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.
Although I knew of it, I never read the original manga of "Inuyasha"（犬夜叉）or watched its various anime adaptations throughout the 2000s. I only knew about it as some sort of sword-and-sorcery epic.
Just within the last hour, I encountered a tweet where the person, to their delight, had seen the members of the band Do As Infinity come back together to perform. The band lasted between 1999 and 2005 in its initial run and then started a new run from 2008 according to J-Wiki.
Remembering that KKP still has a few DAI entries including my last one dating back to late 2019 for their 2001 8th single"Tooku made"（遠くまで）, I decided to see if I could dig up another one of the band's songs. I was able to track down their 18th single from December 2004, "Rakuen"(Paradise), which was used as the theme song for one of those "Inuyasha" movies, "Inuyasha ~ Guren no Houraijima"（犬夜叉 紅蓮の蓬莱島...Inuyasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island）that was released a couple of days shy of Christmas 2004. After listening to "Rakuen" a few times, I realized that it's been quite a while since I heard one of these contemplative pop/rock numbers from Japan. The song peaked at No. 2 on Oricon and went Gold. DAI guitarist and vocalist Ryo Owatari（大渡亮）was behind the lyrics while the entire band took credit for the composition.
On this blisteringly hot day, Canada is 159 years old. Happy Birthday to the Great White North! Personally, I'm trying to stay cool in my room with the decades-old electric fan helping me out.
Of course, being a national holiday and all, Reminiscings of Youth will be having a special article today (along with the regular weekly one tomorrow) to commemorate Canada Day. Glad to read that Ottawa-born singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn (pronounced KOH-bərn...like James Coburn) is with us at the age of 81. Forty-two years ago in 1984, he released his "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" which became a Top 40 hit here and a long resident on the music video charts on television. There were some contrasts here: 1) the contrast of young teens finding fresh new love during a time when the spectre of the Cold War was still looming large and 2) Cockburn's button-down and soothing pop-rock arrangement meshed with a performance video of what I could describe as something quite avant-garde Cirque du Soleil.
In Canada, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" reached No. 24 on the RPM charts while on US Billboard, it peaked at No. 56.
Barenaked Ladies was a band born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. It's nicknamed Scarberia because of how desolate parts of it can look like during the winter (just look at the music video) but it also has a ton of restaurants of all nationalities that can keep people very happy and fed. Anyways, Barenaked Ladies was the same band behind the theme song for the long-running American sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", and they've been a bunch of good local boys who love to rock with a sense of humour. I first found out about them through a friend's car tape-cassette recorder when he was playing a compilation of their stuff which included their cover of "Lovers in a Dangerous Time".
It's a friendly, folksy and peppy take on Cockburn's original and watching Ed Robertson and the gang perform from the back of a pickup truck while it drives on the streets of Scarborough in the dead of winter is probably one of the most Canadian things I've ever posted on the blog. Their cover first appeared on the 1991 Cockburn tribute album "Kick at the Darkness" and it was released as the band's debut single in 1992.
The original song peaked on August 18th 1984, so why don't we see what was hitting the top of the Oricon charts a couple of days later? Let's go with a scattering of songs here with Nos. 5, 7 and 10.
A few years ago, I noted that the anime "Ojarumaru"（おじゃる丸）has a long-running list of theme songs to match its own longevity on television. It would seem that anyone who's anyone in the music industry has given their contribution to the purin-loving title character. Eclectic rock diva Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）is one of those people.
Well, a few weeks ago, I saw enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）provide his own song to this current season of "Ojarumaru", and though Hikawa has been dabbling into other genres over the years, he has come back to his genre roots for this one. His "Tabi de Gozansu Ojarumaru" (It's a Journey, Ojarumaru) is a spritely old-school enka tune with a nice amount of brass. Written by Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）and composed by Hideo Mizumori（水森英夫）, the song takes me back when Hikawa began his career as the Boy Prince of Enka.
Going back to my youth, I remember those over-and-over reruns of "Uchuu Senkan Yamato"（宇宙戦艦ヤマト...Space Cruiser Yamato）, aka "Star Blazers" outside of Japan, with the original seasons of the Iscandar mission and the Comet Empire saga. That penultimate episode of the latter season when it looked like the evil Prince Zoldar and his empire finally crumbled only to reveal a Super Star Destroyer filled with absolute revenge arguably represented one of the greatest anime cliffhangers.
Of course, sticking with the "Star Blazers" line, the finale had to wrap up some loose threads along with the main one involving the Comet Empire. What happens to the crew of the Argo and what of helmsman Mark Venture who supposedly gave up his life in defense of the ship a few episodes earlier? And what of Trelaina of Telazart, the sylph-like whistleblower who began the entire story and ended up falling for Mark?
Well, in the original "Yamato" series, Trelaina was actually named Teresa which I guess sounded exotic enough for Japanese viewers (although the late singer Teresa Teng was already well-known in Japan), although folks in North America must have wondered whether if the lass had sisters named Mabel and Connie. Anyways, along with the iconic Comet Empire theme done by the legendary composer Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, another constant musical piece in the second season was Teresa's own theme titled "Teresa no Tameiki"(Teresa's Sighs).
The song as I remember it was a sad and lonely one for Teresa and even her relationship with Mark was all too brief before she seemingly had to make the ultimate sacrifice for Earth. On Christmas Day1978, Miyagawa released a concept album connected with "Yamato" titled "Fumetsu no Uchuu Senkan Yamato: New Disco Arrange"（不滅の宇宙戦艦ヤマト ニュー・ディスコ・アレンジ...The Indestructible Space Cruiser Yamato: New Disco Arrangement） where some of those familiar tracks from the series received some more syncopated oomph. I don't think the treatment given to "Teresa no Tameiki" is particularly disco but it's more of a mild City Pop thing with some of that haunting voice which was common to a fair number of Miyagawa pieces in anime. Had to laugh a little at the name of the group performing the tracks: Yamato Discotheque Orchestra.
We've had a few people in the music industry on both sides of the Pacific pass away in the last few weeks. However, I'm surprised to hear of a familiar face and name who has also left this mortal coil. TV personality, actor and former WBC Lightweight champion Guts Ishimatsu（ガッツ 石松）passed away on June 2nd at the age of 76 from pneumonia. As with a lot of people in Japan who knew of him, I was shocked since, although my exposure to Japanese television is rather limited now, I'd had no idea that Ishimatsu was even ill.
I didn't know anything about his boxing career but I got to know Ishimatsu as the amiable if seemingly slow-off-the-mark tarento on many variety shows (although when he was a color commentator on boxing broadcasts, he was sharp as a katana in his observations and assessments). I'm sure that a lot of folks in Japan were tickled pink to see him in a small role as one of the bad guys in Michael Douglas'"Black Rain". I noticed a lot of condolences beneath the above video, and I would also like to send my condolences to his family, friends and fans.
Guts, who was born Yuuji Suzuki（鈴木有二）in Tochigi Prefecture, was also the man who came up with what is called in Japanese, the Guts Pose, due to his special victory gesture that has been picked by many an athlete and pretty much anyone else in the nation who has won anything. Yumi's English Boot Camp below will give a Japanese explanation on the expression itself.
I wasn't quite sure how to pay tribute to Guts Ishimatsu. I was thinking about something from boxing-themed anime although I'm not a fan of the sub-genre itself. But I do remember one awkward and funny scene from the 2000 anime (the usual sax helped sell it) "Hajime no Ippo"（はじめの一歩...The First Step） which I'd wrongly assumed was a far older show from the animation style.
There were a couple of opening credits theme songs for the series, the first one being a third single"Under Star" by the rock band Shocking Lemon, released in December 2000. Not surprisingly, the song, which was written and composed by guitarist Hideki Taniuchi（谷内秀基）, has that rapid-fire jangly rock arrangement which comes to mind whenever I think of anime openers. The rest of the band consisted of vocalist Takahiko Ogino（荻野隆彦）, bassist Makoto Sakata（坂田誠）and drummer Toshiki Shimizu（清水俊樹）. "Under Star" was their major debut as a band although they started up in 1993. After four singles and three full albums, Shocking Lemon broke up in 2007.
You're getting the 2-for-1 deal today with singer-songwriter Senri Oe（大江千里）. Yup, two songs in one article...neither of which I have heard from him before.
First off, I was curious about how Oe when he was a pop star in the 1980s got his start since I've known him from the latter half of that decade and I've known him for his distinctive upbeat sound. Well, he made his debut in May 1983 with the single "Wallabee Nugi Sutete"(Kick Off Those Wallabees).
From Amazon
I think right from the start Oe has had that happy "Aw, gosh!" pop/rock style with "Wallabee Nugi Sutete" which struck me as being quite fast, and then I discovered that it's barely over three minutes. Couldn't ask for a poppier song. Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）arranged everything by the way.
Personally, I've never worn a pair of Wallabees before but they certainly look comfortable. However, Oe's encouraging the guys to take them off, ostensibly to have that beachside barefoot walk with the girls they like. "Wallabee Nugi Sutete" didn't seem to make it onto the Oricon charts but for those Oe fans, this should be part of their collection. The song was also included on the singer's debut album which came out the same month as the single "WAKU WAKU" and according to the J-Wiki article, "Wallabee" had some big guns in the recording studio such as bassist-songwriter Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）and drummer Jun Aoyama（青山純）.
Seeing the music video for the song, I'm convinced that I had seen it before decades ago when the Canadian music show "The New Music" did a special on the music of Japan. They showed a part of this video, specifically the part where Oe was walking on the audiotape in the middle of it.
I'd already had Oe's debut single in the backlog for a few weeks when I discovered that one of his later singles has become part of the "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ! 中村くん!!）ending theme family. His 14th single"Glory Days" gloriously finished off a nerve-racking Episode 10 of ever-tense Nakamura-kun waiting to get an autograph from his favourite manga author.
Oh, isn't that an adorable pair look for Nakamura and Hirose! Anyways, "Glory Days" was released in August 1988 and once again, Omura was there to arrange Oe's words and music. It was also a part of his 10th album "1234" which not only hit No. 6 on Oricon but was voted Best Album of the Year at the 3rd Annual Japan Gold Disk Awards.
Not to say that I'm an X-Man or anyone like that, but earlier today as I was entering my usual digestion-induced nap, I got a little spark in my head about whether there would be an obituary regarding someone in the music industry, and annually, there have been a few. As it turns out, less than an hour ago, I was watching the morning news on NHK and the report came out that veteran lyricist Jun Hashimoto had passed away on May 21st at the age of 86 due to cirrhosis.
Since I began this blog back in 2012, as someone who hadn't been too up on lyricists, arrangers and composers at the time, Hashimoto's name was one that I came across fairly often especially in the early years of KKP. And according to both J-Wiki and NHK, he had written approximately 2000 songs of which a little over 70 have been covered here. He worked with a number of composers during his career which lasted close to 60 years but it was his collaborations with the late Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）that produced a lot of those kayo kyoku hits.
Born on July 8th 1939, Hashimoto was born Junsuke Yoda（与田凖介 ）, the son of famed poet and children's book author Junichi Yoda（与田凖一）, in Tokyo. He started learning about lyric writing on his own while studying at Aoyama Gakuin University, and he eventually came under the wing of composer Koichi Sugiyama（すぎやまこういち）in 1961. Some years later in 1966, his first stint at lyrics which ended up as a record was "Kiiroi Lemon"（黄色いレモン...Yellow Lemon） by another Sugiyama protege, singer Koichi Fuji（藤浩一）who would later become Masato Shimon（子門真人）. It was also Tsutsumi's first stint at composing a record as well under Sugiyama's wing. Thus, the source of all those Hashimoto/Tsutsumi hits can be tracked back here.
Of course, a couple of years later, Hashimoto and Tsutsumi would pen their first evergreen kayo hit, "Blue Light Yokohama"（ブルーライト・ヨコハマ）by Ayumi Ishida（いしだあゆみ）.
The lights of the city are really beautiful, aren't they? Yokohama, Blue Light Yokohama The two of us are so happy
As always, those words of love Yokohama, Blue Light Yokohama Give those words to me
A year previously though, Hashimoto with Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets member and composer Tadao Inoue（井上忠夫）came up with "Blue Chateau"（ブルー・シャトウ）, arguably the Group Sounds band's most famous hit from 1967. In fact, NHK reported that Hashimoto was instrumental to the GS boom of those late 1960s.
Surrounded by the woods and the springs There quietly sleeps the Blue Chateau You are waiting for me The dark and lonely Blue Chateau
Another Group Sounds hit that Hashimoto wrote was "Amairo no Kami no Otome"（亜麻色の髪の少女）by The Village Singers (ヴィレッジ・シンガーズ) in 1968 with his mentor and composer Sugiyama behind the melody.
The wind gently folds the long flaxen hair The girl holds the white bouquet to her chest As she comes down the hill as if with wings To her kind boyfriend she goes Her singing voice cheerful because she's in love
Even with the end of the Group Sounds period in the early 1970s, Hashimoto would continue to pen the hits including the popular duet song "Canada Kara no Tegami"(カナダからの手紙）in 1978 with Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃） , who also composed it, and Yoko Hatanaka（畑中葉子）. Yeah, to think I pummeled the heck out of that one at karaoke, and it was a Hashimoto classic!
Love letter from Canada If by chance, we were together How much fun we would have on this trip Love letter from Canada
Hashimoto and Hirao would work together again soon after and this time, it would be for the theme song of one of the most famous anime series ever created, "Ginga Tetsudo 999"（銀河鉄道999）as sung mightily by Isao Sasaki（ささきいさお）.
The train comes out of the darkness into the sea of light It's the endless universe where dreams scatter Let's cross the bridge of stars People will always search for happiness As if they were voyagers
My last entry here involves Hashimoto's dalliance with City Pop, and I'm not sure how far down the rabbit hole he went but he and Tsutsumi worked together here as well to make Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美)"Street Dancer" in 1980.
As I keep my sunglasses on I gaze at the flow of time Weekend The neon at noon, the glittering streets Stuffing my face with a hamburger Seeking the sprit of youth Together
Of course, this article isn't anywhere near as comprehensive as I would like it to be. However, I did want to pay homage to the man in some fashion and hopefully some of you can take a look at the other articles of songs that Hashimoto wrote over his decades in the music business. My condolences to his family, friends, fans and many fellow songwriters in the industry.
I remember when I first heard "Omoide ga Ippai" (Full of Memories) by the folk-pop duo H2O on an episode of "Sounds of Japan" on CHIN-FM decades ago. Not having known about its status as the first ending theme for the 1983 anime "Miyuki"（みゆき）, I found it a splendid wistful ballad. Years later, the 3rd-year homeroom teachers of the school that I had taught during my time on the JET Programme sang the song for the soon-to-be graduates. Not a dry eye in the room. And I've learned that "Omoide ga Ippai" has been a stalwart song for Japanese graduations.
Well, commenter Brian Mitchell asked me earlier about some of the cover versions and not surprisingly, considering how beloved and sentimental "Omoide ga Ippai" has become since the early 1980s, the list of singers who have given their own versions of the ballad reads like a Santa Claus list. At Brian's request, I went over three of those covers.
The first one here is by actress and singer Mikuni Shimokawa（下川みくに）, and although she's only had one role as an anime seiyuu, she often sings her fair share of anison. But in this case, she did cover "Omoide ga Ippai" via her December 2003"Review ~ Shimokawa Mikuni Seishun Anison Cover Album"（Review 〜下川みくに青春アニソンカバーアルバム〜）. Her take is an even breezier and languid take on the anison classic.
MINMI is a singer that I have mentioned on KKP before when she collaborated with m-flo for the dance hall-friendly "Lotta Love". However, she's regularly a reggae singer and that's the genre which is powering her cover of "Omoide ga Ippai" which is a track on her August 2011 album "The Heart Song Collection" which is filled with tunes that she enjoyed as a teenager.
Nao Toyama（東山奈央）is a seiyuu and singer who's shown up on the blog a number of times in the past and she sings "Omoide ga Ippai" for the second in the series of anime character albums for the anime "Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai"（神のみぞ知るセカイ...The World God Only Knows） which was released in 2014. Under her character of Kanon Nakagawa（中川かのん）, she sings the song under a shoegaze and pop arrangement.
Hello, J-Canuck here. I'd like to welcome Rocket Brown to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" as a new contributor to the blog. For those among the City Pop fandom, Rocket's been known for years for providing his thoughts on the music via his "Come Along Radio" broadcasts, some of which I've been honoured to be invited to over the past number of years. He's been a good friend and fellow City Pop fan, so right after the rocket photo below, he'll take over with his first article.
Sometime in high school, I became disillusioned with modern movies. They just weren’t capturing my attention in a way that sparked my imagination anymore. One day, after spending my entire Japanese language class discussing Studio Ghibli films, I decided to look into Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography and discovered that he had directed a Lupin III movie called The Castle of Cagliostro.
After sitting down and watching the movie, I was hooked. The comedy, the action, the fun and witty dialogue — always watch the Manga dub if you can — all pulled me in. But what captivated me the most was the music, especially the main theme song, Fire Treasure (炎のたからもの).
It’s no secret that legendary jazz composer Yuji Ohno (大野雄二) practically defined the musical identity of Lupin III. But what makes this particular theme so special is that it isn’t bombastic like the big band sound of “Lupin ’89,” nor does it have the exploitation-style funk of the 1979 theme. Instead, it’s a nostalgic ballad sung by Toshie Kihara (木原敏恵), with lyrics by Jun Hashimoto.
Much like the movie itself, “Fire Treasure” embodies a feeling of longing for adventure and romance. I can’t think of another song in the Lupin III canon that captures the same whimsical sense of mystery this song evokes. Ohno would try to recapture that feeling in the 2019 film Lupin III: The First — Lupin’s first 3D CGI movie — with the song “GIFT” featuring Lyn Inaizumi (稲泉りん). It’s a beautiful song in its own right, but it just doesn’t hit the same way.
“Fire Treasure” is truly lightning in a bottle and a showcase of Yuji Ohno’s genius. Most people only know him for his LupinIII music, but he did so much more. As J-Cannuck once put it, Ohno was essentially the Japanese Henry Mancini, composing iconic themes and soundtracks for various television and film productions such as Proof of the Man andDai Gekitō Mad Police ’80.
Yuji Ohno would pass away in his sleep on May 4, 2026, but he left behind an incredible legacy of music for the world to enjoy. And much like Lupin himself, he stole our hearts.
Although I never saw either of them during their original airtime, I had heard of James Corden's"Carpool Karaoke" and the game show "Cash Cab".
In either case, it's quite the elevation in being driven home. Sing your favourite songs or win some good hard money although I believe the former situation only invites celebrities.
That's the image I got on watching the music video for Hikaru Utada's（宇多田ヒカル）latest single, "PAPPAPARADISE". They have got to be the most cheerful taxi driver on Earth and I'm not sure which area is being represented here: Tokyo or her native New York City. I only see Hikaru taking care of Japanese fares and yet the singer-songwriter is wearing street clothes behind the wheel which is verboten in Japan's taxis. But that's not the point. The amazing thing is that Hikaru is greatly enjoying life and entertaining the customers through their song which was released on May 6th. It's an upbeat tune with a bit of 1950s music, doo-wop and even some Steely Dan horns in there.
And it was after viewing the music video that I found out that "PAPPARADISE" is being used as the latest ending theme for the long-running anime "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）. So, Utada joins folks such as B.B. Queens, Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）and Kahimi Karie（カヒミカリィ） on that august list.
Earlier today, I received word from commenter and contributor Fireminer that musician and composer/arranger Yuji Ohno had passed away on May 4th from natural causes at the age of 84 according to newspaper reports just coming out today.
Whenever I heard his name, the music that automatically flowed through my head was jazz...whiskey-on-the-rocks jazz with lots of pizzazz. And of course, that means his iconic theme from the anime "Lupin The 3rd"（ルパン三世）comes pounding to mind. There have been a variety of versions of that theme but at the core of them all is a song that was just perfectly made for the bumbling if charming thief.
Born on May 30th 1941 in the city of Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, he started playing the piano during elementary school and formed his own unit in high school while schooling himself on the joys of jazz music. He became a member of Keio University's Light Music Society, the school's big band of the genre while studying in the Faculty of Law. His first work for the public came out in 1966 for a record featuring singer/actor Yuzo Kayama（加山雄三）.
Sometime in the early 1970s, Ohno opted to take a break from piano playing and focus on composition. His first album "Sound Adventure Act.1" came out in 1975 and the above video has the whole album with the first track being the propulsive "Too High".
Ohno would create his brand of exciting music which took in disco, City Pop and jazz among other genres, and in the same year as "Sound Adventure Act. 1", he was also responsible for making most of the tracks on Hatsumi Shibata's（しばたはつみ）2nd album, "Singer Lady", including the title track whose lyrics were created by Takahiro or Masahiro Takeda（武田全弘）. Evidently, Shibata wanted some sort of melodic calling card for herself and Ohno provided one that pretty much bashed down the door.
The J-Wiki article for Ohno features a long list of clients who he whipped up songs for, ranging from Hi-Fi Set（ハイファイセット）and Circus（サーカス）to SMAP and Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）. He was also in the business of making music for not only singers but also for commercials, TV soundtracks and anime. For example, the aforementioned Hi-Fi Set got to record one of his compositions "America Monogatari"（あめりか物語）in 1978 which was used for a Japan Air Lines campaign.
One of his TV works was the opening theme for "Daigekito Mad Police '80"（大激闘マッドポリス'80）under the collaborative name of You & Explosion Band. It's a kickass tune to match a kickass special police squad. All I can say is that the horns should have been paid time-and-a-half for their work here.
For all of his swaggering and staggering jazz, Ohno probably surprised quite a few people including myself when he composed the tenderhearted "Chiisana Tabi" (小さな旅）for NHK's long-running documentary travelogue series. Here, Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）provided a sung version of the song for her album "Wa Ga Ma Ma" in 1986.
As for one more entry here, I only found out about this in the last few minutes, but apparently Ohno also provided his own tribute to the American cop series "CHiPs" through a 1981 album which included a really disco take on the original theme by John Parker (in fact, I'd probably say it sounds closer to Alan Silvestri's handling of the theme from Season 2 onwards). I didn't watch too much of the series compared to other cop shows but I recall the theme being pretty darn cool.
We lost one of the big guns in Japanese pop composition today. My condolences go to Ohno's family, friends and many fans out there. Play your "Lupin III" theme today if you've got it.
Looks like Episode 7 of "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ!中村くん!!...Go for It, Nakamura!）is now in the record books. This time, it used the well-worn anime plot device of having the main characters go through a scary place...and for this episode, it was the school after dark. From the few excerpts available, it appears that Nakamura-kun was able to turn the tables on good ol' Hirose for once.
As has been the case with every episode, the ending theme for Episode 7 was again another throwback to the past. Furthermore, as was the case with Episode 4's ender, Barbee Boys'"Makeru mon ka"（負けるもんか）, this one is also a song that I had never heard before.
For one thing, it's a heavy metal tune and I don't really listen to the genre. Mind you, Seikima II（聖飢魔II）does have representation on KKP via its "EL-DO-RA-DO" and I'm going to add its second entry here with "Rouningyo no Yakata" (House of Wax) which supposedly ended Episode 7, and yeah, why not end this scare-themed entry with a song titled after a famous horror movie from the past?
Released as Seikima II's debut single in April 1986, the former Demon Kogure（デーモン小暮） plays his role perfectly as one of Satan's best right down to the delivery of his terrifying warnings. I have to say that his singing voice is quite pure...almost angelic, but don't tell him that. The single managed to reach No. 17 on Oricon. Words and music were provided by Damian Hamada（ダミアン浜田）.
To continue to show that Demon Kogure now Demon Kakka（デーモン閣下）is really a fairly mellow guy, here is his interview with British talk show host Jonathan Ross.
Wow! I can actually say that this is a trailer that reveals nothing of the movie itself. I actually caught "House of Wax" at the theatre when it was given a re-release during my university years.
I've heard of the manga "What's Michael?" before and apparently it deals with the adventures of a rather unique portly cat whose name is not Garfield. But that's pretty much all of it. I only heard recently that there was even an anime done between 1988 and 1989.
Aidoru and tarento Mami Yamase（山瀬まみ）was given the assignment to sing the two sets of opening and ending themes for "What's Michael?". The first of these songs that I encountered was the first ending theme "Hoshizora no Etranger"(Starry Sky Stranger) that was written by Ben Uozumi（魚住勉）and composed/arranged by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）. Having a happy Eurobeat approach, Yamase once again shows that her singing voice is just delightful and very different from the somewhat strangulated spoken voice she used on screen for most of her time on television.
"Hoshizora no Etranger" was released as Yamase's 8th single in May 1988. On the B-side was the first opening theme for the anime, "Michael Ondo"(The Michael Folk Song) which was created by Uozumi and Makaino once again. Given a contemporized and especially playful version of a Japanese folk song arrangement, Yamase demonstrates a mixture of her singing voice and that spoken voice (or a lighter version of it).
Yes, along with the fact that May the 4th is Greenery Day in Japan, it's May the 4th as Star Wars Day everywhere on the planet. I figure that if I'm going to commemorate Greenery Day, then why not this pop cultural holiday as well. The opening scene from "A New Hope" will always be one to awe the heck out of me. I'm sure that the first audiences to see the movie back on May 25th 1977 had eyes and mouths fully agape at the sight of the Imperial Star Destroyer chasing and capturing the Rebel Blockade Runner over Tatooine.
But let's focus on this day, May the 4th. I figure that it might be time to look at a few birthdays of Japanese singers. Cue "Entertainment Tonight" theme!👉
Well, that was quite the happy ending sequence for Episode 4 of "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ!中村くん!!...Go for It, Nakamura!）as you can see above. Nakamura saves the love of his life, Hirose, from some photography-crazed punks and he's celebrating his win at home. Meanwhile, the ending theme cavalcade of oldies continues apace and cheerfully for fans. Episode 5 had quite the explosion of delight with an old City Pop fave, Yasuha's（泰葉）"Fly-Day Chinatown"(フライディ・チャイナタウン).
As was the case with Kenji Ozawa（小沢健二）& Scha Dara Parr's"Kon'ya wa Boogie Back"（今夜はブギー・バック）which was the ender for Episode 3, Barbee Boys'"Makeru mon ka"(Like Hell I'm Giving In), which was Nakamura's celebratory tune at the end of Episode 4, is also a song that I hadn't covered on the blog or heard at all. I was never all that much of a Barbee Boys fan although we do have a couple of their songs on KKP and up to now, my impression has been that the band loved to create songs showing conflict of all sorts whether it be internal or external.
"Makeru mon ka" was released as Barbee Boys' 5th single in April 1986 and as soon as I heard it, I knew it was a signature Barbee Boys song with those sparkly guitars, soprano saxophone and Kyoko's（杏子）vocals. Written and composed by band guitarist Tomotaka Imamichi（いまみちともたか）, it's about a guy's battle with himself about how to handle the potential consequences of his very assertive girlfriend wanting to drop by his place late at night. Methinks that the angel and devil on his two shoulders are having an Avengers level of fighting.
That's quite the music video for "Makeru mon ka" as well. There's nothing like ancient Soviet-era propaganda showing the populace actually having fun to attract viewers. Anyways, the song peaked at No. .47 on Oricon, and it was a track on Barbee Boys' 2nd album "Freebee" from November 1985. It hit No. 18.
As I mentioned last night in the latest Oricon Singles list article, I had been outside for a good chunk of the day yesterday and that was because I went down to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Now, I'm not a huge art guy but this was only my second time there and the last time I was at the AGO was 50 years ago back in 1976 when I was an elementary school student. So I figured that it was time for another visit.
I took my congenial walk through the various rooms and spaces and I also encountered good ol' Henry Moore's sculptures. For me, the AGO is Moore and Moore is the AGO since one of his bronze works once greeted anyone who arrived at the gallery. One of the few things that I remember from the field trip with my school over to the AGO was being separated into pairs with each pair given a huge dark fabric bag for which one partner would enter and make some sort of Henry Moore-esque shape under the direction of the other partner. Considering my partner's name was Nancy, I was VERY careful about not touching her in the wrong places but luckily, she was a good sport. Not sure if such an activity would be allowed today but those were the 70s for you.
The one exhibit I was keen on seeing was famous Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room. She's the artist who's had the real big thing for polka dots and I was a little disappointed that the room was the only example of her works that I could experience aside from one other large mural around the corner. Regardless, I had to leave my coat and bag outside of the IMR but I could take my camera in there and I was given one minute alone to contemplate the environment. Nope, no polka dots but there were plenty of shiny round things to see.
Speaking of polka dots...and yes, there is a song here...I have Polkadot Stingray's latest which happens to be another snazzy jazzy number titled "Sakasama" (Upside Down). For some reason, this anime season has been filling up with these danceable (at least, in one's room) theme tunes. I just wrote about Penthouse's "Ichi, Ni, San"（一二三）for the show "Mairimashita! Iruma-kun"（魔入りました!入間くん...Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun）, and now this is "Sakasama" which ends each episode of the anime adaptation of the manga "Koori no Jouheki"（氷の城壁...The Ramparts of Ice） which seems to be another show about a student slowly coming out of one's shell. I will never turn my head away from an intrepid Big Band swing thing. There are a few more Polkdadot Stingray songs on KKP starting with T-cat's article on "Telecaster Stripe" (テレキャスター･ストライプ) from about nine years ago.
Just one last thing about my trip to the art gallery. My lunch happened to be a refrigerated turkey-and-havarti croissant. With the chai latte, the whole thing cost me almost as much as my general admission to the AGO! Well, at least, it was good and filling. And the visit was also a pleasant one. If any of my art-inclined friends ever came to Toronto, I would take them there.
Looks like the good times are still rolling with "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ!中村くん!!...Go for It, Nakamura!）with not just the main show but also with the ending credit sequences which include the songs of yesteryear (specifically, those of the Showa and Heisei eras). We've already gotten Kozo Murashita's（村下孝蔵）"Hatsukoi"(初恋）and Da Bubblegum Brothers' "Won't Be Long" for Episodes 1 and 2 respectively.
The ending of Episode 3 has gone into the hip-hop field this time apparently, so the target song here is "Kon'ya wa Boogie Back" (Tonight is Boogie Back) which was the March 1994 7th single for hip-hop group Scha Dara Parr with Kenji Ozawa（小沢健二）, formerly of Flipper's Guitar. It was pretty interesting hearing Ozawa going rap but then again, I've learned that he's tried all sorts of genres including jazz and of course, Shibuya-kei when he was with Flipper's Guitar.
Incidentally, there are two versions of "Boogie Back": the "smooth rap" and the "nice vocal" takes of which the former has Scha Dara Parr taking the lead while the latter has Ozawa behind the mike most of the time.
The thing is that the first time I ever listened to "Kon'ya wa Boogie Back", it was not through the original artists. It was actually listening to some musical guests covering the song on the late-night Saturday music variety show "Love Love Aishiteiru" (Love Love 愛している....Love Love I Love You） hosted by the Kinki Kids. At the time, I hadn't heard a whole lot of Japanese rap although we were just on the cusp of a big J-R&B boom from the late 1990s, so I wanted to hear the original with Ozawa and Scha Dara Parr.
"Boogie Back" was written and composed by Ozawa and the three members of Scha Dara Parr: Bose, Ani and Shinco. It peaked at No. 15 on Oricon (selling over half a million copies), and it looks like it has had plenty of covers done over the last thirty years. The song also samples En Vogue's "Give It Up, Turn It Loose" from 1992.
Apparently, the end of Episode 4 features a song by The Barbee Boys that I hadn't experienced before. That'll get its due then.
I'm not sure how the Spring 2026 season for anime has been accepted by fans so far, but I have to say that in terms of handling the theme songs, there have been some interesting and fun choices. "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ!中村くん!!...Go for It, Nakamura!）not only has funkster Yasuyuki Okamura（岡村靖幸）back on the dance floor but it's also gone for bringing back the oldies for each ending. Then there is Keisuke Kuwata's（桑田佳祐）mix of his signature style and some European pizzazz for his contribution to "Akane-banashi"（あかね噺...Akane's Story）.
Then we have the fourth season of the anime adaptation of the fantasy manga "Mairimashita! Iruma-kun"（魔入りました!入間くん...Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun）. To be honest, I've never seen this in either format but judging from the opening credit sequence and the theme song, they sure make it enticing. I could imagine the first few opening sequences being fairly serious and then with this one, the producers opted to have the characters go for some fun instead.
And that is because of "Ichi, Ni, San"(One, Two, Three) by the City Soul band Penthouse. I've already posted a few articles on them and they really go down to town with this one which was released as their latest single earlier this month. Guitarist Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）was the composer of the snazzy jazzy melody and he shares co-writing credits with bassist Takuma Ohara（大原拓真）. Namioka and co-vocalist Maho Oshima（大島真帆）threaten to blow the roof off the house here.
A few days ago, I wrote about Yasuyuki Okamura & Kento Nakajima's"Shunpatsuteki ni Koi Shiyou"（瞬発的に恋しよう）, the opening theme for the currently running anime "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ!中村くん!!...Go for It, Nakamura!）. Well, in an interesting parallel, there's another case of a stylish anime this season whose opening theme is sung by another Japanese music veteran. And like Okamura, this guy also recorded another anison several years ago.
"Akane-banashi"（あかね噺...Akane's Story） is a tale of a young woman who decides to go through the trials and tribulations in becoming a top-grade rakugo storyteller. The only anime that I've seen with a rakugo theme has been "Joshiraku"（じょしらく....Girls In Rakugo) from over a decade ago which is a Seinfeld-esque comedy. I've got a feeling that "Akane-banashi" is probably a whole lot more serious.
But as for that opening theme, singer-songwriter and Southern All Stars leader/vocalist Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）is the man behind "Hitotarashi" which is his 4th digital single that was released a few days ago. The CD version will apparently come out at the end of June. I was wondering why the title has been illustrated in both its kanji and hiragana forms, and then I looked up the definitions for "Hitotarashi" and discovered something interesting. One meaning is "someone of respect" and "charismatic person", while another is "con-man" or "scammer". Considering what I've read of the synopsis of "Akane-banashi", this could be rather significant.
In any case, Kuwata is still living life large at the age of 70, and he's recorded "Hitotarashi" as this brisk flighty number which feels like the song itself is on the lam from someone or something. It's got the usual Kuwata/SAS twang in the arrangement but at the same time, there is something that sounds like an accordion which reminds me of the French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin since I am thinking about those two definitions of the song title. It was easy for me to identify Kuwata's wife and fellow SAS member Yuko Hara（原由子）as one of the backing vocals, and I read that Makoto Saito（斎藤誠）was both on the electric and acoustic guitars.
I think it may have been commenter Brian who recently reminded me of anime's favourite boarding house "Maison Ikkoku"（めぞん一刻）by stating that it had celebrated a recent anniversary. And sure enough, we're all here again admiring Kyoko the boarding house manager. But I come here through a rather coincidental route. Yesterday, I was delighted to find out that one of the new anime for Spring 2026, "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ!中村くん!!...Go for It, Nakamura!）, has adopted the policy of using some of the Showa and Heisei Era hits to end each episode, and the ending theme for Episode 1 was Kozo Murashita's（村下孝蔵）wonderful "Hatsukoi"（初恋）. Let it make a resurgence, I say!
Well, I've only just discovered that another Murashita single had become the final opening theme for "Maison Ikkoku". I've heard of his September 1987 12th single"Hidamari" (Sunny Spot) but only as something that I probably listened to for the first time on "Sounds of Japan" decades ago. I didn't know of the anime's connection with the song but now I recognize it as being part of the "Maison Ikkoku" family along with Yuki Saito's（斉藤由貴）upbeat "Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa"（悲しみよこんにちは）and Anzen Chitai's（安全地帯）mysterious "Suki sa"（好きさ）.
I figure that if anime fans can enjoy the fruits of "Hatsukoi", then why not lead them to "Hidamari", the opening theme for this classic show of the 1980s? Murashita had been known as a singer-songwriter who flitted between folk and pop with ease, but the really skippy "Hidamari" is definitely in the latter genre as his lyrics talk about one fellow mightily pining for that young lady. Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）was behind its arrangement as it hit No. 61 on Oricon.
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