Arashi -- Five

By Japanese Station via Wikimedia Commons

In the last few days, one of the commenters informed me that Arashi（嵐）was going to have their final concert at Tokyo Dome on May 30th...which they did, and I'm sure it was a whopper with plenty of cheering and weeping fans.

My somewhat befuddled response was: Wait! They were still together?!

OK, my apologies to Arashi fans everywhere, but I'd thought that the group disbanded back in 2021 with a fair bit of pomp and circumstance including a final performance on the Kohaku Utagassen. But as it turns out, I misinterpreted the announcement from Arashi back then. Back then, the guys had actually opted for a hiatus and not a permanent breakup. Well, the permanent breakup was sealed last night. I had a regular Wednesday night student at my final school who was a huge Masaki Aiba fan. I can only imagine the lengths she went to secure a ticket and get all glammed up for the final concert.

When it comes to some of the (former) Johnny's Entertainment groups over the years, I had placed descriptors on them. The Tanokin Trio（たのきんトリオ）of Masahiko Kondo（近藤真彦）, Toshihiko Tahara（田原俊彦）and Yoshio Nomura（野村義男）from the 1980s were the cheeky high schoolers while Hikaru Genji（光GENJI ）was all about the roller skates. SMAP was a group I saw as being the Voltron of the Johnny's mountain (each member with their own distinct personality and characteristics joining together to become this entertainment colossus in Japan) 

But Arashi was the group that followed SMAP at the peak, and I saw them as being the quintet of good buddies who loved to hang out together not only at work but also during their precious free time. And that's the vibe I got from their final single "Five" which came out in March. It's an upbeat and satisfying coda to their 59-strong list of singles. It sounds...for the lack of a better term...just all-so-very Arashi and the music video, which seems to have been partly filmed in 1970s Kodak memories colour filters with some Beatles-esque silliness thrown in, shows Ohno and the guys looking rested and ready for the next step forward in their professional and personal lives while riding a bus that looks to have been inspired by the Partridge Family.

"Five" was created by songwriters HIKARI and Tomoki Ishizuka（石塚知生）. It has hit No. 1 on Oricon Streaming. All my good wishes go to Satoshi Ohno（大野智）, Sho Sakurai（櫻井翔）, Masaki Aiba（相葉雅紀）, Kazunari Ninomiya（二宮和也）and Jun Matsumoto（松本潤）, especially to leader Ohno who I hope will be able to catch tons of fish and make those art gallery-fresh paintings now. However, I am wondering whether Arashi can be tempted to make one more trip to the NHK Shibuya stage on New Year's Eve. 

Meanwhile, you can get really nostalgic by looking at the article I wrote for Arashi's debut single "A-RA-SHI" back in 2013.

Storm Songs

 

I'd like to interrupt this broadcast of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for a weather announcement. Toronto is currently being pummeled with a foot of snow with the temperature at around -14 degrees Celsius with a wind chill factor of -25. Autos are skidding off the roads and a lot of institutions are closing due to the weather (including schools; yay, Snow Day!😊). It'll probably be one of the rare days that I don't step out of the house, period.

But hey, it's January in my hometown and this sort of stuff is expected. And I've decided to put up an emergency Author's Picks based on storms.

(1958) Yujiro Ishihara -- Arashi wo Yobu Otoko (嵐を呼ぶ男）

(1979) Tatsuro Yamashita -- Storm

(1982) Taeko Ohnuki -- Tsumuji Kaze （つむじ風）

(1984) Yumi Matsutoya -- Blizzard

(1999) Arashi -- A-RA-SHI

Arashi -- Wild at Heart（ワイルド アット ハート）

 

A couple of folks contacted me over the past few days to inform me that the band Arashi（嵐）was going to end their activities as the popular Johnny's Entertainment/STARTO group after a final tour in 2026. I'd found out myself a little earlier on NHK News. Still, that was news to me since I'd thought that they pulled the curtains on their collective career at the end of 2020! But it's all about semantics here. It was merely mentioned that Arashi was going to suspend activities at the end of 2020, meaning that they could get back together for something or other.

It also didn't help that I've barely seen any of the guys since 2020. In fact, I only saw one Arashi member for the first time in years on TV recently. Kazunari Ninomiya（二宮和也）had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in a flashback as the long-dead father of one of the main characters in the current NHK morning serial drama "Anpan"（あんぱん）. Frankly, I thought that leader Satoshi Ono（大野智）had long gone into painting and/or fishing, his two hobbies.

Fireminer, one of the guys who contacted me and a regular commenter, suggested that I could find a song by theirs to talk about, and luckily enough, I came across the dynamic "Wild at Heart" which was Arashi's 37th single from March 2012. In the music video, not only did they put on the disco suits but they were also given the rotating stand in a large room treatment. It seems that a lot of Japanese music videos liked to utilize that environment for a while. Soluna, Chris Janey and Junior Jokinen were responsible for the song which reached No. 1 on Oricon and ended up as the No. 6 single of the year, selling a little over a quarter of a million copies.

I'm going to mention another form of "lucky" again as I did in the previous paragraph. I was lucky enough to encounter "Wild at Heart" because it was used as the theme song for the Winter 2012 Fuji-TV drama, "Lucky Seven"（ラッキーセブン）, starring Arashi member Jun Matsumoto（松本潤） as his character ends up joining the motley crew of a detective agency. I remember catching a few episodes of the series on the old TV Japan.

Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- Harumi, Yasuhiro & Arashi

 

Well, our building is currently in the middle of a sudden water outage due to a burst pipe; it has been very cold out there over the past few days. As such, we're in the middle of a holding pattern but hopefully, we'll be back to normal within 90 minutes. In any case, I'm a little frazzled right now after all of the running around to get information and updates so allow me to include another visit to the AI gallery.

Harumi Miyako -- Osaka Shigure （大阪しぐれ）

Sorry it's not definitively Osaka.

Yasuhiro Abe -- Cafe Flamingo

Arashi -- A-RA-SHI

Arashi -- Tomadoi nagara（とまどいながら）

 

With the disbanding of the group Arashi（嵐）some years back and all of the recent changes in watching Japanese television, I haven't seen anything of the individual members such as Jun Matsumoto（松本潤）and Masaki Aiba（相葉雅紀）in the last little while. It used to be the usual thing for us to catch the guys on Friday nights on the old TV Japan through their game show "VS. Arashi".

Recently though, I did discover their 10th single from February 2003, "Tomadoi Nagara" (While We're Lost), which is a gentle mid-tempo song about a couple groping their way to a better future in life. It's a really nicely arranged tune for the Arashi gang with the Latin guitar, and it was written and composed by guitarist/songwriter Hiroo Ohyagi（オオヤギヒロオ）; he's written multiple songs for groups under the old Johnny's Entertainment banner. 

"Tomadoi Nagara" hit No. 2 on Oricon and went Gold, eventually becoming the 49th-ranked single for 2003. It was also included on Arashi's 3rd original album "How's it going?" from July in the same year which also hit No. 2 and went Gold. "Tomadoi Nagara" was used as the theme song for an NTV drama titled "Yoiko no Mikata ~ Shinmai Hoikushi Monogatari"（よい子の味方 〜新米保育士物語〜...The Friend to All Good Children ~ The New Nursery Teacher） that starred Arashi member Sho Sakurai（櫻井翔）.

Various -- Meiji Chocolate Theme（明治チョコレート・テーマ）

 

There are a number of reasons that I actually gained weight while living in Japan instead of the opposite and probably healthier direction. One is that the average convenience store held some scrumptious snacks including various forms of chocolate. The famous company Meiji（明治製菓）was also complicit by providing some of that cacao goodness including those chocolate-covered almonds. If the product being stated on this blog sounds familiar, then you must have read yesterday's article on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや） "Synchronicity ~ Suteki na Guuzen"（シンクロニシティ (素敵な偶然)）since the song was used for that particular Meiji confection.

From Amazon.jp

Yeah, that's right. YOU! Damn you, Meiji Almond Chocolates and your sultry chocolatey vixen ways! That might as well be a mug shot...a mug of hot chocolate!

I have no idea how many tens of millions of Meiji chocolate products get sold annually but I know that the marketing department for the company must have cleaning up the yen all these decades including the various commercial campaigns on television. And that includes the whimsical theme song for the chocolate which was one line repeated over and over like a hypnotic mantra: 

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate wa Meiji（チョコレート チョコレート チョコレイトはメイジ～ ...Chocolate is Meiji）

The first time I heard it was when the popular aidoru duo of the late 1980s going into the 1990s, Wink, sang it coquettishly for the company. My assumption had been that the jingle was made just for them.

Well, how wrong I was! The "Meiji Chocolate Theme", which is also known as "Chocolate wa Meiji"（チョコレートは明治） and "Meiji Chocolate no Uta"（明治チョコレートの歌...The Meiji Chocolate Song）, was first created by famed songwriter Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, who was also responsible for the theme song for the long-running interview show "Tetsuko no Heya"（徹子の部屋） starring Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）, in 1966. The above ads were supposedly from 1967 and it's interesting to see that the commercials feature a father and his daughter enjoying the chocolate; apparently, Mom would have stopped that habit dead in its tracks. The very first version as noted above was sung by the vocal trio The Three Graces（スリー・グレイセス）who also sang the theme song for beloved anime "Mahotsukai Sally"（魔法使いサリー）in the same year of the Meiji theme's debut.

Reading through the J-Wiki article for Meiji, the theme song has been covered over the past half-century by many singers in their individual way, and one such band who did so was none other than the Group Sounds bunch known as The Tigers（ザ・タイガーズ）with Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）at the fore.

80s aidoru Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）gave her own contributions to the "Meiji Chocolate Theme" and other songs connected with the company.

Jun Matsumoto（松本潤）of Arashi（嵐）wasn't the one singing here but the theme gets a circus-like arrangement while the lad himself and his surroundings are very reminiscent of Willy Wonka.

Arashi -- Sakura Sake（サクラ咲ケ）

 

Happy Monday to you! As it stands right now, although we're just a little over a week away from Spring arriving, I've got a feeling that Spring didn't get the memo at least for our area. It's still feeling plenty cold out there and there are still some sizable snow mountains. However, it does appear that Tokyo may be getting into cherry blossom season a little ahead of schedule with some of the familiar pink blooms beginning to open up. I can imagine that the full O-Hanami season may indeed be returning to places like Ueno Park after a few years of the pandemic.

Returning to last Tuesday's episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）which had a relative treasure trove of new songs for me to explore, the Johnny's group Naniwa Danshi（なにわ男子）made their first appearance on the program, I believe, and they performed a cover of their senpai group Arashi's（嵐） old hit, "Sakura Sake" (Bloom, Cherry Blossoms).

I still miss the fellows en masse following their breakup a few years ago, although former member Jun Matsumoto（松本潤）has been showing up as the star of this year's NHK weekly jidai geki, "Dou Suru, Ieyasu?"（どうする家康...What Will You Do, Ieyasu?）. Anyways, "Sakura Sake" was Arashi's 14th single from March 2005 and it's an appropriately upbeat tune to hint at the shedding of the winter clothes and the laying out of the blue tarp under the cherry trees for the annual O-Hanami parties (which would often instigate the shedding of the regular clothes, thanks to copious amounts of drink). Written by Takeshi Aida（相田毅）and composed by Arata Tanimoto（谷本新）, there's something of a 1980s West Coast AOR-rock beat in this one.

"Sakura Sake" went Gold as it was another No. 1 hit for Arashi. According to an Oricon-organized Cherry Blossom Song popularity poll done for 2013 and 2014, the song ranked in at No. 2, just behind Naotaro Moriyama's（森山直太朗）"Sakura"（さくら）.

Arashi -- Troublemaker

There have been some changes to the Friday night lineup on TV Japan over the past several weeks. One of the big ones has been the disappearance of one of my favourites "VS. Arashi" which featured famed Johnny's Entertainment group Arashi（嵐）and various celebrities in a series of games. 

Now I realize that it's been nearly a couple of years since Arashi decided to break up but "VS. Arashi" on TV Japan was behind the original Japanese schedule by a year or two, so we were still enjoying Ono-kun and the rest of the guys making merry on Cliff Climb and Kickin' Sniper. However, the pandemic walloped the entire planet including Japan and its television industry. Apparently the last several months before the game show finished its own run, the guys and the guests basically had to jettison all of those physical games and settle for some technical wizardry and social distancing to do stuff that wasn't exactly as fun. But from what I hear, a similar show has popped up starring former Arashi member Masaki Aiba（相葉雅紀）and some of the newer Johnny's members, so maybe TV Japan might get a crack at that show.

Anyways, it's really "VS. Arashi" where we were getting our weekly dose of Arashi. I've never gotten into the dramas which starred any of the guys, but for any of those shows, you can be sure that an Arashi single has been placed as the theme song. So it goes with "Troublemaker", the guys' 29th single from March 2010. Written by H. Suzuki and composed by Masashi Ohtsuki (both names are in romaji), it's another one of Arashi's uptempo driving tunes which led the drama "Tokujo Kabachi!!"（特上カバチ!!...Extraordinary Quibbling!!）that was televised on TBS that year. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any YouTube footage of the series (although I could find an English synopsis on "My Drama List"), but it did star Arashi member Sho Sakurai（櫻井翔）and actress Maki Horikita（堀北真希）as head-butting legal eagles.

"Troublemaker" hit No. 1 on Oricon and ended up as the 3rd-ranked single of 2010, going Triple Platinum. It also got Arashi another invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen that year. The song is included on their ninth studio album, "Boku no Miteiru Fūkei"（僕の見ている風景...The Scenery I'm Looking At）, released in August 2010. It became the No. 1 album of the year.

Arashi -- Kite

Whatever the fate of the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for late July to early August, the torch ceremony did take place earlier today at ancient Olympia, and so the torch run has begun.

One of the other scenes that I remember from last year's Kohaku Utagassen was Arashi（嵐）performing right in the middle of the newly-built Olympic stadium in Tokyo. It was a good opportunity to show off the new building and also for the aidoru quintet to show off their latest song, which has yet to be released as their latest single despite the New Year's Eve showcase.

"Kite", and indeed it is the English noun for that kid's piece of fabric in the sky, was written and composed by singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）who had his own debut for the 2018 Kohaku. Compared to other Olympic theme songs, it looks like Yonezu and NHK went for something more elegiac to befit the majesty behind an Olympics, and it's the official song for the national network's broadcast of the 2020 Games.

To be honest, it hasn't quite moved me like Misia's "Hatenaku Tsuzuku Story"（果てなく続くストーリー） for the 2002 Winter Games or got my blood pumping like Maki Ohguro's（大黒摩季）"Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）at the 1996 Summer Games, so I will treat "Kite" as an Olympic song that could grow on me as we near the time. Let's hope that the health condition of humanity will improve by show time.

Arashi -- Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi（感謝カンゲキ雨嵐）

I woke up on Sunday morning and my first sight was the TV flashing an image of Johnny's uber-group Arashi（嵐）on the Sunday night news on NHK. The announcer was intoning his message in a rather somber voice so that I immediately went "Geez...was there an accident?"

As it turned out, it was nothing dire thankfully. However, Arashi fans and people all over Japan were (and probably still are) in shock over the announcement that Satoshi Ono（大野智）and the rest of the group are calling it quits at the end of next year. However, from what I've gleaned from the press conference so far is that member Kazuya Ninomiya（二宮和也）clarified that it wasn't a disbandment but just that the group won't be performing together after December 2020. Not quite sure where the dividing line is drawn, but my impression is that this may be more of a trial separation rather than an outright divorce. On the other hand, it might be one of those things where if the need comes up, Ono, Nino, Aiba-kun（相葉雅紀）, MatsuJun（松本潤）and Sho Sakurai（櫻井翔）will get together once more to drive fans into a frenzy...kinda like The Avengers.

To be honest, I'm not tha-a-a-t surprised. I had the feeling that leader Ono was getting rather peckish about going his own way and pursuing his own artistic pursuits since he's apparently quite the painter and avid fisherman. But I guess the timing...just a few years after former Johnny's top-of-the-heap SMAP disbanded...caught quite a few people off-guard. Supposedly, one reporter was crying some tears when he asked Arashi a question and Ono looked distinctly misty-eyed. I know that there's at least one former student who may be curled up in a fetal position right now since she has been the greatest Aiba-kun fan.

Sad times for all concerned but hey, there are still almost 2 years left before the storm dissipates. And what a record Arashi will leave. Ever since their debut single 20 years ago, I've realized that the group has had most of their singles hit the top spot on Oricon, and the lowest any of their singles peaked at has been at No. 3! I'm not even sure if SMAP has ever gotten that sort of record.

Therefore, to commemorate this occasion, perhaps I can bring out their 4th single, "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" (Deeply Grateful Rain Storm) released in November 2000. I don't have such an intimate connection with the many Arashi singles but I recognized the refrain "Smile again..." which reminds me a bit of Village People's "Go West". Yeah, it's kinda one of those anthemic songs that make you want to salute the sky.

Written by the late Masami Tozawa（戸沢暢美）and composed by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" was also the opening theme song for the Fuji-TV drama "Namida wo Fuite"（涙をふいて...Wipe Away Your Tears） which also co-starred Arashi member Ninomiya. Since the show was about a family getting their bearings back from tragedy with the help of their late father's kohai, the inspirational beat of the song fit like a glove. From what I've read about the song on J-Wiki, "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" has been used at their concerts to express Arashi's thanks to their many fans.

"Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" peaked at No. 2 and ended up as the 86th-ranked single for 2000. It probably would have ended up even higher with an earlier release date. The single was also placed on Arashi's debut album "Arashi No. 1 ~ Arashi wa Arashi o Yobu!"（嵐は嵐を呼ぶ...Arashi Calls Forth A Storm） which was released in January 2001. This release did hit No. 1 to later become the 70th-ranked album for the year.

Well, with the announcement, what's to become of "VS Arashi", one of our family's must-see TV programs? Ahhh...just read that once Arashi goes, so will the variety show at the end of 2020.

Arashi -- GUTS!

I've never really been into car racing per se but I can say that I have made room on my TV schedule on a certain May Sunday to watch the Indianapolis 500. There's just something very special about it. And the 2017 edition was even more special since I was able to see the first Japanese driver, Takuma Sato（佐藤琢磨）, win the Indy 500 live. During that final lap before the checkered flag, I was quietly exclaiming "He's actually going to win this!!" Well, many congratulations to him.

So here I was thinking about how I would commemorate this. Well, a couple of the Johnny's groups came to mind, SMAP and Arashi（嵐）. I was pretty sure that either one would have a happy song of victory in their respective arsenals.

Well, checking Arashi's discography, I found their 43rd single "GUTS!" from April 2014. And sure enough, it's a bouncy and inspiring tune that served as the theme for the NTV Saturday-night drama "Yowakutemo Katemasu"（弱くても勝てます...Baseball Brainiacs） starring Arashi member Kazunari Ninomiya（二宮和也）as the teacher who takes on a sad sack high school baseball team and makes it better. I haven't followed Sato's career too much but I recall him just missing out on the lead in the final lap of the 2012 edition of the Indy 500. Fans of the race commended him for his own guts.

"GUTS!" was written by eltvo and s-Tnk while SAKRA took care of the music. Not surprisingly, it hit No. 1 and ended up as the 6th-ranked single for 2014. It actually became the No. 1 single of the year for Billboard Japan. It also went Double Platinum, selling a little over 600,000 copies.

Arashi -- Happiness

I keep forgetting that these guys actually sing and dance. Arashi（嵐）has not only become the premier Johnny's Entertainment group but it's become quite the force on the variety scene as well and perhaps in the TV drama circuit. I keep seeing Ono-kun and the rest of the guys having fun times on their "VS. Arashi" game show every Friday so it was a bit jarring when I saw them last night cut away for a few minutes to see them perform their latest single at the time (I think the episode was from September 2016).

Not being a huge fan of Arashi's musical output, I have remembered various excerpts of their past hits including their 20th single from September 2007 "Happiness". Those words of "hashiri dase, hashiri dase" still pop up in my head now and then.

Starting off with a battery of guitars that sound like they belong in a Quentin Tarentino movie, "Happiness", true to its title, goes off in a happy-go-lucky direction that starts to remind me of Princess Princess' "Diamonds". So, perhaps it's not the most completely original of compositions but it's hard not to like especially when the group goes into the refrain as noted above. Wonderland was responsible for the lyrics with Mio Okada（岡田実音）taking care of the music.

It's a very uptempo song so I wasn't all that surprised when I found out that it was the theme song for a 2007 TBS drama "Yamada Taro Monogatari"（山田太郎ものがたり...The Tale of Taro Yamada）based on a manga and starring two of Arashi, Kazuya Ninomiya and Sho Sakurai（二宮和也・櫻井翔）. Can hardly believe it's almost been 10 years since this came out but then considering how young all of the guys look, I can also hardly believe that they debuted in the 20th century.

"Happiness" hit No. 1 on the charts and ended up as the 15th-ranked single for 2007. It was also recorded on Arashi's 8th album "Dream 'A' live" from April 2008 which also hit No. 1 and became the 30th-ranked album for that year.

The Works of Koji Makaino （馬飼野康二）

Time for another attempt at a retrospective for a veteran songmaker, and the subject this time is Koji Makaino. For some reason, when I see or hear the name, I always think of one of his later compositions, "A-RA-SHI", the debut single for the current top band on the Johnny's Entertainment hill, Arashi（嵐）. But obviously he's been plying his trade from far back. The other thing that I've been struck with is his name itself which sounds pretty rare to me (according to one website dealing with Japanese names, it ranks in the 17,000s for the top 50,000 names). And when I did a bit of checking, I found out that "Makaino" may have originated in Shizuoka Prefecture, the land of green tea. However, songwriter Makaino was born and raised in neighbouring Aichi Prefecture which is the land of some of the more intriguing examples of Japanese comfort food such as miso katsu and ten-musu.

Koji Makaino was born in 1952 into a family associated with music. His father, Noboru Makaino（馬飼野昇）, was a composer of go-tochi songs (ご当地ソング...songs about specific cities and towns), and his older brother, Shunichi（馬飼野俊一）, also became a composer and arranger. The brothers' interest in music started from an early age as the family got involved in a tango band and also in the backup band for singer Yoshiko Ohtsu（大津美子）.

Makaino got his formal education in music at the Shobi College of Music in Tokyo although he dropped out to join a Group Sounds band, Blue Sharm（ブルー・シャルム）, in 1967. However, the band only lasted until 1970 and produced only 4 singles. A couple of years later, he started cutting his teeth on arrangement when he helped out on Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）3rd single, "Chance wa Ichido"（チャンスは一度...Just One Chance）, a short-but-sweet song that sounded like something from the go-go-boot friendly age of the 1960s. It managed to peak at No. 20 and from that point forwards, Makaino focused his talents on composition and arrangement.

From what I've gleaned from his long list of creations on his J-Wiki file, Makaino has done a lot of work for aidoru representing the last few decades of the 20th century and into the 21st. Another dynamic example of his aidoru work was "Yuki no Naka no Futari"（雪の中の二人...Couple in the Snow）for Megumi Asaoka（麻丘めぐみ）as her 10th single from December 1974 for which he was listed as composer. That song reached as high as No. 16 on Oricon.

However, Makaino didn't just keep himself on retainer for merely the teenyboppers. He has also created works in the Mood Kayo and straight pop genres with examples like Shigeru Matsuzaki's（松崎しげる）heart-on-a-sleeve ballad "Ai no Memory"（愛のメモリー）from 1977 and the cutesy kayo "Otoko to Onna no Love Game"（男と女のラブ・ゲーム）from 1987.

One other example of his non-aidoru compositions that I just found was the surprising union of 70s folk singer Akira Inaba（因幡晃）and late 80s/early 90s former aidoru Shoko Aida（相田翔子）of Wink fame to perform "Kureta no Shiroi Suna"（クレタの白い砂...The White Sands of Crete）as Inaba's 34th single from April 2004 although it is also a track on Aida's 3rd solo album "This Is My Love" which was released much later in September 2013. Listening to this glossy ballad, I realized that Makaino has had quite the romanticist inside of him since "Ai no Memory".

Moving on...or back...to the 1980s, Makaino kept busy with the aidoru of a different breed then. He composed "100% Danjo Kousai"（100%男女交際...100% Boy-Girl Dating）for saucy Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）in April 1986 as her 18th single. It's as perky as a Kyon-Kyon tune goes but it has some nice backing by the orchestra. As for the title, it had originally been "Akarui Danjo Kousai"（明るい男女交際...Cheerful Boy-Girl Dating） but was changed into "100%" during a delay in the release. According to the article for the song, Koizumi was far from pleased with the name change saying it was the worst on a radio program. Still the song hit No. 2 on the charts and was the 86th-ranked single for the year.

Geez, where have you been all of my life? I never heard of this Hikaru Genji（光GENJI）song until a few days ago, but man, I really like "Waratte yo"（笑ってよ...C'mon, Smile）. Makaino composed and arranged the band's final No. 1 hit which was released in November 1990 as its 11th single. It's got a lot of oomph with a spritz of Latin and a percussion that will hammer your ears into submission above a certain sound level. It became the 82nd-ranked single of the year.

Still a lot to explore about Makaino but in consideration of the limits of the number of categories I can place in the Labels section, I will have to stop it here with Yasuko Naito's（内藤やす子）"Omoide Boroboro"（想い出ぼろぼろ...Tattered Memories）. This was arranged by Makaino as Naito's 3rd single from September 1976 and it's also a fine discovery by me. I love the combination of the rock guitar with those soaring and shimmering strings. I've got an impression that Makaino liked to put in a nice layer of lushness into his arrangements, no matter what the genre was or who the singer was.

In fact, I like this last song so much, I will give it its own individual entry entry as soon as I can. There's a bit more I can add in my comments here in the body and also in the Labels.

Arashi -- Fukkatsu LOVE （復活LOVE）

I was watching a bit of "Music Station" tonight on TV Japan when I saw that Johnny's darlings, Arashi（嵐）, were on once again with their latest single. Then the announcer stated that the song was created by the husband-and-wife team of Tatsuro Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi（山下達郎・竹内まりや）, and I was instantly intrigued. I haven't heard of a Johnny's unit getting a Yamashita number since "Garasu no Shonen"（硝子の少年）for the Kinki Kids years ago. Apparently, the ball got rolling when the couple had gone to see an Arashi concert and afterwards remarked about how much they enjoyed the performance. Arashi heard this, squeed and then sent the request out to Yamashita to create a song for them.

As soon as the guys hit the stage in their dapper wear and the music for "Fukkatsu LOVE" (Revival Love) started playing, I could say that this is definitely one song I would like. Although it hasn't become an earworm yet, Arashi's 48th single which came out just last month is pretty darn cool with that urban contemporary beat and a Prince-like riff.

In fact, I would say that the song would also have been ideal for Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）to try out as well, and Martin has also had the privilege of getting a Yamashita/Takeuchi creation to become one of his well-known songs. And just like "Misty Mauve", Takeuchi has written up something nice and dramatic of a woman flying out of her perhaps former beau's apartment and into a taxi after a final straw broke, and the guy has to spend the rest of the song trying to get her back.

"Fukkatsu LOVE" was released in late February, and it hit No. 1 on Oricon. According to J-Wiki, it is Arashi's 44th No. 1 single in their career as well as their 37th consecutive No.1 going all the way back to 2004. In the last couple of weeks, it has sold close to half a million copies already. At this point, Arashi is now No. 2 behind B'z as the group with the largest number of No. 1 singles.

And to think, I've only been really appreciating Ono-kun and the guys for their antics on their game show. My former student/rabid Arashi fan is probably bouncing off the walls right now since her favourite member, Aiba-kun seems to be the one with the final word as far as the song is concerned.

Arashi -- Love So Sweet

Do I feel weird when I listen to this song? Yes.

Should I feel weird for listening and liking this song? Yes. Wait, no. Uh, I don't... know.

Those were the 2 questions that went around my mind as "Love So Sweet" by the mega-popular Arashi (嵐) played through my earpieces. Technically, I shouldn't feel strange for doing so as I still am within the aidoru quintet's target audience, but I cannot help but feel that way. I'm guessing this is due in part to a couple of reasons: 1) As you all know, I always stick to the senior performers, most with receding hairlines, of the genre the older crowd listen to, so the sudden switch, albeit for less than 5 minutes, to something people of my age may listen to was a shock. 2) Apologies to Arashi fans but Arashi is one of the many aidoru groups I tend to diss/ignore/roll my eyes at; having taken a liking one of their works was like eating a big scoop of irony with crumbs of humble pie sprinkled on top.

*Sigh* But a nice song is a nice song... ... There, I said it.

As to how I came about knowing "Love So Sweet", I'd like to take you back to when I still watched and was able to watch "Music Station" - the channel showing this pop music version of "Kayo Concert" got cancelled after a couple of years... Honestly I'm not surprised. If my memory serves it was during a Christmas Special and of course Arashi was one of the guests as they're always in Oricon's top 10. I think Keisuke Kuwata (桑田佳祐) was on too, which was why I tuned in. But moving on, Arashi did a medley of some of their past hits and though I was zoning out, one song managed to capture my waning attention for a brief moment. I never took note of its title so for the longest time since that "Music Station" episode, I knew it as "The only Arashi tune I don't mind". It was only until a few months back when J-Canuck had written his article for "Love So Sweet" did I finally solve this not-particularly-dire mystery. I had a feeling that that was what I was (sort of) looking for, and lo and behold I was right.

Listening to "Love So Sweet" once again, I'd describe it as your typical sweet (no pun intended) aidoru song with its jaunty and oh-so catchy melody and the boys going "Yeah, yeah, yeah". The piano part that greets you at the beginning was pleasant too. No wonder it was a hit. But the clincher was the chorus that made me wave my white flag... I suppose it was bound to happen some day. If I were to ever like Arashi, I think my favourite would have to be Kazunari Ninomiya (二宮和也). I mean, he has that innocent little smirk that is, let's be honest, cute.

A pretty good cover. It's what I listen to most of the time.

Also in J-Canuck's article as well as Marcos's comments was the topic of the quintet's choreography as they sang "Love So Sweet". They weren't a fan of it and neither am I. I find it rather cheesy - trying to be smooth and cool with varying degrees of success. However, if I were to view it from the perspective of a fan or just a normal teenage girl for that matter, I'd probably see their dancing as what I just mentioned, smooth and cool, and maybe cute too.

To end off, I guess I'll share this tidbit of personal information with you guys. One of my ultimate music fantasies, as odd as it may be, would be to see the enka-yo singers Mae-Kiyo, Hosokawa, George, Yoshi and Itsuki tackle "Love So Sweet". I think it'd be hilarious, especially when they try their hands at the choreography. Itsuki would do a fine job at that, the rest on the other hand...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_So_Sweet

Oh, I almost forgot. A Happy Chinese New Year!

Arashi -- Love So Sweet

I've seen the good fellows from Arashi（嵐）so often on the variety show circuit and in the dramas that at times, I've gone "Oh, yeah, these guys also sing and dance, too". Yup, they do and they've got the legions of fans and regular concerts to prove that. And a number of my students have also gotten together to compare which Arashi member they prefer....is it the sober-sided Ono-kun? MatsuJun? Nino? For some reason, I cannot recall such fevered talk among my young Padawan when previous Johnny's Entertainment kingpins, SMAP, were at the top of the heap.

As I mentioned in my only other article on the current Johnny's leaders, "A-RA-SHI", I'm not such a huge fan of Arashi's musical output aside from a couple of songs. "A-RA-SHI" is one and the other is the target of this article, "Love So Sweet". Not being familiar with the group's discography and history, I was surprised that their 18th single was released in February 2007, some 8 years after their debut. The other surprise was that Arashi wrote their own lyrics to the song and that Kazunari "Nino" Ninomiya came up with the music. And the cherry on top was that I really have liked the song.

In fact, as much as I remember the slightly hip-pop catchiness of "A-RA-SHI", I also remember the smooth pop of "Love So Sweet". As amiable as Ono-kun, MatsuJun, Nino, Sakurai-kun and Aiba-kun have been on TV, I never expected them that they could up with something this pleasant and polished (just my opinion here, mind you). I especially like the part when the key changes and the group sings "Omoide zutto zutto wasurenai sora"（思い出ずっとずっと忘れない空...the memory of the ever-unforgettable sky）, and that is the part that I always remember first when it comes to "Love So Sweet".

Well, a lot of folks loved "Love So Sweet" as well. It went Double Platinum as it hit the top spot on Oricon, and ended up as the 4th-ranked song for 2007. The song racked up over 200,000 sales in its first week alone and finished the year selling close to 430,000 copies; it's been seen as the breakthrough song for Arashi. Plus it was used as a fight song of sorts for the group on their variety show "G no Arashi"（Gの嵐...G's Arashi）and as the theme song for "Hana Yori Dango 2"（花より男子２...Boys Over Flowers 2）which featured MatsuJun.

Mind you, as much as I like the song....the choreography, not so much.

Arashi -- Miracle Summer (ミラクル・サマー)

(karaoke version)

I’ve been terribly absent from this blog, and, of course, I’m not proud of this. I’ll seriously try to get my things together again and start writing with more consistency.

Now, let’s have a little fun with Arashi (嵐).

I’ve said before that Arashi is really great when they adopt a funk/disco sound. Also, I think they probably know this, because many of their songs are disco-based. Other thing I noticed after a while is how their b-sides are often better than the a-sides.

Last year, when Arashi released their “Daremo Shiranai” (誰も知らない) single in May (2014), I was not very impressed with the title track. It was not bad, but it lacked some “oomph” for me. However, like I said earlier, Arashi’s b-sides are sometimes more interesting than their hit songs, so I waited until the full single leaked just to listen to the other songs in it. I was happy to find out how pleasant “Miracle Summer” sounded.

“Miracle Summer” is that typical positive-sounding summer song with a light disco arrangement composed of gorgeous strings and brass. If it wasn’t enough, the melody is beautiful with all the variations, especially in the chorus. Even our boys are sounding good here.

Other than the song itself, what I like about “Miracle Summer” is how it stands for that melancholic, yet good, vibe which everyone who likes summer feels because they don’t want the season to end. Based on this, “Miracle Summer” always reminds me of Morning Musume’s (モーニング娘) 1999 single “Manatsu no Kousen” (真夏の光線), as both songs shares this same feel. In fact, I can’t listen to one without remembering the other. That’s really strange, but whatever.

Endless summer............

“Miracle Summer” can be found in the regular edition of “Daremo Shiranai”. The single reached #1 on the Oricon charts, selling 524,111 copies. Lyrics were written by macoto56, while music was composed by Christofer Erixon, Joakim Bjornberg and Susumu Kawaguchi (川口進). As for the arrangement, it was done by metropolitan digital clique.

Jun is very stylish in this cover.

ARASHI -- Everything

I'm not going to lie. Although I'm far from being an avid ARASHI (嵐) fan, they're the only boy band in the world that I listen to (well, I also listen to a couple of songs by SMAP, but they're very few). It's kind of a shame, but I do admit that I enjoy a good portion of their hit singles and also like to see them perform on TV.

After a very solid debut with the single "A.RA.SHI" back in 1999, the group slowly started to decline. Their significant turnover came in 2007 when Jun Matsumoto (松本潤) acted in the sequel of Hana Yori Dango (花より男子) and ARASHI released the theme song "Love so sweet". One year later, in 2008, the boys achieved the number one spot of the year with the double A-side single "truth / Kaze no Mukou e" (truth / 風の向こうへ). The feat was repeated in 2009 with the single "Believe / Kumori Nochi, Kaisei" (Believe / 曇りのち、快晴). At this time, the AKB48 machine was not popular enough and Hikaru Utada (宇多田ヒカル) was trying to be successul with the album "This Is The One", her second attempt at the American market. As for Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵), she was still rehearsing a real comeback, while J-Pop ladies Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ) and Kumi Koda (倖田來未) were not at their best either. Finally, aidoru technopop unit Perfume, although increasingly popular, was not really a threat to the ruling artists of the J-Pop world. Based on that, during ARASHI's 10th anniversary, Satoshi Ohno (大野智), Sho Sakurai (櫻井翔), Kazunari Ninomiya (二宮和也), Aiba Masaki (相葉雅紀) and Jun Matsumoto were at a very special moment of their careers.

Talking about "Everything", it happens to be my favorite ARASHI song. Although not an upbeat hit like "Believe" or a cheesy-yet-catchy pop tune like "Love so sweet", "Everything" captivated me with its ballad vibe, the gorgeous arrangement and its touching melody (the "hashire! hashire!" part near the end is one of my favorites). I remember that I had some kind of prejudice with ARASHI without having experienced their songs or concerts. This changed because a good friend of mine liked some of their songs, and I basically decided to get an ARASHI concert to watch with him. For my surprise, I got hooked on "Everything", and I still am after three years. Time really flies and "Everything" just adds to this feeling with its nostalgic vibe.

To finish, here's a performance of "Everything". It'll probably not last very long on YouTube, but whatever... (and yep, it didn't)

(instrumental cover version)

"Everything" was released in July 2009 and reached #1 on the Oricon charts, selling 431,797 copies. It ended 2009 as the #5 song of the year. Lyrics were written by 100+, while music was composed by Shingo Asari. As for the arrangement, it was done by ISB.

Arashi -- STORY

I tend to dislike Johnny’s Entertainment groups before even trying listening to them. But I like Arashi (嵐) quite a bit, thanks to a good friend of mine who insisted that I had to check some of their songs a couple of years ago. As we can assume of an aidoru group with more than 10 years of career, they have a very big discography and I’m far from being a big fan of it, even though I can surely select some nice songs here and there. One of them is “STORY”, a b-side from the regular edition of the “Hatenai Sora” (果てない空) single, released as Arashi’s 34^th single in November 2010.

I have a very nice thesis that when Arashi do disco, they can’t go wrong. With “STORY” this proves to be right as the song is a disco pop tune with some addictive disco strings and a poppy dance beat that resembles a bit of “Step by Step” by Arashi’s “Western older brothers”, the boy band called New Kids on the Block (1990). “STORY” may be your typical disco song, but the Arashi boys are good in the genre, which takes them out of their “corny ballad performers” personas. Anyway, I can say that this song is a winner for me.

You can listen to the very catchy “Step by Step” by the New Kids on the Block below.

The “Hatenai Sora” single reached #1 on the weekly Oricon charts, selling 656,343 in 2010. It also became the #6 single of the year. Overall the single ended selling 693,499. The lyrics were written by Ogawa Takashi (小川貴史) and the music was composed by Kosuke Ohba. As for the arrangement, it was made by Taku Yoshioka (吉岡たく).

Arashi -- A-RA-SHI

I'm not a fan of the currently top Johnny's Entertainment group in terms of their music, but my family and I are enjoying watching the boys on Friday nights on TV Japan through their two variety programs: "Vs. Arashi" (game show) and "Arashi ni Shiyagare" (interview show). And we've even caught some of their serial dramas. Just for the record, Arashi（嵐...Storm） is led by the usually unassuming Satoshi Ono（大野智） with the other members being Sho Sakurai（桜井翔）, Masaki Aiba（相葉雅紀）, Kazunari Ninomiya（二宮和也） and Jun Matsumoto（松本潤）.

Still, having said that, I do like a couple of their songs including their debut, "A-RA-SHI" from November 1999, just because of that bouncy refrain, "You are my SOUL! SOUL!" Composed by veteran Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）and written by Tsunetoshi Kikuchi（菊池常利）, under the stage name of J&T, the CD single hit the No. 1 spot on Oricon and quickly became the 23rd-ranked song of 1999, selling close to a million copies and still their best-selling song. The song was also part of their debut album, "Arashi No. 1: Arashi wa Arashi wo Yobu" （嵐は嵐を呼ぶ...Arashi Calls The Storm), which was released in January 2001 and also hit the top spot on the album charts. According to Wiki, though, the really big commercial success would take the better part of a decade.

At my last English school before returning home, I had a regular Wednesday-night student who was a huge Arashi fan, and most notably, an Aiba-kun fan. In fact, the first several minutes of every lesson was basically the weekly Aiba-kun report.....and she gave it in English. As long as she was using her 2nd language, I was game with it.