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.
The last time I wrote on actress-singer Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）was back last December when I posted the article for her "Hold On Me", a track from her lone album, the October 1981"Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship）. Well, I've got another track here titled "Toki yo Hohoende" (It's Time to Smile).
Written by Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）and composed by Daiko Nagato（長門大幸）, it's another City Pop treat with the wailing electric guitar and the boppy bass, but there are also some interesting classical piano riffs ripping through the instrumental bridge. And Asaka's slightly husky voice keeps things within the urban contemporary.
Welcome to the Victoria Day 2026 edition of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Yes, we actually do have national holidays here although in Canada, they may seem rare when compared to the bushelful of holidays that Japan has. And since it is Victoria Day, it's also known as the unofficial beginning to summer and perfect timing, too, because we surprisingly have our first heat advisory of the year with Humidex readings threatening 36 degrees C! No worries, though...in a couple of days, our high will only reach 14.
Of course, if summer has arrived, then it's time for the usual TUBE article. If I'm not mistaken, Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）and his guys are celebrating 41 years in the music business. And from their very first album released in July 1985, "Heart of Summer", here is "Midnight Beach", a languid nighttime ballad that brings to mind cool nights, crackling beachside campfires and most importantly, a lot of snuggling by the fire. Composed by Masao Nakajima（中島正雄）and written/arranged by Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）, it's a pleasant way to finish off Side A of the album.
We may be a little early for this scene this year but I hear in Japan, they are more than ready for beachside activity. According to some of the citizenry though, the heat wave has come in a little too hot and early.
Well, things have begun to slightly cool down here in my part of Canada after one of the warmer summers in recent memory (nothing to compare with Japan's summer, though). Still, it's still very nice out there and we're several days away from the official beginning of autumn.
That means that there is plenty of time for those last barbeque outings and beach trips to enjoy that last bit of sun and surf. Maybe then, we can do some vicarious summer partying with the trio Mi-Ke singing their New Year's Eve 1992 10th and penultimate single to date, "Namida no Vacation" (Vacation of Tears).
Reminiscent of Group Sounds and 1960s girl pop, there's even a loving tribute to Connie Francis'"Vacation" right at the beginning. Mi-Ke was entering their heyday just when I was leaving my stint on the JET Programme but I was still getting shipments of Japanese TV programs so I was totally in on their success as interpreters of one segment of kayo kyoku during those early 1990s. Despite the melancholy title, "Namida no Vacation" sounds like a pretty happy-go-lucky tune of the times with Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）on lyrics and Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）on the music. It reached No. 19 on Oricon. The song also gave Mi-Ke their 2nd and final invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen following their appearance in 1991 for "Omoide no Kujukuri Hama"（思い出の九十九里浜）.
Ah, yes...black coffee. That is the question. Is it indeed the drinkable arbiter of true adulthood or perhaps the judge on whether you will become a coffee connoisseur or merely a coffee drinker? For myself, I'm unrepentantly the latter...gotta have at least cream in there. When I hit Tim Horton's, I also end up ordering a Double-Double (double sugar, double cream). Connoisseurs might sniff at whether I'm actually drinking coffee at all.
If I had known about this song earlier, I probably would have included it in my "Coffee, Tea or Milk?" article from several days ago. "Mou Ichido Black Coffee" (One More Black Coffee) was then-aidoru Noriko Hidaka's（日髙のり子）third single from October 1981. My last article on Hidaka was her January 1980 second single, "Hatsukoi Sunshine"（初恋サンシャイン）, which was her gift to the Nio Sun Exposition（仁尾太陽博）in Kagawa Prefecture. This time, though, "Mou Ichido Black Coffee" is her tribute to sharing that coffee with that special someone.
To be honest, I'm not sure if there is a certain age when drinking black coffee and at least getting used to the bitter taste is seen as a sign of maturity in Japan. Hidaka herself was still just nineteen years of age when "Mou Ichido Black Coffee" but of course I'm not sure if she was already glugging down the java unadulterated at that point, but there is a certain serious tone in Jun Irie's（入江純）horn-filled arrangement (despite or because of the hint of disco) of this aidoru tune as if the lass were singing "Dang it! I'm gonna drink down my joe and be an adult about it!" although I think Tomoko Aran's（亜蘭知子）lyrics were describing something more cutesy. Her co-lyricist was someone named Daimon Nazuki（奈月大門） (a number of readings is possible for both names but I'm going to go with this particular one) which was actually a pseudonym of Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）who also composed the song.
Four years old, this kid is! He may have ended up bouncing off the walls later on...and maybe much later on, he will end up as the president of his own coffee distribution company.
A couple of years ago, I posted an article regarding "My Endless Scene", a City Pop song recorded by actress/singer Mayumi Asaka（朝加真由美）as the first track for her one-and-only album, "Yasashii Kankei ~ Mayumi I"（優しい関係...A Gentle Relationship）, from October 1981. It's a relaxing slice of urban contemporary for all those high-rise dwellers and visitors.🌇
This time, in contrast to that Side A, Track 1 song, I have Asaka's Side B, Track 1 song. "Sasowarete..." (Enticed...). And I would like to emphasize the contrast since this particular number starts off with a brief soliloquy by the actress herself in a rainy milieu for the first several seconds before the melody by Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）begins with a revelatory chorus which turns into a comely arrangement of lilting country and blues. With lyrics by Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）, "Sasowarete..." also has that reminder of a 1950s or 1960s ballad, especially with that saxophone solo in there.
About this time last month, I introduced a band called Spinach Power and their "Style". The band was notable for having certain individual members who were already quite well-known or would become well-known in their own right, and they include Tetsuo Nishihama（西濱哲男）from the band Tranzam（トランザム）, singer-songwriter Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）and rock singer Kyosuke Himuro（氷室京介）.
Now, as I noted in the article for "Style", Spinach Power was seen as a disco group although "Style" itself didn't fit that genre. It was more of a guitar pop tune for the most part. However, I have found an earlier single from their discography that absolutely reflects good ol' disco. Their 3rd single"Funky Disco Princess" released in January 1979 was provided by lyricist Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）, as she did for "Style", and composer Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）. The vocals were sung by Oda in a way that had me thinking of Tiny Tim for some reason...at least until the end when Oda just went nuts on the microphone. Not sure whether Aran was doing backup vocals. "Funky Disco Princess" was most likely the band's best showing on Oricon as it hit No. 86.
It's been over twenty years since I last set foot in The Big Apple. I was in New York City twice, the first time in 1993 and then I was there in 2001. Even as someone from the largest city in Canada, it's still an eye-opening experience walking through the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn. I definitely remember walking along Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue but I'm not 100% certain whether I did traipse along the famous Park Avenue. At this point, my only touchstones with one of the most expensive streets on the planet are through the game Monopoly and, being the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" writer, EPO's "Park Ave. 1981".
Well, I've gained another touchstone with the avenue and it was through writing B.B. Queens'"Yume no End wa Itsumo Mezamashi!"（夢のENDはいつも目覚まし!）. Veteran songwriter and producer Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）provided the lyrics for that happy-go-lucky tune but I saw this song on the right side of YouTube while I was listening to B.B. Queens and discovered that this was given the melody by Nagato. Considering that I've known Nagato mostly for his 90s happy rock and pop stuff, this was indeed a discovery.
This is the urbane City Pop of "Park Avenue 7 PM", a track on Akiko Wada's（和田アキ子）1978 album of the same name, and I have already written about one other song on the album, "Sayonara wo Iwanaide"（さよならを言わないで）which actually follows the title track. Indeed, "Park Avenue 7 PM"might be another one of those City Pop treasures that not many of the genre's fans know about for now. With lyrics by Sachiko Murata（村田さち子）, it's a silky and sophisticated Mancini-esque arrangement which would befit a walk down the actual Park Avenue with a Holly Golightly sighting. Wada, who I now believe can pretty much anything in the pop genre from City Pop to synthpop, sings this in an atypically subdued and tender tone.
When it comes to regular anime starring naughty-but-ultimately-decent children (I hope), it's been "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）due to TV Japan's weekly broadcasts, although I used to watch "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）when I was living in Ichikawa. However, I did see glimpses of the infamous "Crayon Shin-chan"（クレヨンしんちゃん）featuring bratty Shinnosuke Nohara who not only can act up like any demanding five-year-old but is more than ready to show off his butt and other body parts. I remember one episode where he had a major crush on real-life 90s sexy girl group C.C. Girls.
I gather then that it's not too much of a surprise that the pop group B.B. Queens（B.B.クィーンズ）, which had come up with the enduring theme song for the aforementioned "Chibi Maruko-chan", "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）in 1990, was also responsible for the second opening theme for "Crayon Shin-chan", "Yume no End wa Itsumo Mezamashi!" (I Always Wake Up At the End of a Dream!). Nifty opening credits, by the way.
Having known B.B. Queens for basically "Odoru Ponpokorin" and "Gingira Paradise"（ギンギラパラダイス）which was used for a ski equipment commercial, it's nice to encounter a new song by the guys. Written by Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）, composed by Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）and arranged by Takeshi Hayama（葉山たけし）, "Yume no End wa Itsumo Mezamashi!" retains that B.B. Queens zaniness but also has some 1960s pop flavour. Another observation is that the basic melody has a slight resemblance to the one for "Yume Ippai"（ゆめいっぱい）, the very first opening theme for "Chibi Maruko-chan", and that song was also composed by Oda.
The song was released as B.B. Queens' 6th single in November 1992, and it peaked at No. 64 on Oricon.
Commenter James Noah and I had a bit of a talk on some of those female wrestlers in Japan who gained enough popularity that they also cut some records. I told him about Beauty Pair（ビューティ・ペア）and then he told me about Mimi Hagiwara（ミミ萩原）who began her wrestling career shortly after the above duo provided their pop music.
The future wrestler was born in 1956 as Taemi Hagiwara（萩原妙美）and is one-quarter Swiss. She actually spent the first fifteen years of her life growing up in Switzerland before coming to Tokyo. Her childhood nickname was Mimi so it also became her stage name when she debuted on television as a teenager in the tokusatsu series "Kamen Rider"（仮面ライダー）as one of the Rider Girls who appeared in several episodes.
Under that same name of Mimi, the trilingual (English, French and Japanese) young lady also made her debut in the recording debut with "O-share na Douyoubi" (A Stylish Saturday) as an aidoru. Released in October 1973, it was the typical 1970s uptempo tune about enjoying that precious weekend day with the boyfriend. Lyrics were by the prolific Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）with music by Masahiko Aoi（葵まさひこ）.
Mimi would also release four more singles up to 1975 and even one album. However, tiring of the stresses of being in show business and then hearing of the fame that Beauty Pair was enjoying in the late 1970s, she would expand her stage name to Mimi Hagiwara and leave the geinokai behind to enter the world of wrestling in 1978. According to her profile in J-Wiki, she had always enjoyed martial arts since she was a kid so perhaps this was one way to make a happier living.
It was as Mimi Hagiwara that she would make her debut as a singing wrestler as well with "Stand Up" coming out in July 1981. Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）, the song has that certain Pat Benatar pop/rock vibe to it but Hagiwara's vocals still retain some high-pitched delicacy. Over the next few years, she would release three more singles. And then in the 21st century, Hagiwara has appeared in several musical productions.
The trio Mi-Ke was a pretty interesting group which had its heyday in the early 1990s. I was just in my final months on the JET Programme when Keiko Utoku（宇徳敬子）, Haruka Murakami（村上遙）and Mami Watanabe（渡辺真美）brought in their contemporary take on Group Sounds-sounding material and Ventures vibes. Considering the pop sounds of the time and the gradually waning wave of aidoru from the 1980s and 1990s, Mi-Ke stood out.
I've already written about a number of articles on Mi-Ke including for their big hit "Omoide no Kujukuri Hama"（思い出の九十九里浜）, but I surprised myself that I hadn't written about "Blue Light Yokosuka" since it's a title that I've heard many times.
For those who know their kayo, "Blue Light Yokosuka" is a play on the 1968 classic "Blue Light Yokohama"（ブルーライト・ヨコハマ）, and according to J-Wiki, "Yokosuka" has been treated by some as the answer song to "Yokohama", although the sounds of the two tunes are completely different. "Yokohama" is more of a Mood Kayo while "Yokosuka" fits the Group Sounds template.
Still, there is plenty of contemporary instrumentation such as the synths in "Yokosuka" joining the beach-worthy rhythms of the song. Not quite sure about the choreography surrounding the live performances but "Yokosuka" itself is nostalgic enough not just for the 1960s beat but also for its 1990s existence. This was Mi-Ke's 3rd single from June 1991 with Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）and Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）behind its creation, and it managed to get as high as No. 13 on Oricon.
Gotta admit that the title is cute and clever. Well, summer is indeed here and it has become a "Kayo Kyoku Plus" tradition to bring in a TUBE song to herald the hot season. I had actually thought about writing about one of their many singles when I figured that it has been a while since I brought in a BEST article so here is "TUBEst". Released in December 1989 (I guess the boys are not lacking in irony with that release date), it was the band's very first BEST compilation.
As for the asterisked entries finishing up the album, they are actually the products of the Nagisa no All Stars（渚のオールスターズ）, an informal summery supergroup consisting of TUBE, two of their songwriting contributors Tetsuro Oda and Tomoko Aran（織田哲郎・亜蘭知子）, and a whole bunch of other musicians. I will take care of those songs in another article but "Be My Venus" has already been covered.
"Sentimental ni Kubittake" (Sentimentally Head Over Heels) was the band's 2nd single from October 1985 when they were still known as The Tube. As with their debut entry, "Best Seller Summer", the song had more of a 1950s rock-boppy beat along the lines of early 1980s acts such as The Chanels or The Checkers, although lead vocal Nobuteru Maeda's（前田亘輝）delivery was already in there. It was created by the same duo behind "Best Seller Summer", Kisaburo Suzuki and Yoshiko Miura（鈴木キサブロー・三浦徳子）. It peaked at No. 64 on Oricon and is also a track on The Tube's 2nd album, "Offshore Dreamin'" which got as high as No. 62 on the LP charts.
As for the lyrics....just like a lot of TUBE songs, they all have to do with frolicking on the beach!
"Because I Love You" was TUBE's 4th single from September 1986 and their first ballad out as a single. It makes for a nice sunset song for the young lovers just walking on the beach. Written by Tomoko Aran and composed by Daiko Nagato and Masatoshi Nishimura（長戸大幸・西村麻聡）, it peaked at No. 13 and was the 78th-ranked single of the year. It is also available on TUBE's 4th original album, "Boys on the Beach".
Then there is the even better ballad "Remember Me" although it's much more bittersweet since it deals with reminiscing over a past romance. TUBE's 8th single from December 1988, that piano intro reminded me of an old Boz Scaggs tune. This was Maeda's first foray into writing lyrics for an official TUBE single while Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）took care of the music. "Remember Me" jumped up to No. 12, and I think as long as the young lovers don't listen to the lyrics too hard, it should also still make for good strolling-along-the-beach-at-dusk music. It belonged to TUBE's 8th original album as the title track.
Back to some fun in the sun with "Summer City", the song that triggered me to write about TUBE today. I was surprised to realize that I had yet to write about this one into the blog considering that I enjoyed the song after it came out in June 1989, about a couple of months before my arrival in Japan for the JET Programme. That intro which was the musical equivalent of a bunch of delirious surfer dudes racing to be the first one into the ocean before Maeda yells out "SUMMER CITY!" could be the clarion call for all to hit the beaches. Maeda took care of both words and music with this single which peaked at No. 11 and ended up as the 87th-ranked single of the year. It was also the title track for TUBE's 9th album which came out just a few weeks after the release of the single. The album itself topped out at No. 6 and was the 59th-ranked album of the year.
"TUBEst" itself peaked at No. 5 and became the 75th-ranked album for 1990, going Double Platinum and selling over 600,000 copies. And the good times would still keep going for TUBE with 5 more BEST albums into the 21st century.
Gotta have another TUBE song in there before the summer goes out. "Dance With You" was the band's 6th single, released in August 1987. I hadn't heard this one in years, and I guess it's one of those cases where absence makes the heart grow fonder since my body suddenly became flush with endorphins and my mind flooded with all those engrams of years ago.
Although the lyrics were by frequent collaborator, singer-songwriter Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）, the melody was by musician Seiichiro Kuribayashi（栗林誠一郎）. When TUBE bassist Hideyuki Kakuno（角野秀行） had to recuperate from a traffic accident, Kuribayashi stepped in as the replacement bassist during the band's live tours. He was even the bassist participating in the recording of B.B. Queens' megahit, "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）.
Kuribayashi definitely got the TUBE vibe down pat when he came up with the song. I couldn't notice any difference between his composition and any of the songs by regular TUBE composer, Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）. The dynamic summery style is still happily imbued into "Dance With You" as well. It peaked at No. 3 on Oricon and it was also a track on the band's 6th original album,"Twilight Swim".
In the last several months of my Gunma stint, I started hearing a song that harkened back to some of those old Group Sounds songs of the 60s, although at the time I didn't know the genre term....I just simply used "Japanese oldies" or Yuzo Kayama songs. There was a trio of women who decided to go somewhat retro in the final decade of the 20th century.
Mi-Ke was an offshoot of B.B. Queens, the motley crew of musicians led by Yuiko Tsubokura and Furanosuke Gendo who came up with the No. 1 song of 1990, "Odoru Ponponkorin"（おどるポンポコリン）, the ending theme for the long-running anime, "Chibi Maruko-chan". The B.B. Queens chorus of Keiko Utoku（宇徳敬子）, Mami Watanabe（渡辺真美） and Haruka Murakami（村上遥） made their debut as Mi-Ke, named after the Japanese word for calico cat, in February 1991 with this ode to all things Group Sounds, "Omoide no Kujukuri Hama"(Kujukuri Beach of Your Memories). Kujukuri Beach is a 60-km strip of sandy beach along the northeastern coast of the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture which has been a favourite place for swimmers and surfers, and what better venue is there to remember those days of hedonistic suntanned beach bums when Japan was starting to rev up its economic engines.
Written by Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸） and composed by Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）, the lyrics were almost literally a list of song titles from the Group Sounds era. In fact, shoutouts were given by the ladies to 13 GS songs such as "Hana no Kubikazari"（花の首飾り） by The Tigers and "Yuuhi ga Naiteiru"（夕陽が泣いている） by The Spiders, and all wrapped up in a melody that Kayama-san would've been happy to jam in on (heck, I think Ms. Moritaka could've gotten in on the action). Even Mi-Ke's choreography seemed to take a step back in time.
The song peaked at No. 5 on Oricon, was the 32nd-ranked song of the year, and took the Newcomer's Prize in Pop/Rock at the Japan Record Awards. It also got them their appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen.
And I didn't know this but it was also used as the theme song for the comedy-drama "Nurse Station".
