Azumi Inoue -- Star Storm/Yuube no Himitsu（ゆうべの秘密）

 

Of course, for all of the Studio Ghibli fans, the name Azumi Inoue（井上あずみ）should be pretty recognizable for her recordings of the theme songs for the classic "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）late in the 1980s. But I wanted to also take a look at her very early material when she had begun her career as one of the many aidoru that went through the revolving door of Japanese entertainment.

Inoue (under the kanji of 井上杏美) made her debut behind the mike with "Star Storm" in April 1983. Written by Kayoko Fuyumori（冬杜花代子）, composed by Masashi Komatsubara（小松原まさし）and arranged by Kenji Omura（大村憲司）, the lass took on a slightly operatic tone in her delivery with this New Wave-ish tune. I like the overall song especially with the bass synth thrum and the wailing guitar. Not sure whether Inoue's first single made any significant dent on the charts, though.

Then, later in September that year, Inoue released her second single, a cover of Tomoko Ogawa's（小川知子） hit "Yuube no Himitsu" (The Secret From Last Night). This time with the arrangement of Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）, in comparison with the contemplative kayo kyoku nature of the 1968 original, Inoue's "Yuube no Himitsu" still retains its fragile beauty but it also has a sound of a 1970s aidoru tune with the only thing showing its 1980s origins being the flourish at the end. At the same time, though, I'm also reminded of Yoshie Kashiwabara's（柏原芳恵）hit "Haru Nanoni"（春なのに）which also got released in 1983.

Azumi Inoue -- Sanpo（さんぽ）

 

"Uta Con"（うたコン）is off for another week so when I turned on Jme this morning, there was a special called "Ghibli no Uta"（ジブリのうた...Ghibli Songs） on NHK. Basically, the title said it all: it was all about the magical theme songs from the many Studio Ghibli movies over the decades. Plus, the backdrop for the performances was logically the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.

Not being all that huge a Ghibli fan, I've never visited the museum myself and I have heard that getting tickets is almost as difficult as pushing Totoro into a Jenny Craig programme although a few of my friends were able to get them and visit the place. But I think whoever came up with the idea for it was pretty smart in limiting the numbers since I think the magic can be retained by not having Disneyland-level numbers of rambunctious kids and adults clambering all over the exhibits. By the way, the video above comes from the YouTube channel Always, Ros.

For the fans, "Ghibli no Uta" on NHK must have had them swooning as at least some of the original singers were back to sing their contributions to the Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）ethos. To be honest, I was midway through my oatmeal and therefore not watching the screen when I heard the familiar adorable tones of the opening theme march from the 1988 "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）, "Sanpo" (Stroll), by Azumi Inoue（井上あずみ）. I mean, how could this not have every kid under the age of seven automatically marching throughout the living room while the opening credits are playing or when Inoue performs this on stage? 

Written by children's book writer Rieko Nakagawa（中川李枝子）and composed/arranged by Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, it's no surprise that "Sanpo" has been included in elementary school textbooks from time to time, and the argument has gone on about whether the song is an anison or a douyou（童謡...children's song）. Why not both? Everyone knows about the ending theme but "Sanpo" is still going to be the song that gets kids and their parents up and at 'em.

Personally though, I think my highlight from the show was "Jinsei no Merry-Go-Round"（人生のメリーゴーランド）as performed by an interpretive dancer. Dang, those lightning-quick hand moves really woke me up.

Azumi Inoue -- Yume Hiko（夢飛行）

 

Spoke to a couple of friends over the past few days, both of whom have plenty of Japan experience, and at least one of them is really itching to head over there again for vacation, perhaps later this fall. I really hope that his wish comes true although I really doubt that I'll be able to get there again anytime before 2023. By that time, it'll have been 6 years since my last flight out to my old stomping grounds.

Speaking of those long-awaited dream flights, I have one here with that very title in Japanese. "Yume Hiko" (Dream Flight) was the B-side to Azumi Inoue's（井上杏美）debut single "Star Storm" in April 1983. At first, that name didn't quite hit the recognition circuits, because she was going full kanji at the time, but when I noticed that she'd already had an entry on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I realized that it was the Azumi Inoue（井上あずみ）who'd been responsible for singing the theme songs for the Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）classic, "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）in 1988. The Kanazawa native was actually born Midori Miyazaki（宮崎みどり）but took on her stage name based on a book written by a Kanazawa-born author Saisei Muro（室生犀星）titled "Anzukko"（杏っ子）.

That jingly synthesizer which starts "Yume Hiko" is really quite nostalgic for me and it does remind me of those really cute aidoru tunes from the early 1980s, additionally enhanced by Inoue's high-and-clear vocals. I also can't forget that wailing electric guitar which finishes things off. Written by Rie Ohtani（大谷リエ）, the melody was composed by Toshiaki Matsumoto（松本としあき）, a pianist and composer who also later changed the transcription of his name（松本俊明）and has since become even more famous for a couple of Xmas tunes, Junichi Inagaki's（稲垣潤一）"Merry Xmas ga Ienai" （メリークリスマスが言えない）and Misia's "Everything".

Azumi Inoue -- Tonari no Totoro （となりのトトロ）

In the last couple of days, I heard that Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）had announced his retirement from creating feature-length films after the completion of "The Wind Rises" (known as "Kaze Tachinu"...風立ちぬ in Japan）. It's not an exaggeration to say that this is the passing of an era in world animation, whether or not one has liked his body of work.

So, going back a few decades, I wanted to profile the ending theme for "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ...My Neighbour Totoro), which was released in March 1988. I first heard it in its instrumental form when it was always used as one of the songs of encouragement played over the speakers at the Sports Festivals at the two schools I had taught in Gunma. Some months later, I finally bought the VHS video for the movie itself, and although it didn't displace "Kiki's Delivery Service" as my favourite Miyazaki film, the couple of scenes that charmed my kutsushita off both involved that ending theme by singer Azumi Inoue（井上あずみ）.

Composed by frequent Miyazaki musical collaborator Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）and with lyrics by Hayao Miyazaki himself, the playing of "Tonari no Totoro" as sisters Satsuki and Mei happily head home in the cool and adorable Neko Bus at the very end of the movie had me smiling ear-to-ear much like the Bus and Totoro themselves. Inoue's flying delivery perfectly fit the fantastical optimism and whimsy that Totoro and his little buddies brought into the scenes. A lot of the little kids have probably wanted to take a flight with the big grey lug himself as soon as the theme came on. Totoro may not be the most verbose of fellows but he will always have your back.

Inoue, who hails from Kanazawa City Ishikawa Prefecture, also sang the opening theme, "Sanpo"（さんぽ...Stroll） to the movie, and provided the ending theme, "Kimi wo Nosete"（君をのせて...Carrying You） for a previous Miyazaki film, "Tenku no Shiro Laputa"(天空の城ラピュター....Laputa - Castle In The Sky) in 1986.

As a PS, the theme song for "The Wind Rises" is Yumi Arai's（荒井由実） "Hikoki Gumo"（ひこうき雲...Vapour Trails）, her 1973 classic which is already profiled here.