I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
I'd been ready to treat this song by the late great Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）as one of her originals, but thanks to some checking back within the archives, I've realized that this is actually a cover by the Queen of Kayo Kyoku. Good to do that from time to time.
Jazz was one of Misora's go-to genres during her long career as a singer so it was natural for me to assume that "Futari de O-sake wo" (Let's Have a Drink Together) was one of her own as she cheerfully fronts all of that Dixieland jazz. However, the fact is that she was giving her rendition of the original by Michiyo Azusa（梓みちよ）which was released all the way back in March 1974, and listening to the original again, it was definitely more in the swinging kayo vein.
I couldn't find out when Misora had recorded her "Futari de O-sake wo" although it was a track on her 2007 "Cover Song Collection"（カバーソング コレクション）, coming out some eighteen years following her untimely death. The songwriters are of course the same: lyricist Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）and composer Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃）.
Every now and again, I would pick up a popular do-enka (a very “enka-like” enka, if you will) song out of curiosity or nostalgia, realise or remember why it was a massive hit, and then have a phase of obsessively listening to it. It had been a while since that's happened, but my recent enka obsession has been Osaka Shigure.
This was one of the many jewels in the crown of enka royal Harumi Miyako (都はるみ). Written by Osamu Yoshioka (吉岡治) and composed by Shosuke Ichikawa (市川昭介), it was released on 1st February 1980 during the genre's and the singer's golden ages. It's a languid tune with a nice rhythm based in a rainy Osaka. Miyako plays the role of woman who would give her all to the one she loves even if it hurts her because she can't live without him. It ticks all the boxes for a quintessential enka song, and it's really easy on the ears. I've owned a Miyako compilation album for quite some time now, and Osaka Shigure was always one track I've enjoyed when I remember that it's there. However, what sparked my recent hyper-fixation on it?
Na Hoon-a (羅勲児/ナフナ).
A little while ago, I talked about my introduction to the South Korean trot star, and I've been getting into his music as of late. Having broken into the Japanese enka scene in the mid-1980s, Na covered a number of well-known enka/kayo hits in his distinct, highly emotive style that somewhat resembles the do-enka manner of singing. Among these covers, I picked Osaka Shigure to sample first simply because of the aforementioned fact that I know I enjoyed Miyako's original. Boy, was I hooked immediately by the way Na handled the song.
In terms of vocal delivery, Miyako very lightly glides over the words, and her signature high-pitched trill is not as prevalent here as it is in some of her other hardcore enka hits. It paints our protagonist as delicate, but still having the resolve to devote herself to her lover. Na, on the other hand, takes his time with each word and pours them out with great deliberation, the effect of which makes the protagonist's aforementioned desire and anguish stemming from her self-perceived ineptitude feeling a lot more raw and heavy. I’d been told that one of Na’s appeals is that he can sound as though he’s sobbing, which I assume serves to accentuate a song protagonist’s sadness and longing. In the case of this cover, at least, you can certainly feel this effect. His voice is cathartic to listen to, and at least for me, it can feel a little like a proxy for releasing pent-up feelings.
I'm not certain as to when Na released his cover of Osaka Shigure, but I know that it was at least included in his some of his Japanese album releases between the late 1980s and 1990s
Have you ever thought about Steely Dan covering Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）iconic ballad "Sweet Memories"?
Nope, neither have I. And yet, here we are. Indeed, back in 2019 when singer-songwriter Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）came up with his 2019 album of covers"Radio na Kyoku-tachi Ⅱ"（ラジオな曲たちⅡ...Radio Songs 2）, he included one of "Sweet Memories" as the final track. Yup, the jazziness and meticulous chords are there in lyricist Takashi Matsumoto's（松本隆）and composer Masaaki Omura's（大村雅朗）tune for Seiko-chan. The original 50s or 60s girl pop stylings have been turned into urban and urbane radio-friendly grooviness for your evening pleasure.
One song by Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）within her long and varied discography that has always stuck with me all these years is her "Kuro no Clair" (Black Clair) which begins her 1982 album"Cliche". It's that lush Fashion Music creation sent up to the max as if the genre had been forced to watch every televised or cinematic version of "Wuthering Heights" or read some of the Gothic plots in a Harlequin romance.
Over the decades since the introduction of "Kuro no Clair" in the early 1980s, the song has been covered by at least ten artists including Kirinji（キリンジ）and Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）. Another one is Ritsuko Kazami（風見律子）who included her more contemporized version of the song within her 1986 album"Aventurier"（アヴァンチュリエ）. It's more like enjoying that glass of wine in a Parisian bar of that decade rather than savoring one in a castle a couple of hundred years prior.
Then we have singer and actress Mayumi Hara's（原真祐美）take on "Kuro no Clair" from her second album"Vert Clair"（ベール・クレール）from February 1984. It starts with a melody that could be a remnant from the previous track or just a whimsical little interlude that fades out 40 seconds later before the familiar strings of "Kuro no Clair" elide in. The way that Ohnuki had woven one of her masterpieces, it would be very difficult to excise the Fashion Music essence, and I think Hara's cover is somewhere between Ohnuki's original and Kazami's more contemporary version. I can get that seaside castle-under-an-overcast-sky vibe from this one.
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.
After reading Rocket Brown's article on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）beautifully delivered but cautionary tale of seeking fame and fortune in Hollywood, "Natalie", I discovered that any signs of the original song on YouTube had been excised more thoroughly than Natalie's happiness and hope (but take a look at that article...all is not lost). 😒
However, in my search on YouTube, I did find a cover version of "Natalie" by the veteran band Sentimental City Romance（センチメンタル・シティ・ロマンス）. Now, the cordial relationship between Takeuchi and SCR has been around since Mariya's first album in 1978, "Beginning", when the band contributed to some of the tracks there. And I think there has been an affinity between the two in terms of their choice of music since both she and Sentimental City Romance have enjoyed playing and singing in the country genre. In fact, SCR vocalist Nobutaka Tsugei（告井延隆）arranged the original "Natalie" when it came out in 1981.
So I gather that it was a natural for SCR to cover the song itself many years later through the band's August 2011 album"Yattokame"（やっとかめ）. There hasn't been a dramatic change in arrangement. It's still the most laidback country and pop ballad and Mariya herself is helping out on background vocals. And indeed, it's still a lovely song about a tragic tale.
If there were a Weird Al Yankovic type in Japan, I would recommend him to give his take on "Natalie"...about a good person gone bad. However, I would also re-title it into "Anakin".
Millions of people watched the most recent edition of the World Baseball Classic last month. What I hadn't known was that while I was in Japan, the 2009 edition had at least some of its games played in Toronto's Rogers Centre...although I still prefer to call it the old name of Skydome.
What I also didn't know? Japan Netflix's own broadcast of the WBC this year had one eye boggling and mind-blowing campaign song. Imagine Koshi Inaba（稲葉浩志）of the kickass duo B'z doing a cover of Yoshimi Iwasaki's（岩崎良美）most famous song "Touch"? Well, we don't have to imagine it. It actually got recorded and then released as a single on March 6th. Perhaps a lot of people and their What Ifs were finally satisfied. Written by Chinfa Kan（康珍化）and composed by Hiroaki Serizawa（芹沢廣明）, the original guitar riff is back but instead of the ol' rock n' roll from Iwasaki's original, this "Touch" has got Inaba's arrangement touch for that B'z vibe.
Back in the 1980s, Japan and Coca-Cola pretty much equaled good times in the big city as you can see above. All the more reason to grab the fizzy stuff. Ironically, I don't drink it nearly as much as I used to since the rest of my family prefers the clear stuff: Canada Dry, 7-Up, Sprite, etc.
As I mentioned in my last article regarding singer-songwriter Kaoru Nakahara（中原薫）, she'd been given the rather appropriate if somewhat cringey stage name of Cola Hazuki（葉月コーラ）earlier in her career because she'd become known at the turn of the decade from the 1980s into the 1990s as someone who sang a lot of cola jingles. Hey, if the gigs pay the rent...
In June 1991, Cola Hazuki and comedian Kanpei Hazama（間寛平）put out a single titled "Anata dake wo"（あなただけを...Only You） as the ending theme song for one of Hazama's variety shows. However for this article, I wanted to focus on the coupling song which Hazuki handles on her own called "Day In Vacation". If the song sounds familiar, then you must have heard the original version by the summery supergroup Nagisa no All-Stars（渚のオールスターズ）when they recorded it back in 1989.
Nagisa no All-Stars included the band TUBE and at least a couple of their beloved songwriters, Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）and Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）, and not surprisingly, those two were the ones behind the creation of "Day In Vacation". Hazuki gives the song her summery best as well and perhaps I'm imagining things here, but it even sounds a bit ZARD-ish. Furthermore, my timing isn't too bad either because next week will introduce the annual Golden Week holidays in Japan. Enjoy guzzling down that Coke!
Ever had a food you disliked and actively avoided for as long as you could remember, but one fine day you decide to give it another chance, and you end up liking it? For me, that’d be spring/green onion. As a child, I found its green presence in what I thought would’ve been the perfect dish highly offensive. But the aforementioned process occurred somewhere along the line, and now it’s something I actively want in my food. It’s such a strange phenomenon, isn’t it?
In the kayo context, my spring onion is what is commonly referred to as Hachiro Kasuga’s (春日八郎) signature sound. It’s a dark and plaintive sort of melody on the minor key of the yonanuki (pentatonic) scale that adds a layer of foreboding to Kasuga’s already forlorn tone. Generally speaking, I was never really keen on this sort of melody as I was of the mind that listening to stuff like that would dampen or exacerbate my poor mood. My picky taste thus had me avoiding such Kasuga Bushi, which ironically, were the bulk of Kasuga’s hits. Writing my thesis and joining the Kasuga Enka Denshokai made me accept the “enka” in the “enka singer”, but the greater exposure to Hachi’s vast discography did little to change my preferences. Then one day just this year, something in my brain chemistry must've changed, but I became more open to the Kasuga standards I'd been actively avoiding. There were days when my usual selection just didn't sit right with my mood - neither sad or happy - but these darker numbers were able to just about compliment it. Their haunting melodies and their arrangements suddenly became so fascinating and hypnotic. Nothing represents this change I had better than Izakaya.
Izakayais a constant in Hachi's compilation albums and recitals, and seems to be a fan favourite. It was released in January 1958, and written by lyricist Hiroshi Yokoi (横井弘) and composed by Toshiyo Kamata (鎌多俊与). Its somber atmosphere and theme of moping at a bar would become key enka genre attributes, but I couldn't understand its appeal. My initial enka-kayo pickiness had me dismissing it as a boring mood dampener, and in later days, just one of the representative enka prototypes.
However, I was quite recently doing something that had me picking an enka-like Kasuga Bushi that encompasses someone very enka and very Hachiro Kasuga. The first song that popped into my head, for some reason, was Izakaya. At the time, I had only just begun to appreciate the dark, minor key tunes and their magnetic arrangements, and Izakaya rarely if ever came up on my radar until that moment. Still, I was satisfied with my choice, and I think that was when I began to savor the flavours Toshi-san had created in this beloved hit: bitter, heavy, dry... But highly addictive. For something I disliked, it did a great job for getting stuck in my head. I could've sworn I listened to it at least twice a day for the past couple of weeks.
It also goes without saying that Hachi's mournful warble blended perfectly with the haunting melody. It makes the protagonist sound like he's struggling to hold back tears of anguish from falling into his drink. Yet, Hachi is also fantastic at conveying hope and empathy in the midst of despair, and so the consoling, emotional warmth our protagonist gets from his go-to bar cuts through the song's overall melancholic tone.
So, is this what folks mean when they say "Kasuga Bushi", or rather, "Kasuga Enka"? I think I'm starting to get it.
Speaking of which, by some mind-bending coincidence, the aforementioned enka person later sang Izakaya while representing the Hachi club at a karaoke recital. I also have reason to believe that it's one of their cherished Kasuga Bushi, although I didn't know that when I affixed the song to them. Weird. I suppose that just affirmed by intuition.
Hachi would re-record Izakaya on stereo in 1970 with a different arrangement (the above video). While his more matured, slightly lower voice accentuates the song's inherent sadness, the haunting atmosphere of Toshi-san's original arrangement is what I can't get enough of... Sorry, Toshi-san, you really did cook with this one - I was the clown for not seeing it this whole time.
Anyway, Izakayas are not my kind of place. I bury my head in my favourite singers or surround myself with nature when depressed. So, in that respect, I don't think I can resonate completely with the concept of moping in a bar over alcohol as in the likes of Izakaya. That said, slowly coming around to enka style tunes/enka/Kasuga Bushi of this sound feels like quite the big milestone in my enka journey I'd never thought I'd reach. And that took me like, what, 12-ish years?
"You'll understand enka when you're older." This is a phrase often used to explain enka's older fan base. I had even been told that several times - in fact, that very enka person had even said that I'm still too young to fully comprehend enka and its emotional depth. Admittedly, I took some offence to that, and just took it as a generalizing statement. After all, everyone goes through different things, and thus a listener can interpret and resonate with a song in different ways. But after this Izakaya episode, I'm inclined to believe that there's some truth to this saying, one way or another. I suppose it is really like acquiring the taste of spring onions.
P.S. J-Canuck did a writeup on Izakaya several years ago, so you can check it out here.
P.S.S. Izakaya was theme song of episode 8 on the first radio show Hachi hosted, Kasuga Hachiro noShinmiri Enka Daizenshu (春日八郎のしんみり演歌大全集) in late 1982. The episode had the great Yokoi on as a special guest, and they talked about the results of a kayokyoku survey held by the Nihonshu Center (日本酒センター) that featured postwar kayo with themes, titles, and lyrics related to alcohol released between 1950 and 1981. To my mild surprise, Hachi claimed the top spot for being the singer with the most number of said songs: 26. Yokoi came first in the lyricist category, while Minoru Endo was first in the composer category.
It won't officially be so until December this year, but Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）will be celebrating an anniversary in 2026 in that it will be 50 years since her first solo album"Grey Skies" was put onto record store shelves. Also, she may be aware that one of her idols, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Junos (Canada's version of the Grammys) last night directly from Prime Minister Mark Carney last night.
NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）morning information show did what a lot of Japanese TV shows do at the end of March and the beginning of April, and that is to give things a refresh by swapping out hosts or reporters or changing the set. Two of those were done yesterday; although the hosts remained the same, the regular onsite reporters had a bit of a change and the set was given a redux of sorts.
As well, the theme song for "Asaichi", TENDRE's "Switch", was retired after a few years and it's now been replaced by "Ohayou"（おはよう...Morning!）which is a collaboration between Ohnuki and trackmaker/producer STUTS. The only thing is that I can't find any evidence of this song on YouTube as of yet. Ah, well. However, I found out that this wasn't the only time that Ohnuki and STUTS have worked together. Apparently, a couple of years ago, the two came up with their own cover version of the kayo chestnut "Ii Yu da na"(Wonderful Bath, Ain't It?), the ode to the onsen that had been recorded all the way back by vocal group Duke Aces（デューク・エイセス）in 1966 and then popularized several years later by the comedy group The Drifters（ザ・ドリフターズ）as the ending theme for their long-running variety show "8-ji Da Yo! Zen'in Shuugo!"（8時だよ！全員集合...It's 8 O'Clock! Everyone Assemble!) .
Although hot springs are warm to hot, Ohnuki and STUTS' "Ii Yu da na" is a pretty chill take with some jazzy samples thrown in. All those samples can get a bit noisy but at least the underlying MPC thrumming accentuates the feelings of relaxation that actor Sosuke Ikematsu（池松壮亮）while lounging around in the onsen. Of course, Ohnuki and her calming voice provide veteran reassurance that it's OK to let the stresses of life melt away once in a while.
The Nagoya-born STUTS has been plying his trade since 2008. Several years later, he moved to New York City and did some busking with his MPC.
Yes, the man so cool his sunglasses sprouted from his face organically is back on KKP. Indeed, I'm talking about the God of Love Songs himself, Masayuki "Martin" Suzuki（鈴木雅之）.
I'm usually not a huge fan of tribute albums of famous artists in Japan, although I did buy one for Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）several years ago. And so I was surprised to find out a few days ago that such a tribute album dedicated to the songs of Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）had been produced and released in May 2025. Titled"Meikyo: Tribute to Akina Nakamori"（明響...Akina Resonates）, it apparently consists of two CDs with the first one consisting of those other singers covering her hits while the second one has the original versions of those hits sung by Akina herself back in the 1980s.
Speaking of Martin, he contributes his golden tones to one of Akina's biggest hits, "Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa" (These Tears Ain't For Show) and I gotta say that he hits this one right out of the park like a Kazuma Okamoto homer (which I hope the newest Blue Jay will do later today on Opening Day). I remember when I first heard the original version and thought it a pretty upbeat song which got my OK. But then when I heard the extended album version of the original 1984 single which launched her landmark "Bitter & Sweet" album from 1985, my ears and brain were sent into the stratosphere so that I ended up hearing the track a few times that night when I purchased it in Chinatown.
A similar feeling rammed into me when I heard the Suzuki cover version a couple of nights ago, and it combines quite the potent cocktail of crystalline Neo-City Pop, funk and 60s guitar rock. Singer-songwriter Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）probably smiled through his own dark sunglasses and said "Yes, we have the singer" (a slight joke from "F1"). If there were going to be a fourth season of the anime "Kaguya-sama"（かぐや様は告らせたい）, I wouldn't mind having this be the theme song.
Continuing with the name segues, Inoue brought his own cover of "Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa" from his own self-cover album "9.5 Carat"（9.5カラット）from December 1984 which ended up as the No. 1 album for 1985. For some reason, I never got around to posting this one up until now, despite the fact that I remember hearing it on my old beloved CHIN-FM radio program "Sounds of Japan" decades ago. Anyways, Inoue's cover seems to have a darker and more haunting tone. Plus, the other notable thing about it is that it was arranged by Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, the man behind all that Studio Ghibli music.
Oh, dopey me. I'm four days late in wishing singer-songwriter Mariya Takeuchi a Happy Birthday! But here's hoping that her family enjoyed themselves on the special day. Last year (when I did remember her birthday), I acknowledged the day with a Yutaka Kimura Speaks translated piece about the singer. When I thought about whether to do a Creator article about her, I quickly realized that I had already done one back in 2019.
However for that first entry, I introduced some songs created by Takeuchi in that article that had never been covered before. Well, then, I decided that for this one, I'll bring the comfort food...songs by her that have their own articles from way back when just to remind viewers about what she has given other singers. And of course, this is by no means a comprehensive list.
One of my favourite tracks on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Miss M" album from 1980 was "Secret Love". In fact, I love it so much that I gave it its own article a few years after posting about the album. One YouTube commenter even mentioned that "Secret Love" seemed to be the great connector between American AOR and City Pop in Japan.
The song does go down smoother than a Bailey's Irish Cream. However in the 1980 album, there were those horns which suddenly blasted a hole in my eardrums during the instrumental bridge. It was somewhat jarring; otherwise, I would have pegged it as the perfect AOR song.
But that seems to have been resolved when one of the two guys responsible for its composition, guitarist Jay Graydon (the other guy was David Foster, so it was Airplay behind the music), released his third solo album, "Past to Present - The 70s" in 2006. The horns are now gone but the rest of the music and arrangement has basically been untouched, and this time, the vocals are provided by the lyricist Marc Jordan who also does a great job. Still feel like bombing down the Ventura in a convertible during dusk or dawn while hearing this.
Recently, I have been listening to my various CDs again and one I got to hear once more after a long while was Mioko Yamaguchi's（山口未央子）"Yume Hiko"(Dream Flight) album (pictured lower right) from 1980. Being her debut release, I covered the album and then a couple of songs from the album on their own: the title track and "Itsuka Yurarete Tooi Kuni"（いつかゆられて遠い国）. With the pretty, mysterious and silken Yamaguchi covering the two fresh genres of technopop and City Pop within "Yume Hiko", if I were asked by anyone interested in popular Japanese music of yesteryear for any recommendations, I would definitely suggest this one. Now, I still have four more tracks left to cover from the album so let's get those out of the way.
According to Yamaguchi's 2017 liner notes for the remastered version of the album, "A Dream of Mio" serves as a more organic counterpoint to the earlier and YMO-reminiscent "A Dream of Eμ". As the latter song leads into the next track of "O-Matsuri"（お祭り...Festival）, "A Dream of Mio" leads into the title track. It's only thirty seconds but I couldn't help but feel that there was a bit of Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）whimsy in the arrangement.
Yamaguchi said that she had come up with the words and music for "Aru Yo no Dekigoto"（ある夜の出来事）when she was on the bus for university. And for those old movie fans, she indeed did get the title from the famous Clark Gable flick "It Happened One Night", and just like that classic, Mioko's technopop "Aru Yo no Dekigoto" sounds like a rom-com, and for that matter, it just seems to weave scenes from any anime with a clumsily delivered confession speech. A young lady realizes that she may have blurted out one sentence too much the night before (thanks to some alcohol) and rushes over to the guy's house to confirm. The guy's sly smile says it all.😎
"Waltz"（ワルツ (流舞)）is supposedly one of the fruits of her imagination and labour from attending a course in jazz piano, and it does come across as a most congenial pop waltz which starts off with some of that jazz. Just a personal opinion, but I would like to think that the comical couple from "Aru Yo no Dekigoto", having gotten all their opinions out earlier in the day, are now having their first official date with them dancing to "Waltz" to cap things off. Jake H. Concepcion and Akira Inoue（井上鑑）are helping out on soprano sax and keyboards respectively here.
The final song here and the final track on "Yume Hiko" is the bouncy "Paradise"（パラダイス）. Nice to have some of that City Pop funk in there but there is also some in-and-out of some synthy version of traditional Japanese phrases. In the liner notes, Yamaguchi stated that she had been inspired by Yutaka Yokokura's（横倉裕）1978"Love Light"album which she listened to quite often back in the day, so she wanted to try some of that fusion as well.
Well, it took over eight years but I've finally covered all of "Yume Hiko".
This will be the last article of the three advance City Pop tunes I'm starting up today on Thursday, so I'll put up the remaining two tomorrow. Admittedly, this isn't a particularly deep think piece but then again, City Pop by its nature isn't about the metaphysics of it all. It's always been about having some great fun in the metropolis or even in the resort areas.
Back in the fall of 2023, I was surprised to find out from commenter Gen Kanai that VTubers were also plying their hands and voices on City Pop, and so I took a try with Houshou Marine（宝鐘マリン）& Gawr Gura（がうる・ぐら）and their duet "SHINKIRO" from 2023. Incidentally, it was also the first time that I presented KKP official cartoon representative Kayo Grace Kyoku up at the top though she didn't have a name at the time.
I also found out that Gawr Gura had enjoyed covering some of the City Pop classics from the 1980s including Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Magic Ways"whose video came out in 2022. She did a really nice job there, and just recently, I found her other 2022 cover of one of my favourite songs of the genre, Anri's（杏里）"Shyness Boy" from her 1983 album"Timely!!". Yes, I realize that it's basically her doing karaoke but still, it's not just a row of terrifying teeth emanating from the mouth of the VTuber shark! Of course, it's Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）who came up with the words and music for "Shyness Boy".
One other thing that I've discovered is that Gawr Gura retired from Hololive last year in May, so I'm hoping that whoever portrayed her is enjoying a happy life somewhere.
I think I'm talking for a lot of Torontonians here, but I'm ready to call for an early spring as soon as possible, especially after getting one of the wintriest of winters in about a decade. However, I've been a Torontonian long enough to know that we probably have at least one more blizzard on the way before things finally start warming up.
Well, anyways, let us segue to "Blizzard". If that title sounds familiar to you, then you must be a Yuming（ユーミン）fan since the original version by her was part and parcel of her winning 1984 album "No Side". I already wrote about that song back in KKP's inaugural year of 2012, so here is a cover version by the good folks at Tokimeki Records with vocalist Hikari（ひかり）behind the mike.
This cover version was released in January 2022 and though it most likely won't replace the original in fans' minds, it's still a nice Neo-City Pop version of the Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）classic. Sorry for the pun, but it's quite the chill version, and there seem to be so many synthesizers helping out there that I will also place the technopop label onto it as well.
(Admittedly, what's written below may be old news to her fans so please bear with me here.)
In the years that we've been writing on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", we've realized that a few singers got their fifteen minutes of fame only to disappear completely from view. Takako Mamiya（間宮貴子）and Meiko Nakahara（中原めいこ）are two notable examples. Maybe another one was Reiko Takahashi（高橋玲子）who a lot of fans know for her super cheerful City Pop"Sunset Road". She released her two singles in the late 1980s and that was all she wrote seemingly.
Well, commenter Robert B. contacted me last week and informed me that he had found this new Reiko Takahashi YouTube channel established by the singer herself on January 27th last week, which includes a video containing a brief statement of gratitude from her for her fans' support back in the 1980s and currently. The number of comments for it has made a steady line upwards.
Then a few days later, the YouTube channel Kimi no Station: The Home of City Pop posted an English-language version of Takahashi's "Sunset Road" with the added subtitle of "Let me into your place". According to the blurb under the video, this version was only available on the tape cassette form of the July 1st 1987 single.
Also through the blurb, I discovered that Takahashi under the new name of Rayko was a part of an all-Japanese house band that played on Season 5 of "The Eric Andre Show" back in 2020. You can see her at the upper right of the screen at the 8-second mark. Plus, you can check out her Instagram account. Thanks to Robert B. for the tip.
Fridays are usually reserved for the urban contemporary music but today also happens to be January 30th 2026, aka the 14th anniversary of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Grace and Mr. Calico are celebrating up above so we will, too.
I just wasn't quite sure how we were going to commemorate and celebrate fourteen years of Japanese music blogging. However, for starters, I opted to search for cover versions of the song that became the point of the very first article on KKP back on January 30th 2012, and that was Jun Horie's（堀江淳）big hit "Memory Glass" from 1981. For example, I found this urbane version by Ms. OOJA that she recorded for her April 2024 album"Nagashi no OOJA 3 ~ Vintage Song Covers"（流しのOOJA 3～VINTAGE SONG COVERS～...Strolling OOJA 3）. I don't know who arranged it but they apparently went for the Old City Pop rather than the Neo-City Pop which is perfectly fine for me. There's even more of an urge to drop in at that hotel top bar for a cocktail now.
Decades earlier...in fact, in the same year that Horie's original was released in 1981, veteran chanteuse Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）recorded her own take on "Memory Glass" via her November album "Hotarubi"（螢火）which can be translated as either "Firefly Glow" or "Embers" (depending on how romantic you feel, you can pick either one). Fuji's take is much closer to Motoki Funayama's（船山基紀）original arrangement of the song.
Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. "Tokai"(The City) is one of the famous tracks from Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）1977 album"Sunshower" that has always given me the melodic image of being in the city and enjoying its benefits while at the same time, Ohnuki's lyrics relay the message that it's time to leave the metropolis. Considering the massive breakdown of the Yamanote Line in Tokyo yesterday, I can understand the feeling of commuters there perhaps wanting to flee, but still, I'll go with the hopeful and lighthearted and funky melody.
I'm not sure how many covers of "Tokai" have been done over the years but I do know of the one that the funkster Yasuyuki Okamura（岡村靖幸）and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）did on the 2013 album "Tribute to Taeko Ohnuki"（大貫妙子トリビュート・アルバム）which amps up the funk even further. And just a few days ago, I became aware of a new version by singer-songwriter Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）joined by Ms. Ohnuki herself in the final verse. It's been released as the 5th single in a series of cover songs commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Panam record label. Compared to the original and the 2013 cover, this 2026 version feels a little more 80s AOR (funk is still there) with an electric sitar joining in. Yoshiyuki Sahashi（佐橋佳幸）arranged the song.
To think that "Tokai" is approaching its 49th birthday...quite the timeless tune, and one that I'm happy to incorporate as the first 2026 entry on KKP!
I saw this very high up on my bookmarked backlog so I had marked this a very long time ago. At first, when I came across "Yume Miru Shelter Ningyo" by the Juicy Fruits（ジューシィ・フルーツ）, I'd assumed that this was something new. But of course, at my age, memory starts failing.
First off, the familiarity of the song was there. Then, when I dug further, I realized that I had posted the song back in 2018 when France Gall first sang it as "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (Wax Doll, Rag Doll) in 1965. The Japanese title was "Yume Miru Chanson Ningyo"（夢見るシャンソン人形）, so I have no idea why the Juicy Fruits changed that one word in the title of their 1982 version.
And speaking of that version, it's more of a rock n' roll take on the original and the other covers that I mentioned in the other article. Tetsuya Chiaki（ちあき哲也）provided the Japanese lyrics. It was also used as the theme song for a 1982 movie titled "Weekend Shuffle".
Perhaps one ought to watch "Weekend Shuffle" with tongue thoroughly in cheek and alcoholic libations fully in mouth.
