The Works of Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）

 

I never expected to see her name up on television but recently I saw that veteran lyricist Fumiko Okada had received some sort of award for her decades of work via an NHK report. From that, I thought that it would be time to post a Creator article regarding her.

But first a bit of background from her J-Wiki file, Okada hails from Hiroshima Prefecture. When she gradated from university, her parents pressed her to get a job at television broadcaster TBS working as a timekeeper for music programs. However, knowing herself as someone who never really enjoyed the rigors of an average job or career, she was pretty miserable. Also, she developed insomnia but one night, she gained the urge to write poetry and found out that the words flowed out of her surprisingly easily. Then one day, after amassing her poems into a collection and having some faint interest in becoming a songwriter, she was noticed by the manager of a famous arranger at work. Noting how unenthused young Okada looked, he asked her what she really wanted to do for which she replied "I want to become a lyricist". A mere few days later, that manager suggested Okada to a record company as a rookie lyricist. At least, one song with her lyrics got into a music festival and that apparently was all she needed to write...literally. She started getting requests for her words, something that has been continuing for her for close to 55 years.

(1972) Young 101 -- Kaiju no Ballad（怪獣のバラード）

In a desert where the blood-red sun set

A great big monster lived there in peace

One morning when he woke up, he heard a bell from a caravan off in the distance

He suddenly screamed out

I wanna see the ocean! I wanna love people! Monsters have hearts, too, you know!

Let's leave the desert behind and head to where love and the ocean reside

Although I didn't note this in the original KKP article for "Kaiju no Ballad", this was apparently Okada's first work as a professional lyricist. 

(1981) Ruiko Kurahashi -- Glass no Yesterday （ガラスのYesterday)

Yesterday

I danced all night with you

Yesterday, although we can never meet again

We said "See you later" and parted

You're the one who embraced me while saying

I can't love you on mere kindness

Whenever Okada's name is mentioned, I will always first remember Fashion Music specialist Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）songs since the lyricist provided a number of her works to her. 

(1986) Shibugakitai -- Sushi Kui ne! （スシ食いねェ！）

This is the No. 1 sushi restaurant in Japan

Gotta eat sushi! Gotta eat sushi! Gotta eat sushi!

Green tea! Green tea! Green tea! Pickled ginger! Picked ginger! Pickled ginger!

In contrast with the elegance of Kurahashi's signature song, the raucous "Sushi kui ne!" comes under the catchphrase of "Okada wrote this one?!". She must love her sushi.

(1987) Kiyomi Suzuki with Rats & Star -- Lonely Chaplin (ロンリー・チャプリン）

Lonely Chaplin

Time passes...and even if you fade away

I will always wait for you

Smile like the little boy you are

You want to come home

Into my arms, don't you?

As long as your dreams are unfulfilled

Oh, do what you wanna do again

Oh, do what you wanna do again

Man, didn't know that Chaplin was that lucky a guy!

(1979) Asami Kado -- Fascination (ファッシネイション）

I love you. Stop it because you make me feel so helpless

Stop it if you're only going to kiss me once

I love you. I got myself all psyched up

I hate you stalling for time

Nothing like pouty coquettishness to spice up a relationship!

Izumi Sara -- Spacy Love（スペーシィ・ラブ）

 

Back in the spring of 2023, I posted an article on a very obscure singer, Izumi Sara（沙羅いづみ）, and her B-side "Heartbreak City"（ハート・ブレイク・シティ）which was a pretty amiable disco City Pop tune.

Well, today to start off this edition of Urban Contemporary Friday on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I have the A-side this time, "Spacy Love" which seems to amp up the disco and the brass. Along with the disco, there is the City Pop and maybe even some exotic kayo in the intro. Written by same duo behind "Heartbreak City", lyricist Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composer/arranger Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）, the writer on Hip Tank Records gave their assessment of the song (translation by Google Translate):

"...a charmingly unpolished cult Japanese disco track—a medium-tempo, spacey disco number with a melody that evokes an oriental atmosphere...".

Perhaps there is a bit of a backhand swing in that compliment but I think that brass has some Yuji Ohno（大野雄二）or Spectrum vibes, and to be honest, I sometimes feel that the horns came in from a particular Ryohei Yamanashi（山梨良平）tune from the future or were inspired by Maynard Ferguson. Hip Tank Records also treats "Spacy Love" as one of those rare cult singles so if any of you City Pop fans can get a copy of it anywhere, consider yourselves fortunate.

Keiko Nishina -- Koi no Shocking Town（恋のショッキング・タウン）/Umi no Ue no Restaurant（海の上のレストラン）

 

Several years ago, I posted an article about the 1981 debut single, "Koi no Kirakira Dance"（恋のキラキラダンス） , by an obscure aidoru named Keiko Nishina（二科恵子）. As mentioned there, she only released four singles in 1981 and 1982.

Well, I found a succeeding single titled "Koi no Shocking Town" (Shocking Town of Love) sometime in 1982 (maybe Nishina loved her 恋). Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed by Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）, compared to the more conventional "Koi no Kirakira Dance", "Koi no Shocking Town" infuses a bit of Doobie Bounce for a more AOR flavour. Meanwhile, the B-side which begins at 4:08 of the above video, "Umi no Ue no Restaurant" (The Restaurant on the Top of the Ocean) has that popular 50s or 60s girl pop arrangement. Dapper singer-songwriter Ryohei Yamanashi（山梨鐐平）provided words and music for that one.

Emiko Nakayama -- News Sokuhou（ニュース速報）

 

A lot of us have half-jokingly remarked that whenever we hear soundtrack maestro John Williams' "Special Report" theme for NBC that it's not only the most epic music for a potential crisis but it makes us all go into Pavlovian-induced ("Oh, my word. It's John Williams! Activate the Panic Room, honey!) states of fear.

Well, Emiko Nakayama's（中山恵美子）"News Sokuhou" (Newsflash), which is the B-side to her 6th single from December 1975, "Yuu Gohan wa Curry ni Shimashou"（夕ごはんはカレーにしましょう）, is about as far away from Williams' bulletin song as Coruscant is from Tatooine. It's also quite different from the happily perky A-side which basically acted as a commercial jingle for Bon Curry Gold. 

Lyricist Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composer Ken Sato（佐藤健）, who had taken care of "Yuu Gohan wa Curry ni Shimashou", also created "News Sokuhou". I don't know where the newsflash aspect of this kayo kyoku comes in, but it is still a curious ballad in that it begins with what sounds like a 1970s breaking news alert before it suddenly transitions into a languid Motown soul love song (with electric sitar) containing some sappy love talk about comparing the songwriting boyfriend to Takuro Yoshida（吉田拓郎）himself. It's got plenty of atmosphere, too, with some stormy sounds busting in. Hopefully, the newsflash is that the pair is getting married instead of breaking up which a lot of lyrics and sound effects of storms tend to hint at.

Shower -- Do Up Loving（Do up・愛・ing）

 

Yesterday, I featured 80s aidoru Chiaki Ogami（尾上千昌）and her lone single "Tokimeki Highway"（ときめきハイウェイ）from 1983. In there, I also mentioned that she had belonged to the aidoru group Shower（シャワー）whose only activities consisted of just two singles and one album in 1982.

Shower was a 7-strong group which had Ogami, Eriko Akiyama（秋山絵梨子）, Yoshimi Murai（村井美実）, Rikako Murakami（村上里佳子）, Yumi Yano（矢野有美）, Hisako Takashika（高鹿久子）, and Masayo Nakagawa（中川雅世）. What surprised me was the presence of Murakami, or as she has been known for decades, RIKACO, a tarento and occasional model who can show off a pretty nasty temper. I only knew her for her appearances on variety shows and panel discussions, and if I'm not mistaken, she's the third lass from the left on the cover of the first single by Shower, "Do Up Loving".

Released in February 1982, it's not surprisingly a very upbeat and cute aidoru tune reminiscent of "Georgy Girl" that was written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed/arranged by Yasunori Soryo（惣領泰則）. The whole thing about Shower getting together was that it was the brainchild of Tanabe Agency which decided to start up a campaign aidoru group to advertise Shiseido's Shower Cologne. From an audition group of 250 girls, the seven were selected in 1981 with the original name being Showers.

The above is one example of a commercial selling Shower Cologne although it's an earlier ad so it doesn't feature Shower.

Miho Nakayama -- Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete （ラストシーンに愛をこめて）

 

(And not surprisingly, the video is gone!)

A couple of days ago, fellow Miho Nakayama fan and KKP contributor Marcos V. was kind enough to inform me of a video on YouTube showing the late singer-actress' final concert recorded last July and released late last November, only several days before her untimely death. It's been up on the platform for about a couple of weeks now and frankly I don't know how long it will stay up before the powers-that-be probably clamp down upon the uploader, so get your views when you can. There's also a disclaimer by the fellow stating that the video will only be available at night. I'm assuming that means Japan Standard Time. As well, there are time stamps on the YouTube page so you can check out your favourite Miporin tunes.

When I got my own copy of Miho Nakayama's（中山美穂）"Blanket Privacy", her 6th compilation album of re-recordings of her ballads, two new tunes and three cover songs from November 1993 years ago, I was surprised that one of those covers was Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）"Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete" (Fill The Last Scene With Love). Not to say that doing so was the wrong thing to do by any means; Kurahashi remains one of my favourite singers to this day. It's just that I had never expected a former aidoru-turned-pop singer to cover a tune by another singer whose profile didn't reach anywhere near superstar status (although Ruiko has a very dedicated following including myself). To be honest, the only connection between her and any other singer that I was aware about was through the duet consisting of her and Takao Horiuchi（堀内孝雄）, "Hanrira"（ハンリーラ）back in 1985.

And yet, here Miporin is, covering a Kurahashi Fashion Music classic. The original "Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete" has an epic orchestral feeling that makes me feel as if it could be used for an Oscar ceremony "In Memoriam" segment. For Nakayama's cover, the Knock arrangement of Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and Kisaburo Suzuki's（鈴木キサブロー）creation keeps things classy but has more of a contemporary power ballad feeling. Although I think in any emotional tribute video to the singer, a more well-known Miporin ballad will be used, her "Last Scene ni Ai wo Komete" could also fit the bill.

From Amazon.ca

Jun Miho -- Mou Ichido Mou Ichido（もう一度 もう一度）

 

Well, you City Pop bass addicts ought to like this dose. I actually posted one track from actress/singer Jun Miho's（美保純）1983 album "Private Theater" back in 2021; "After Rain Afternoon" is a nice jazzy and summery number.

Its track mate, "Mou Ichido Mou Ichido" (One More Time, One More Time), is one funky song launched by both a bopping synth bass and a just-as-jumpy electric bass which should be having the fans strutting like crazy. Of course, Miho lends her smoky-as-bacon vocals to the proceedings of a woman begging for another chance with perhaps a love-'em-and-leave-'em type of cad. Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Takayuki Watanabe（渡辺敬之）, those horns sound as if they migrated from Chicago's "Street Player".

Noriko Hidaka -- Hatsukoi Sunshine（初恋サンシャイン）

 

Not sure if I ever mentioned this thing about haikyo（廃墟）which refers to the abandoned ruins or remains of a building or town. Perhaps it doesn't get any attention in the West but apparently in Japan, there are websites devoted to these eerie decrepit places that were once bustling structures and folks even try to explore them like the Scooby Gang at a haunted house. I once even sent a link of one of these sites to a student of mine who had first told me about haikyo only for him to ask me politely not to send any more links since this particular one was creeping him out.

Anyways, the above example of haikyo is what was once Nio Sunshine Land（仁尾サンシャインランド）, an amusement park in Kagawa Prefecture which had its time between 1984 and 1995 following its predecessor, the Nio Sun Exposition（仁尾太陽博）which ran between 1981 and 1983. From what other information I've read in its J-Wiki article, even what's showing in the YouTube video above has been completely cleared from existence.

But let's go back to rosier times, shall we? Singer and voice actress Noriko Hidaka（日髙のり子）had just begun her career as an aidoru with a January 1980 single under her real name of Noriko Ito（いとうのりこ）, but then with her 2nd single, she took on the stage name of Hidaka. That sophomore single was "Hatsukoi Sunshine" (First Love Sunshine) which was released later that year in December.

From the whimsical melody by Koichi Sugiyama（すぎやまこういち）, and yes it's the same guy behind the iconic "Dragon Quest" soundtrack, I was going to think that "Hatsukoi Sunshine" was a theme song for some shojo anime. However, it was actually the image song for the aforementioned Nio Sun Exposition. Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）was the lyricist for a story for falling heads-over-heels under a blazing sun and blue sky. Well, it's kinda too bad that the amusement park has gone to that architectural ash heap but we still have a musical reminder of what was. Ah, by the way, the audio tends to skip a couple of times.

Miyako Otsuki -- Koibito no You ni...（恋人のように…）

 

A little over a month ago, I noted that enka veteran Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）is celebrating her 60th anniversary in show business, which is why I posted an Author's Pick regarding her discography. I then discovered that another singer of the genre, Miyako Otsuki（大月みやこ）, is also celebrating the big Six-Oh this year after beginning her career with "Haha Koi Shamisen"（母恋三味線）in 1964.

As such, earlier in March, Otsuki released her 129th and most recent single in the form of "Koibito no You ni..." (Just Like Lovers...) which describes a story of two former flames encountering each other again after a span of many decades and perhaps re-igniting something (hope it isn't the Voltaren). Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）and composed by Tetsuya Gen（弦哲也）, it's quite the boisterous enka tune with even a bit of soul worked into the arrangement as if to reflect the revived energies in this couple.

(truncated version)

Kimiko Saito & Fukushi Ochiai -- Lonely Chaplin（ロンリー・チャプリン）

 

Now that we're approaching the end of March, it looks like the anime winter season for this year is also coming to an end. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the totality of some of the series on air over the past few months.

"Snack Basue"（スナックバス江）is one of them. As one YouTuber reviewed it, it won't be for everyone and I kinda figured that most of the scenes will just be in the titular cozy bar with the regulars doing all sorts of inside banter. But that's the type of stuff I like, so "Snack Basue" and I ought to get along just fine. Besides the whole thing about foot massage in Episode 5 is a literal whack at all that Japanese television coverage of one famous foot masseur easing/torturing female tarento.

One of the gimmicks of the show that I've already cottoned onto is the rotating series of ending themes per each episode which has been focused on some of those songs of yesteryear. They've been provided via the characters' karaoke performances in Snack Basue. It was almost a couple of months ago when I posted the first one of these covers, Anri's（杏里）debut single "Olivia wo Kikinagara"（オリビアを聴きながら）by proprietress Akemi（明美）as played by seiyuu Rie Takahashi（高橋李依）.

For Episode 7, the song du nuit is another favourite of mine: "Lonely Chaplin" originally by Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）and his big sister, Kiyomi Suzuki（鈴木聖美）back in 1987. This time though, it's seiyuu Kimiko Saito（斉藤貴美子）as Basue Mama（バス江ママ）and Fukushi Ochiai（落合福嗣）as regular customer Tatsu-nii（タツ兄）behind the mikes. Watching and hearing these guys perform is rather ironic since that is exactly the way that I first found out about the cool tune...watching a couple of people perform "Lonely Chaplin" at a karaoke bar over thirty years ago, though this was in Gunma instead of Hokkaido. Definitely link back to the original song and listen to Martin and Kiyomi!

Keiko Toge -- Beautiful Dreamer/Yume no Iriguchi（夢の入口）

 

I remember when the marvelous singer-songwriter Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）came onto the music scene with her debut song and 1985 hit single "Koi ni Ochite"（恋におちて）, and people were marveling at how much she sounded like the late Karen Carpenter of Carpenters' fame. The fact that the legendary American singing duo is basically seen as music gods in Japan amped Kobayashi's profile considerably. Just a few years after that, Kobayashi even got to work with Richard Carpenter on the album "City of Angels".

Well, Kobayashi wasn't alone when it came to the Karen Carpenter comparison. Singer-songwriter Keiko Toge（峠恵子）who hails from Saitama Prefecture was scouted by CBS-Sony perhaps around the end of the 80s or early in 1990 when she was a university student and subbed for a friend who was supposed to perform at a live house and she just happened to sing the Carpenters' "I Need to Be in Love". According to her own Facebook page, at around the same time, Toge was also chosen to be the lead vocalist for the Group Sounds band The Wild Ones when they were commemorating their 25th anniversary.

Between 1992 and 1997, Toge released eight singles and two original albums. Her penultimate single released in December 1996 was "Beautiful Dreamer". Although nothing has been written in her J-Wiki profile, this particular song was used as the theme for some sort of world fair which took place in Japan at around that time according to a few comments under the video. It does have that very sunny and optimistic outlook in its arrangement which was handled by the late composer/arranger Katsuhisa Hattori（服部隆之）. To be honest, I can not only pick up on the Karen Carpenter similarity but also the observation that the song sounds a bit like something that the Carpenters could have tackled back in the day. Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）provided the lyrics.

Toge's Carpenter-ness becomes even more pronounced on the coupling song "Yume no Iriguchi" (Dream Gate). I'm not sure if this tune had ever been used in media but it would have made a fine commercial tune for the Brazilian tourism board. There's some bossa nova and jazz in there and those two have always been welcome in my ears. Hattori and Okada were also responsible for "Yume no Iriguchi".

The singer has had quite the interesting life. Dropping out of high school, she opted to study in America for a year before returning to Japan and later graduating from the Faculty of Law at Seijo University. Toge also has a 1st-class certification in the Ski Association of Japan. Some years following her release of singles and albums, she even went on a yearlong expedition in 2001. First, she went with several others over 45 days on a yacht to head down to the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya on the island of New Guinea. Apparently, Toge was also the first person to reach the top of the northern face of Puncak Trikora, the 2nd-highest mountain on New Guinea. Then, she even spent life in the jungle for many months searching for the remains of Japanese soldiers and any signs of the supposedly extinct Thylacine. After returning home in 2002, she would eventually write about her own experiences in New Guinea. I wonder whether she deserved a John Williams soundtrack to her journey.

On top of all that, she's also behind the sound logo for Morinaga. This reminds me of Takako Minekawa's（嶺川貴子）contribution to PlayStation.

But let's finish this all off by going back to the beginning.

Yoko Oginome -- The Best（荻野目洋子 ザ・ベスト）

 

Another kind gift from JTM over the Holidays was Yoko Oginome's（荻野目洋子）first BEST compilation, "Yōko Oginome: The Best" which hit the shelves on Christmas Day 1985, so definitely a Merry Christmas to all of those Yoko fans. It's an interesting one to be sure because the final track on this CD is "Dancing Hero"（ダンシング・ヒーロー）, the song that I've felt to be the ground zero for my image of Oginome, the angular dancing heroine aidoru of the mid-1980s. So, all of the singles and songs before were still quite new to me although since then, I've become aware of her being one-third of the kiddie aidoru trio Milk in 1980 and then her star turn as the main character in the anime "Miyuki"（みゆき）in 1983. As well, somewhere in my dusty collection of VHS tapes, Oginome was a teenaged assistant in some sort of variety special on television where she was probably known just for "Miyuki" and as the kid sister to actress Keiko Oginome（荻野目慶子）.

In any case, I've already covered a quarter of the sixteen tracks on "The Best", and by the way, JTM gave his thoughts on another BEST compilation almost eleven years ago called "Golden Best" from 2009. I don't think I'll be able to cover everything here but let's how many we can take a look at. The ones that I've already posted will have links to their respective articles.

1. "Mirai Kōkai (Sailing)" (未来航海)

2. "Ryūsei Shōjo" (流星少女)

3. "Sayonara kara Hajimaru Monogatari" (さよならから始まる物語)

4. "Natsu no Hohoemi" (夏の微笑)

5. "Teens Romance" (ティーンズ・ロマンス)

6. "December Memory" (ディセンバー・メモリー)

7.     "Ame to Jasmine" (雨とジャスミン)

8. "Mukokuseki Romance" (無国籍ロマンス)

9. "Freesia no Ame" (フリージアの雨)

10. "2B no Enpitsu" (2Bの鉛筆)

11. "Koishite Caribbean" (恋してカリビアン)

12. "Ai no Time Capsule" (愛のタイムカプセル)

13. "Kokoro no Mama ni (I'm Just a Lady)" (心のままに 〜I'm just a lady〜)

14. "Sweet Vacation" (スイート・ヴァケーション)

15.   "Kaigara Terrace" (貝殻テラス)

16. "Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)" (ダンシング・ヒーロー)

"Ryūsei Shōjo" (Meteor Girl) is the B-side to Oginome's debut single "Mirai Kōkai (Sailing)" from April 1984. It's the usual mellow aidoru tune on the flip side of the more active A-side. Written by Yoko Aki（阿木燿子）and composed by Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）, it's got some hints of City Pop or AOR with the instruments involved but Aki's lyrics either talk about that titular meteor girl surreptitiously looking at the boy of her dreams after having a fight with his own girlfriend in the perhaps vain hopes of welcoming him into her arms instead or she really is a girl from outer space observing the surprisingly fragile male ego. Oginome's voice is also just as mellow here, perhaps some months away from gaining that famous nasal tone.

Oginome's 2nd single is "Sayonara kara Hajimaru Monogatari" (A Story That Begins with a Goodbye) from July 1984. Indeed, a story of getting over summertime heartbreak, the lyricist was Chinfa Kan（康珍化）and the composer was Tetsuya Furumoto（古本鉄也）with Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）handling the arrangement. There's some playful drama in the music including that popular electric guitar wailing solo from those days (methinks it's a Hagita thing). I'm getting the impression that the people supporting Oginome at the time really liked to get those music videos with her. I'm not quite sure what child labour laws were like in Japan in 1984 but I certainly wasn't aware that gamine 14 or 15-year-olds were able to work at gas stations. For that matter, I wonder if that fellow at the end was a young Agent Gibbs...or Stringfellow Hawke. Incidentally, "Sayonara kara Hajimaru Monogatari" peaked at No. 29 on Oricon and won the singer a whole slew of awards including those for Best New Artist and Silver prizes.

Ah, nice winter cottage setting there. Then again, we return to the gas station and also a dance studio and even a Japanese music show stage, so I'm guessing that this may have been the wrap-up video for a collection. It's for Oginome's 4th single "Mukokuseki Romance" (A Romance Without Nationality) from February 1985. The lyrics by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）describe a Japanese woman lured into a love affair with a foreigner overseas with the melody being woven by none other than the late Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. When I read that, I chuckled a bit since I was reminded of "Medaka no Kyoudai"（めだかの兄妹）from 1982 by the cute-as-all-get-out aidoru trio Warabe（わらべ）. Sakamoto was responsible for its arrangement and it did become a hit although at the time, The Professor was perhaps somewhat aghast at the assignment. The J-Wiki article for "Mukokuseki Romance" did note that it was very unusual for him to actually come up with a melody for an aidoru ("What, again?!"), but hey, work is work. The song has that certain je ne sais quoi of exotic mysticism which is right up Sakamoto's alley. It hit No. 35 on the charts.

"Freesia no Ame" (Freesia Rain) is actually the title track from Oginome's 2nd album released in March 1985. At the risk of sounding like the narrator from Canada's "Hinterland Who's Who", the freesia is a flowering plant native to Africa, so I'm gathering that man and woman in Takashi Matsumoto's（松本隆）words are traveling on a train coursing through that continent with the latter figure quietly expressing her love for the big lug. Motoki Funayama（船山基紀）is usually someone that I equate with arrangement but this time, he also came up with the basic happy-go-lucky melody. As for the album, "Freesia no Ame" managed to get as high as No. 26.

My final song here today is "Kokoro no Mama ni (I'm Just a Lady)" (As You Please) which is Oginome's 6th single from August 1985. Hagita was once again on hand to arrange Mai Arai's（あらい舞） melody and words, and this one seems to be reminder of some of the sweeping aidoru ballads from a few years previously as done by folks like singer-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. The strings used in the song especially remind me of those earlier days. There seems to be a "poor little rich girl" vibe with "Kokoro no Mama ni" as Oginome sings about being a proper lady and not being able to openly express those emotions such as falling in love. The song reached No. 16 on Oricon and it is the single before Oginome transformed into the dancing Eurobeat aidoru with "Dancing Hero" from November that year.

Kaho Shimada -- Rosey/Manga-tique Romance（マンガチック・ロマンス）

 

Having a passing interest in architecture especially for buildings that have that futuristic tinge, I was quite elated to get this shot of Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower in Shinjuku. I never had any particular need to enter the above ground floors but I did access the basement ones where a bookstore resides. Access was possible through the covered passage leading from Shinjuku Station's West Exit to the hotel-and-skyscraper area.

Anyways, I want to introduce a new person into "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Her name is Kaho Shimada（島田歌穂）and she's a singer and a musical theatre actress. I can't quite remember whether she's appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）since its beginnings several years ago but I remember that she used to appear fairly often on the show's predecessor "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）on NHK with her golden tones.

As an example, I can offer her "Rosey" from her 2nd album "Distractions" which was released in February 1990. Written and composed by Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆）, it's a pretty stylish pop love ballad about realizing too late that a love has now gotten away. It's a sad song to be sure but the arrangement and Shimada's rich and resonant vocals can bring fans back for repeat listenings. Many singles and albums of hers have come out between 1981 and 2019. Shimada's most famous role on stage is that of Eponine in the Tokyo production of "Les Misérables".

Born Kaho Shima（島歌穂）in 1963 in Tokyo, the future entertainer grew up in the midst of a musical family. Her father, Takaho Shimada（島田敬穂）, was a musician who trained one of the Anison Kings, Isao Sasaki（ささきいさお）, while her mother, Reiko Tsukubane（筑波嶺玲子）, was a jazz singer who emerged from the famed Takarazuka Troupe. Teenaged Kaho had a recurring role in a tokusatsu comedy series "Ganbare!! Robocon"（がんばれ!!ロボコン...Do Your Best!! Robocon） through the mid-1970s and then made her debut as an aidoru in April 1981 with her first single "Manga-tique Romance", a 70s funk/disco-sounding tune written by Fumiko Okada（岡田有希子）and composed/arranged by Katsuo Ono（大野克夫）.

Perhaps one reason that I haven't seen Shimada recently on an NHK program (she did appear on the Kohaku Utagassen in 1988 and 1989) is that she may be very busy as an assistant professor of drama at the Osaka University of Arts.

Cherish -- Yume - Shinkirou（夢・蜃気楼）

 

The duo Cherish（チェリッシュ）consisting of Yoshitaka Matsuzaki（松崎好孝）and Etsuko Matsui（松井悦子）have been their known for their adorable folk hit, "Tento Mushi no Samba"（てんとう虫のサンバ）from July 1973. However, they've been around since 1968 and according to J-Wiki, they're still around.

Up to now, Cherish has released 48 singles and 32 albums, but by the mid-1980s, the frequency of their releases was starting to lessen, and Album No. 29 was "Daydream", their first LP in five years which came out in 1986. One track that I found was "Yume - Shinkirou" (Dream - Mirage) and their sound for at least this song was dramatically different from the bouncy and upbeat "Tento Mushi no Samba", and naturally, the longer a group or singer keeps on going in their career, the more their sound evolves.

Written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed by Tsunehiro Izumi（和泉常寛）, "Yume - Shinkirou" fits the title of not only the track but also of the album. It really does have a hazy and dreamy arrangement with Matsui's soft and floaty vocals, and with that sudden engagement of that electric guitar going into the chorus, I was reminded of many a Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）ballad in the early to mid-1980s when they were contributed as ending themes to that television mystery series. I'd be interested in listening to the rest of "Daydream".

Ruiko Kurahashi -- Ku-gatsu no Mado（九月の窓）

 

Well, welcome to September 2023! In tribute to the entry of the 9th month, I had considered just putting up my three favourite September-themed tunes onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but I would have been repeating myself since I had already done so with a larger number of songs a couple of years ago. So, why don't you have a look at my "September Songs" from 2021 instead?

Usually this being Friday, I would be going into the Urban Contemporary category with the songs today, but I've figured to begin with this number because it has something to do with September and it's been in the backlog for some months, ready to get its debut on the blog. And of course, since I'm a big Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）fan, I have to give her my due.

"Ku-gatsu no Mado" (September Window) is a track from Kurahashi's June 1981 debut album, "Without Sugar". The album is something that I've cherished since getting it from a fellow Mixi friend years ago, knowing that it has been one of the rarest of the rare to get. True to Kurahashi's style, "Ku-gatsu no Mado" has that delicate Fashion Music style (although the chorus gets a little jumpy) and I can easily imagine the singer herself in a melancholy mood in a Parisian café as she breathes some condensation on the window as it's raining outside. Katsuo Ono（小野克夫）was responsible for the gently lilting melody while Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）wrote the lyrics about the coming fall, a season in kayo kyoku land known for the end of romance.

Young 101 -- Kaiju no Ballad（怪獣のバラード）

 

Earlier today, I wrote on Fuyumi Sakamoto's（坂本冬美）newest single, "Saikai Sakaba"（再会酒場）, and did a little mention of the expanded version of "Uta Con"（うたコン）tonight while wondering what the reason behind the special 70-minute show. Well, it turned out that a chunk of the broadcast was dedicated to commemorating the originating network NHK's 70th anniversary this year, and not surprisingly, the Kohaku Utagassen's first televised broadcast back at the end of 1953.

I've seen my fair share of music shows on NHK and the other commercial networks including "Uta Con" but there are many that I never got to see, and one of them which did get featured during the retrospective was "Stage 101"（ステージ101）on the national broadcaster. Although obviously, there were weekly music shows that came onto NHK dating back to the 1950s, "Stage 101", which lasted between 1970 and 1974, was touted as the first music show directly aimed at the younger audience. It was titled that way because the show took place at the network's CT-101 studio in Shibuya which had once boasted the largest such space in East Asia.

"Stage 101" had a changing group of hosts which included Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）, a former NHK announcer herself who would gain far more fame later as the host of TBS music ranking show "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）. Plus, it had a group of dancing and singing men and women known as Young 101（ヤング101）who kinda looked like a massive group of The Partridge Family. Strangely enough, Young 101 had future soloists Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）, Akira Kushida（串田アキラ）and Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）as members.

A number of original songs came from "Stage 101", one of them being "Kaiju no Ballad" (Ballad of the Magic Dragon) which was written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed by Osamu Shouji（東海林修）as this Sunshine Pop feel-good tune which probably became a mainstay for high school glee clubs everywhere in Japan. The lyrics have a caravan of happy people inviting a dragon to not just lie in the desert but to join them for a trip to the wondrous ocean. The dragon apparently accepts. "Kaiju no Ballad" was released as a single in September 1972.

To finish off, "Stage 101" was replaced by "Let's Go Young"（レッツゴーヤング）the following month, another music show for the younger generation which had a much longer run.

Izumi Sara -- Heartbreak City（ハート・ブレイク・シティ）

 

I used to remember some of the girls in my junior high school coming to class wearing hot pants like the one that this young lady was wearing on the cover. Not that I stared...much.😎

Anyways, this song is coming down as one of the rarest of the rare. I couldn't find anything on Izumi Sara（沙羅いづみ）online outside of this one October 1980 single she released called "Spacy Love"（スペーシィ・ラブ）, but for today I am covering the B-side, "Heartbreak City". Virtually the only thing that has been written about her is that she was a B-class aidoru although considering her lower vocals and the nature of the song, you'll forgive me if I don't see her that way.

"Heartbreak City" is indeed a City Pop tune written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed by Kunihiko Suzuki（鈴木邦彦）. It's got that refined disco style with the strings and the boppy bass and once again after listening to this one a few times, I think Sara's vocals make me feel as if she were more of an urban siren rather than a cute aidoru.

Ruiko Kurahashi -- Zenmaijikake no Machi（ぜんまいじかけの都会）

 

Got another potential Noah's Ark situation in the weather department with loads of rain on the way. Ugh! Y'know...spring can actually involve sun, too!

As you know, I've often relied Wikipedia and J-Wiki for information regarding singers and songs, and yep I do realize that when it comes to academic writing, neither source has been greatly admired as the ultimate reference due to their amorphous nature. So if there are footnotes are available in the Wiki articles, I try to refer to those original sources. 

Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）has been one of those underrated (by my estimation anyways) singers whose information has slowly grown from the small trickle that it once had been to something a little more plentiful. Indeed, I just discovered some rather new data when I checked her J-Wiki entry with the original source being a February 1985 issue of "Shuukan Terebi Bangumi"（週刊テレビ番組...Weekly Television Programs）. I knew that her name was actually a stage name with her real name being Shizuko Fujimoto（藤本.志津子）of Hokkaido (although that information has now been deleted for some reason). What I hadn't known was how she became Ruiko Kurahashi.

Well, according to the magazine, she had been scouted by a record company and undertook about 18 months of singing lessons before making her debut with "Glass no Yesterday"（ガラスのYesterday）in 1981. It turns out that the lyricist for that first single, Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）, had also helped the young lass in her training and was the one to come up with Ms. Fujimoto's stage name. Okada's favourite author at the time was Yumiko Kurahashi（倉橋由美子）whose novels' characters were often androgynous, and apparently that was the image that the singer projected (although I personally felt that she was still quite feminine). As well, Okada plucked out the French boy's name of Louis and added the Japanese female name suffix of "-ko" to form Ruiko Kurahashi. Maybe I can extrapolate that Okada may have also been a fan of the manga "The Rose of Versailles" as well as an admirer of the Takarazuka Troupe.

In any case, Okada wrote a number of songs for Kurahashi including this B-side, "Zenmaijikake no Machi" (Clockwork Town), to her 5th single, "Tsumi na Ame"（罪な雨）from December 1983. Unlike the languid melancholy of that A-side which was a quintessential characteristic of a lot of Kurahashi's discography, "Zenmaijikake no Machi" shows off the singer's occasional dives into something quite upbeat and breezy. Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, who's often been associated with the City Pop groove, provides some straight pop here with Katsu Hoshi（星勝）providing the country-ish bounce.

Because I've only gotten a mix of BEST albums and a few of her increasingly rare original albums, it's probable that a lot of her singles' B-sides never saw the light of day outside of those 45s. So I'm very grateful whenever I encounter them online. My thanks to uploader Nameless Songs.

Emiko Nakayama -- Yuu Gohan wa Curry ni Shimashou（夕ごはんはカレーにしましょう）

 

There's been quite the love affair between the Japanese and Indian cuisine for decades. I was weaned on Japanese curry since I was a kid, and I got my education on curry when I was actually residing in the country. One can throw a stone anywhere in Tokyo and the chances are pretty good that it'll hit an Indian restaurant of some sort or at least on a place serving curry. I had my first puffy piece of naan and Thai coconut curry right there. The above photo has a nice pot of Butter Chicken Curry at a restaurant near my good friend's place in Musashi-Kosugi.

Yesterday, commenter Brian noted that he did enjoy his share of foodie-based kayo so I gather that today will be his lucky day. I steered him towards Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子）tongue-in-cheek "Ramen Tabetai"（ラーメン食べたい）and now I introduce him to "Yuu Gohan wa Curry ni Shimashou" (Let's Have Curry for Supper). Emiko Nakayama's（中山恵美子）6th single from December 1975 possibly had the benefit of good timing since with the cold coming in by the time of the record's release, folks were probably more than happy to have a steaming plate of curry rice.

In fact, I found out on Twitter that the song was used as a commercial jingle for Japan's Bon Curry Gold and it does have that catchy jingle feeling that would get the kids and parents slavering for some of that curry. Ken Sato（佐藤健）and Kenichi Sawa（沢健一）were responsible for the melody and arrangement respectively while Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）provided the food-friendly lyrics. Not sure how "Yuu Gohan wa Curry ni Shimashou" did on Oricon, but it probably spurred a lot of purchases of curry mix in the supermarkets. Ironically, I had some leftover curry for supper last night myself.

In another bit of coincidence, my first Emiko Nakayama article back in 2015 was for her "Black Coffee"（ブラックコーヒー）, so have a gander at that for some further foodie-based kayo.

Bread & Butter -- Monday Morning (album), Part 2

 

It was just a week ago that I provided Part 1 of the article on Bread & Butter's（ブレッド＆バッター）"Monday Morning" album from 1980. So, allow me to finish the remaining four songs from Side B recorded by brothers Satsuya and Fuyumi Iwasawa（岩沢幸矢・岩沢二弓）.

"Marie"（マリエ）is actually a cover of Bread & Butter's 2nd single from April 1970 with the Iwasawa brothers taking care of words and music. It's a bittersweet ballad of longing for the title lady but there has been no response since the fellow has simply been longing and not doing anything about it. Masaki Matsubara（松原正樹）was the arranger for the dreamy AOR here, but for the original single, Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）was in charge of the arrangement so I'm curious about how it played, presumably more as a folk tune.

I gotta say that it's not all that often that I hear a song with the word "paradoxical" in its title. However, that's what we have with "Paradoxical Love" with the added Japanese translation of "Gyakusetsuteki Ai"（逆説的愛）as a subtitle, a strutting City Pop tune that was written by Fumiko Okada（岡田富美子）and composed by Fuyumi. The story behind this one addresses how men often scratch their heads at the oddness of women from time to time (or most times). I do love the brass here but kaz-shin at "Music Avenue" has admitted to being a fan of the guitar cutting of those times, and apparently arranger Matsubara himself was behind that in "Paradoxical Love".

I kinda snarkily wondered whether "Wakusei 1999"（惑星1999...Planet 1999）had anything to do with the old British sci-fi series "Space 1999" but there's nothing of the sort here. It's a slightly rock pop song written by Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）and composed by Satsuya with Kazuo Shiina's（椎名和夫）understandably melancholy arrangement. Starting with a baby's gurgle, Bread & Butter make a plea against war with the brothers directly asking that the button not be pressed.

To finish "Monday Morning" off, here is the ballad "Let Us Love" which was written again by Okada with Fuyumi and Matsubara helping out on music and arrangement. There is a lovely piano solo in this final track which has the brothers returning to their folk roots as they sing about focusing on what is important today and not worry too much about yesterday or tomorrow. In fact, at the beginning, I felt like I was listening to a Simon and Garfunkel tune. As such, I thought that Bread & Butter kinda broke their own rule of the song by heading back to the style of their yesteryear, but I figure that fans including myself haven't minded.

"Monday Morning" is indeed an enjoyable journey by Bread & Butter with a little bit of everything. If you need a bit of decompressing in your day, this is the album to play.