bit quaint when I wrote my first article on her "CITY" since I noted that it was still a few months before the release of that one.
Although I've never watched any of the anime which has included her in the voice actor cast, I still just want to note that Furihata played the role of cute-as-all-get-out Ruby Kurosawa（黒澤ルビィ）in "Love Live! Sunshine!!"（ラブライブ!サンシャイン!!）back in 2016. But from listening to "CITY" and "Cinderella Time"（シンデレラタイム） which happen to be the first two tracks on "Moonrise", this album isn't an aidoru one at all. It's more in the synthpop area or even loving tribute to City Pop or J-AOR of the 1980s. The music video for "CITY" really emphasizes that part. In addition, all of the 6 tracks were given their lyrics by Furihata with Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）providing the music and overall sound production for "Moonrise". The singer herself has given some brief remarks in the liner notes for each of the songs.
Track 3 is "Y no Higeki"（Yの悲劇...Y's Tragedy）, and it's a short and straight-ahead ska tune about a woman who's at her wits' end with her boyfriend's teasing. Not only do I get Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra vibes but even some old Chanels' doo-wop in there. According to Furihata herself, the number of times that the word "YADA" (I hate it!) pops up from her and the background chorus is 108. Feel free to confirm this if you have the time.
Next is the techno-Latin sound of "Love Song wo Kakete"（ラブソングをかけて...Put On A Love Song）, a pretty happy tune on the outside about trying to recover from a romantic breakup on the inside. Furihata mentions that she had noticed that she was only coming up with sad songs and although the lyrics are still in that vein, I guess that she consulted with Honma to see if he could at least make it sound cheerful. That he did since any listeners who don't understand Japanese wouldn't guess that this was anything but a happy-go-lucky tune devoted to the Caribbean. Instead, Furihata sings out a request for someone to put on a lullaby-sounding love song to get her to sleep.
As with "Love Song wo Kakete", my expectations were also kinda twisted inside and out with the next number "Poolside Cocktail"（プールサイドカクテル）. From that title, I had been thinking of something bossa nova or calypso regarding a calm summertime date by the pool. Even Furihata mentions how surprised she was at Honma's choice of melody for this one which is actually more on the technopop and spacey side of things. And yet, the singer's lyrics are still on the sad side as apparently that pool is the setting for unrequited love.
Both Furihata and I were on point here. When I first heard this final track "Out of Blue", I immediately got those 1980s ballad vibes a la Chicago or TOTO, and sure enough, the singer in those liner notes cited that she was going for that decade and that style of song. I almost thought that Peter Cetera was suddenly going to jump into the singing. With those lyrics, I can imagine Furihata looking tearfully at the setting sun while realizing that one can't go back home again temporally or spatially and that forward is the only path left.
"Moonrise" got as high as No. 18 on Oricon. It's not an instant classic but I think it's got a goodly amount of fun music that will grow on me over time.
I guess that I was rather curious about what Halloween in Tokyo might look like this year so I just took a gander at the back footage from "SHIBUYA COMMUNITY NEWS" on YouTube which has that live camera pointed straight at the Shibuya Scramble intersection. Nope, I gather the 23rd is considered to be a bit early and perhaps still somewhat gun-shy because of COVID-19, people were not coming out. But according to the website for "The Japan Times", it seems like the area is getting ready for a return of the masses or at least some fraction of them in their Halloween best or worst. I'll keep an eye out over the next several days.
Anyways, Halloween might also be the opportunity for all sorts of folks to come on out as Sailor Moon or characters from "Evangelion" or something as traditional as Cinderella which is why I'm bringing this song here tonight. "Cinderella Time" is another track from Ai Furihata's（降幡愛）September 2020 mini-album"Moonrise"which also has the first song by Furihata that I ever introduced, "CITY".
My intro for the "CITY" article whimsically posed the question of what if an aidoru-esque Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）and Michael Sembello from the 1980s had collaborated. I answered my rhetorical query with "CITY". I'll be doing the same over here. What if Furihata channeled all sorts of melodic goodness from Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）and Taeko Ohnuki/Ryuichi Sakamoto（大貫妙子・坂本龍一）of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Well, I think "Cinderella Time" may be the result.
"Cinderella Time" is actually the brainchild of Furihata on lyrics and Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）on music but there is that dramatic longing of a Yuming（ユーミン）pop tune from that period of time that I hear in this one along with the some of the synthpop blippity-bloppity quirks and chord shifts which I've also come across in the Ohnuki and Sakamoto collaborations. Furihata's lyrics basically tell the age-old tale from Cinderella's vantage point if she were Japanese and living in an old danchi in Takashimadaira. "Cinderella Time" doesn't break any molds but it's still an interesting song to listen to considering the influences.
Looks like with the Ai Furihata（降幡愛）songs that I have made my acquaintance with so far, I've gotten some good nostalgic dollops of the 1980s. For example, there is the pumping "CITY" with its Vaporwave aesthetics and then the interesting Steely Dan/kayohybrid of "Purple Eye Shadow"（パープルアイシャドウ）. Both are indeed cool and gleaming.
The 80s...and the 60s are still with us and Furihata in song and video respectively through her limited-release single "AXIOM" which came out this year in April. With Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）behind the music and Furihata taking care of the lyrics, this time "AXIOM" decides to go with some Buggles-like spacey synthpop. "AXIOM" is also rather gleaming but instead of cool, there's more of that playful perkiness involved and I think there's even a feeling of an anthemic feeling as if Axiom was an actual superhero.
The music video definitely plays up the perkiness factor since it looks like Furihata is dreaming up a sequence that must have occurred after she had overindulged at the buffet line at Red Lobster. I'd say that the future for the singer must be what folks in the mid-20th century had assumed was the future as Furihata takes on the guise of a dolled-up 1960s housewife complete with bouffant hairdo before switching to a space girl straight from a B-grade sci-fi movie from the same decade.
Last summer, I introduced an intriguing song, "CITY", by singer/seiyuu Ai Furihata（降幡愛）from the group Aqours who has had her own solo outings since last year. "CITY" just had this neo-City Pop vibe and maybe even more prominently, just this very 80s feeling about it.
"Purple Eye Shadow" is the lead track from Furihata's 2nd mini-album, "Makeup"（メイクアップ）, which was released in December 2020, and as with "CITY", Furihata was responsible for the lyrics while Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）came up with the music. Also, the video about a love triangle has that similar Vaporwave sheen to it.
With "CITY", I compared it to songs such as Michael Sembello's"Maniac" from the "Flashdance" soundtrack and Olivia Newton-John's"Twist of Fate" (whose video has the singer putting on a pound of lipstick). However, with the slightly haunting "Purple Eye Shadow", I don't think that there is as much of a City Pop sound although the 80s are still alive and well in the song. Accompanying Furihata's vocals, which still remarkably resemble those of Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）, is a battery of synth-horns with some interesting blasts and descending riffs. Not the melody itself but the use of those horns reminds me a bit of the arrangement behind Dionne Warwick's"Heartbreaker" from 1982, and I think some of the melodic exploration which is going on in the song has me thinking of Chicago or Steely Dan in small parts. Just maybe, there is perhaps even some Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）from that very decade among the notes.
As for the cast in the video, the young lady is played by actress/TV personality Ayano Kudo（工藤綾乃）, and the guys are actors Shun Nishime（西銘駿）and Yuuya Uno（宇野結也）.
Well, my age-old question has finally been answered. What if an aidoru-esque Midori Karashima（辛島美登里）and Michael Sembello from the 1980s collaborated?
Yes, rather tongue-in-cheek for a Tuesday but that's the favourable impression that I got when I first saw "CITY", a track from the mini-album "Moonrise" which isn't even due to be released until late September 2020. The singer behind it is Ai Furihata（降幡愛）who is also a seiyuu hailing from Nagano Prefecture.
Furihata wrote the lyrics with Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）providing the music. That melody sounds so much like early 1980s Billboard-friendly pop that I felt like Honma must have been inspired by Sembello's "Maniac" from the immensely popular "Flashdance" soundtrack or maybe even Oliva Newton-John's "Twist of Fate" hit single. As for lyricist-singer Furihata, a good chunk of her voice reminds me a lot of singer-songwriter Karashima because of that nasality. Then, there's that music video which pretty much yells out "I LOVE VAPORWAVE!".
Along with her work on anime, I also found out that Furihata is also a member of the anime aidoru group Aqours found in "Love Live! Sunshine!!".Shuka Saito（斉藤朱夏）, who I wrote about recently, is also a member.
