Marie (folk duo) -- Orange House ni Sayonara（オレンジハウスにさようなら）

 

An orange house somewhere in Japan, eh? Well, I can think of a place with an orange sign and that would be the family restaurant Royal Host.

I was so glad that there was one right by the R&B Hotel where I stayed during my last trip to Japan almost a decade ago. Good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Well, apparently the orange house in "Orange House ni Sayonara" (Goodbye to the Orange House) was a cafe where a lass and her now erstwhile boyfriend used to frequent during their relationship. Now, she can only sneak a peek outside at her ex with a new girl on her arm in the coffeehouse. 

"Orange House ni Sayonara" was the 2nd single for the folk duo Marie（麻里絵）released in June 1977. From listening to this song whose words and music were provided by up-and-coming singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）, it's got that rather upbeat chorus accompanied by melancholy verses which I guess could represent the ups and downs of a typical romance life. Not sure if this had been used as a theme for a certain cafe (or family restaurant), although I don't think any commercial establishment would ever appreciate being associated with heartbreak. Heartburn, maybe, but not heartbreak. In any case, I had initially thought about writing on Marie's debut single "Ki ni Naru Anata"（気になるあなた ）, only to find out that I had already posted about it back in 2023.

Hiroko Taniyama -- Yuuyake Ringo（夕焼けリンゴ）

 

One reason that I've come to enjoy the music of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）is the delicacy and magical qualities that they imbue into their melodies...as if we listeners were going to be taken on some magic carpet ride.

I think singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）can be included in such august company. An example I can give is her August 1986 single "Yuuyake Ringo" (Sunset Apple). Although she did provide the lyrics, it was actually fellow singer-songwriter Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）who came up with the magical and wistful melody which makes some wonderful turn of keys through the echoing piano.

According to the YouTube explanation, Taniyama had been inspired to come up with this song through something she observed when she was at a train station somewhere along the Izu Peninsula when she was a kid. She saw two girls there: one who looked sullen while the other had a rather complicated expression. They shared taking bites out of an apple but said nothing to the other. Apparently, Taniyama extrapolated a love triangle out of that awkward situation

Hiroko Taniyama -- Glass no Kyojin（ガラスの巨人）

 

I already have several KKP articles in which singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）is involved either as the main singer or as a contributing songwriter to another singer's work, and so maybe I have already mentioned this. Like Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）, she's someone that I had heard in the wind over the years but didn't really know any of her material. Over the past several years, I've gotten to know Ohnuki very well and I'm now proud to say that I have her first several albums. The same cannot be said about Taniyama; I have yet to own a single album of hers so I'm still getting to know her.

This song, "Glass no Kyojin" (Glass Giant), which started life as a B-side to Taniyama's August 1986 18th single "Yuuyake Ringo"（夕焼けリンゴ...Sunset Apple）, definitely has my attention. Now, there are apparently two different versions of the song, the original B-side and an album version which belongs to her 12th album, "Mizutama Jikan"（水玉時間...Polka-Dot Time）, which was released just a couple of months following the aforementioned single. I don't know which is which but the two versions are bracketing these paragraphs. 

The one above, which was set up by YouTuber Avie Yahika well over a dozen years ago, is notable for its rich but lonely piano and a bohemian saxophone. Taniyama's lyrics seem to highlight a theme of deep sadness brought about by the termination (intentional or not) of a relationship (romantic or not) and the wish of becoming a huge skyscraper-like figure towering above all, beyond the need for emotions or companionship.

The one below has a lusher Fashion Music arrangement with strings and oboe or bassoon backing Taniyama, and it made me wonder whether the singer had ever collaborated with Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）or anyone at Studio Ghibli, because this "Glass no Kyojin" seemingly sounds perfect for one of Hayao Miyazaki's（宮崎駿）animated features. The other remarkable point is that Taniyama wasn't responsible for the melody. It was actually Kenjiro Sakiya（崎谷健次郎）, someone that I would usually associate with City Pop. But then again, Hisaishi, someone that I would usually associate with those orchestral Studio Ghibli pieces, has given his own contribution to the urban contemporary.

Naoko Kawai -- Weather Song

 

Well, this is not only the 12,001st article for "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but it looks like I missed out on someone's birthday by a couple of days. Yes, July 24th was Naoko Kawai's（河合奈保子）62nd birthday so many congratulations to her.

In commemoration, I have this one track from her 7th original album "Half-Shadow" which was released in October 1983. When I read Hiroko Taniyama's（谷山浩子）lyrics for her "Weather Song" before even listening to the song that was also concocted by her, I'd had the impression that it was going to be a rather melancholy ballad about a young lady tracing raindrops on the window while wondering when her Prince Charming would come to finally sweep her off her feet. 

Actually, I should have gotten the clue when "Weather Song" was placed as the first track on Side B of "Half-Shadow" which has been labeled as "Sunny Side". Indeed, it's quite the happy-go-lucky tune with Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）arranging things so that it sounds like something from the Beatles collection. At the same time, I could imagine an entire song-and-dance performance with Kawai leading a group of dancers in rain gear and umbrellas prancing about on the wet floor. Nothing sad about this one...the aforementioned lady is happily waiting for that prince. 

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.

Yuki Saito/Hiroko Taniyama -- MAY

 

I'm still trying to reconcile the fact that this sweet-singing aidoru of the 1980s was also starring in the tough-as-nails "Sukeban Deka"（スケバン刑事）franchise although I've seen my fair share of the episodes. Maybe along with the voice, it's Yuki Saito's（斉藤由貴）puppy dog eyes.

But I digress. I was watching one episode of "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン）recently and saw Saito appear on the TBS music show of the 80s. She sang her 8th single "MAY" which was released in November 1986, and I was immediately reminded that I had heard this one before, so my memory engrams came to the rescue once again. It was the chorus that got me to remember.

Written by Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）, composed by MAYUMI and arranged by Satoshi Takebe（武部聡志）, it's pure lovable innocence as a young girl named May keeps trying to assert himself in front of the boy that she loves but, doggone it, she keeps coming up short. The pink fluffy aidoru clouds are further propelled by Saito's soft and slightly whispery voice.

I've only remembered "MAY" as a Saito single, but it's been associated as an NEC jingle and also as the theme song for the 1987 film "Koi suru Onna-tachi"（恋する女たち...Women in Love） with the singer as the star. The song was a track on Saito's 4th studio album "Fuumu"（風夢...Wind Dream） which came out in April 1987. While "MAY" peaked at No.2 and became the 39th-ranked single of the year, "Fuumu" hit No. 1 and was ranked No. 41 on the yearly charts.

Lyricist Taniyama herself did her own cover of "MAY" as her 19th single which was also released in November 1986. It reached No. 85 on Oricon.

Yumi Kojima -- Feel so Nyan-Nyan

 

Obviously, there have been plenty of tie-ups between anime and hit songs but once in a while, I encounter songs that have been inspired by manga. In fact, I think that I have written about one other example but unfortunately at the moment, I can't remember the song although I'm pretty certain that it was an 80s tune.

Anyways, one example that I have here is the manga "Neko Janai mon!"（ネコじゃないモン！...I'm Not a Cat, You Know!）by Kentaro Yano（矢野健太郎）that had its initial run in "Young Jump" magazine between 1982 and 1985. The story revolves around the character of college student Naoko Miyamoto who suffered lasting trauma as a young girl involving a kitten, only to draw the attention of a cat. For some reason, although J-Wiki doesn't have any article about the manga (though it does have one devoted to Yano), Wikipedia has one, and according to it, there has yet to be any sort of anime adaptation.

Still, the manga was popular enough that a single and a full album based on "Neko Janai mon!" were created in 1983. The single's A-side took on the title of the manga but for this article, I'm looking at the B-side, "Feel so Nyan-Nyan" which I guess could be translated as "Feel so Meow Meow". Written and composed by singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）, the singer behind the song is Yumi Kojima（児島由美）who brings her own kittenish qualities to the performance. I'm happy enough with "Feel so Nyan-Nyan" to call it a pop song but it does have elements of jazz and City Pop bouncing around here and there, and the lyrics talk about the carefree life of a cat.

Kojima herself is a singer-songwriter who was raised in Sapporo but currently lives in Tokyo. She started learning piano at a tender age and then learned koto in her teens. As with many budding artists in the music industry, she entered the Yamaha Popular Song Contest in the late 1970s where she won a prize for her creation "Yume no Tabi"（夢の旅...Dream Trip）. In 1979, she made her single debut with "Otoko no Ko Mitai ni"（男の子みたいに...Like Boys） with an album later on called "Comme des Garcons"（コム・デ・ギャルソン）. I've just heard one track on YouTube from that album, and I will cover it next month.

Hiroko Taniyama -- Tempura☆Sunrise（てんぷら☆さんらいず）

 

Of course, having been exposed to Japanese dishes for my entire life, I am always going to love my sushi, tempura and sukiyaki. I hit my fair share of kaiten sushi places throughout my time in Tokyo but I saw the restaurants serving tempura and sukiyaki as being special occasion places. Therefore, for the former dish, hitting places like Ten-Kuni was a gastronomic joy. I was also a fan of ten-don...the dish of large shrimp tempura doused in special sauce and placed on a bowl of rice.

Speaking of tempura, I found this quirky little song by veteran singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子） that was her 11th single from April 1982 titled "Tempura☆Sunrise". In fact, it was so quirky-sounding that despite knowing of Taniyama's ability to create songs, I swore that the arrangement was such that Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）must have had something to do with its creation. I mean, "Tempura☆Sunrise" sounds just like a Yano song of that time.

However, indeed it was Taniyama behind words and music, and what's more, the lightly technopop sound arrangement could be all laid at the feet of the one-time duo Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）, aka musician Hiroshi Narumi（鳴海寛）and composer Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）! Yes, the same duo behind the classic City Pop/AOR album "Thru Traffic" from that same year. Not sure whether the three parties decided whether they had wanted to do a Yano-esque song, although hearing some of the high-pitched chorus about two-thirds of the way through is a big hint.

The quirkiness even goes into how Taniyama's lyrics were fashioned. Most of them were made into katakana for some bizarre reason. Usually when katakana is used in a manga or other literary form, it's so that it displays a non-Japanese trying to speak Japanese in a somewhat broken form, and yet Taniyama sings it as smoothly as ever. Another question that I have is whether the singer was trying to be literal about this magical restaurant in Tokyo (Shinjuku Station and Omotesando are sung out) serving up some fine meals or whether the megalopolis itself is the menu. Can't really say that it's a City Pop song, though.

From about 1:25

Hiroko Taniyama -- Gingakei wa Yappari Mawatteru（銀河系はやっぱりまわってる）

 

As I mentioned for singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama's（谷山浩子）first song on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" under her name, "Yoru no Buranko"（夜のブランコ）, she's been someone that I've heard for years in the songwriting category for other singers. But indeed, she has also put out her own songs for just as long.

I also said that she put out her debut single in April 1972 just before turning 16 years of age, "Ginga Kei wa Yappari Mawatteru"（The Galaxy Does Turn）. According to her J-Wiki profile, she hadn't intended to be singing behind the mike in any official capacity, being content with her dream of becoming a composer instead, but when a director at King Records plied her with the promise of putting out an LP for her if she would sing, she apparently changed her mind.

So as a high school student, her first single was released. Written, composed and recorded by Taniyama, "Ginga Kei wa Yappari Mawatteru" is a curious little animal of a ditty with an opening reminiscent of the theme song from "The Odd Couple" and the adorably soft vocals by Taniyama herself. It's got a shuffling beat while the lyrics are fairly playfully nihilistic as the singer relates her tongue-in-cheek beliefs that even if Earth goes poof, the Milky Way will still be around. Well, I'm sure that the Vulcans, the Andorians and the Tellarites can breathe a sigh of relief.

Hiroko Taniyama -- Yoru no Buranko（夜のブランコ）: Follow-Up

 

Back in September 2015, I provided one of my first articles on longtime singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）through "Yoru no Buranko" (Night Swing). I was impressed with the bluesy urban contemporary feeling of this 22nd single released in June 1994 as arranged by Nobuo Kurata（倉田信雄）.

However, I was informed by commenter Mike a tad earlier tonight that this single actually had an original form going back an entire decade to her 9th album "Mizu no Naka no Lion"（水の中のライオン...The Lion in the Water） which came out in May 1984. The very first "Yoru no Buranko" is very different in arrangement as it has a folksier lilt with some dramatic moments provided by the strings later on in the song. I'd say that the original has a feeling that reminds me of some of the baroque pop provided by Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）and perhaps Miyuki Nakajima（中島みゆき）at around the same time, and this is the more intimate and lonelier version for me. I can easily imagine a heartbroken lass sitting on that playground swing at midnight all by herself while listening to this one.

What is surprising is that the 1984 "Yoru no Buranko" was arranged by Makoto Matsushita（松下誠）, one of the great City Pop representatives. If I had listened to these two versions and was then asked which one was Matsushita's doing, I would have immediately replied the 1994 version. As it was, "Mizu no Naka no Lion" got as high as No. 23 on Oricon.

In my search for the album version of "Yoru no Buranko", I found out this signoff video (when TV stations used to sign off for a number of hours each night) from Chūkyō Television Broadcasting covering Nagoya and other adjacent areas which actually used the single version of the song. I figured that you could use one less mouse click to hear that one. Gotta say that the song in that arrangement fits the nighttime atmosphere in the video. Apparently, according to the YouTube description, this signoff was used between 1994 and 1999. Anyways, all due thanks to Mike on the information.

Hiroko Taniyama -- Oyasumi（おやすみ）

 

As much as I have mentioned that singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）had once been that mysterious figure whose name I'd always hear in the wind, fellow singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）perhaps has been even more of an enigma. From her J-Wiki article, she's been performing since 1972 in her mid-teens and I've seen a recent NHK "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）with one of her tunes. Yet, this is someone that I've never seen hit the huge stadiums or the charts, but of course, that's not to say that those things should define a singer's or band's success.

My impression is that she has specialized in love ballads and I think this is the case with her "Oyasumi" (Good Night), the B-side to her 11th single, "Tempura Sunrise"（てんぷら☆さんらいず）from April 1982. I'm going to have to see if that A-side is out there in YouTube land; it sounds like a fairly goofy and upbeat tune. "Oyasumi" is definitely the opposite: a melancholy number about a romantic loss (through death or breakup, we don't really know), that piano and Taniyama's tenderhearted vocals are enough to perhaps cherish the things that we hold most dear instead of taking them for granted.

"Oyasumi" also ended up on her June 1985 10th album "Nemurenai Yoru no Tame ni"（眠れない夜のために...For Sleepless Nights）, a release which peaked at No. 27 on Oricon. Taniyama wrote and composed the song but it was the City Pop duo, Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）, consisting of Hiroshi Narumi and Etsuko Yamakawa（鳴海寛・山川恵津子）who arranged it. The ballad also reminds me of a similarly-toned song, "Bungaku Shojo"（文学少女）, that was used to humourous effect in the anime "Danshi Kokosei no Nichijo"（男子高校生の日常...Daily Lives of High School Boys）.

Hiroko Taniyama -- Hitomi no Eien（ひとみの永遠）

Usually my impression of a commercial jingle is that it's got a perky melody incorporating the name of the product in the lyrics. Nothing earth-shattering but also something that will linger in your mind for days...long enough for you to potentially buy the thing in a store.

Eye drops are something that I don't have although my parents do use them. I wouldn't say that it's a phobia but I've never been crazy about having to drop medicine onto my eyeballs. I would probably think a commercial for eye drops then has to have the perkiest and most earworm-y sing-song melody to get someone like me to plunk down my cash.

So I never expected to hear something so sweet and soothing grace this ad for Iris Eye Drops. This is "Hitomi no Eien" by singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）and violinist/arranger Neko Saito（斎藤ネコ）and it was her 21st single from September 1992. The title may be a bit of a pun on the word hitomi which means "eyes" and the girl's name Hitomi, so the translation of the title can be "Hitomi's Eternity" or "Eternity of the Eyes".

In any case, the song works. "Hitomi no Eien" is indeed soothing as any self-respecting bottle of eye drops should be as soon as the drops get plunked onto your suffering orbs. In fact, there is a certain sound effect in the song which may represent the drops themselves. However, words and music seem to suggest a far more sylvan setting where a young lady is living out in an old-fashioned lodge out in the forest simmering some hearty soup for guests. Iris is gentle on your eyes and "Hitomi no Eien" is gentle in your soul.

Aoi Teshima -- Asa Gohan no Uta（朝ごはんの歌）

Whenever I visited Ebisu Garden Place in Tokyo, some minutes' walk from JR Ebisu Station, I always noticed that stately building off at the far end. In fact, I took a picture of the establishment when I visited in 2014. What I hadn't known was that the building was in fact the Joël Robuchon Restaurant. I had heard that this particular place was in Ebisu but never knew where it was.

Chef Joël Robuchon passed away today at the age of 73 from cancer. Although I don't think he was ever all that well known here in Toronto, the local news channel, CP24, mentioned his passing which surprised me. During my time in the Tokyo area, Robuchon was definitely a known celebrity because of his restaurants in the Big Sushi and his Michelin stars which he wore like epaulets on a commanding general's shoulders. He also made a number of appearances on Japanese TV including NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）. In fact, I remember seeing this one episode last year from home as he and his assistant prepared pureed potatoes.

Along with the grand restaurant in Ebisu, I remember L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Roppongi Hills. Whenever I went to the complex to see one of my students in the 4th-floor cafe, I would pass L'Atelier since it was on the ground floor. I never went inside either restaurant or any of the other places that he had in Tokyo since I couldn't even imagine darkening the entrance of those places. Thanks to some of my richer and more generous students, I was taken to French restaurants a few times, but none of them were the Robuchon establishments.

On seeing the notice of his death this morning, I was wondering about finding a food-based kayo kyoku to talk about in tribute. So, a little look via Yahoo Japan revealed this song by Aoi Teshima（手嶌葵）titled "Asa Gohan no Uta" (The Breakfast Song). It's a whimsical old-fashioned song that was part of the 2011 Studio Ghibli film "Kokurikozaka kara"（コクリコ坂から）which has been translated as either "From Coquelicot Hill" or "From Up on Poppy Hill". With lyrics by Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）and director Goro Miyazaki（宮崎吾朗）and music by the former, the song gives life to one of the most beloved daily sensory experiences: the sounds and the smells of breakfast being made in the kitchen while waking up in the morning. Well, as someone who has experienced both the Japanese and Western-style breakfasts being made in a homey setting, I will always appreciate bacon, eggs and pancakes along with the miso soup, grilled fish and freshly cooked rice.

I was looking for any YouTube representation of one of the episodes from Robuchon's old cooking show that used to be shown on the Foodies channel on Japanese cable. But unfortunately, I couldn't find it, but here's hoping that the above video will be appetizing enough.

The Works of Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）

Etsuko Yamakawa is a name that I have seen through various liner notes over the years but it wasn't until her lovely performance in the one-off duo Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）that I really got interested in what she had to say within her creations.

Yamakawa was born in 1956 in Kyoto. She attended Ferris University in Yokohama where she majored in the Faculty of Music. From her student days, she was involved with the Yamaha Music Foundation working with various musicians as a tour member starting with singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）. If I remember from reading the liner notes for Tohoku Shinkansen's sole album "Thru Traffic", the foundation was also where she met her partner, Hiroshi Narumi（鳴海寛）. Following graduation, she began her activities as a composer, arranger, music producer and a studio musician (keyboardist). Probably one of her earliest works was for Junko Yagami（八神純子）, the lovely "Be My Best Friend" in 1980.

One of the things that I noticed while scrolling down Yamakawa's body of work on J-Wiki was that she participated in the creation of songs for those 1980s aidoru such as Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）. For Kyon-Kyon, she arranged her 18th single "Hyaku Percent Danjo Kyousai"（100%男女交際...100% Men And Women Dating）which was released in April 1986. The songwriters were Keiko Aso and Koji Makaino（麻生圭子・馬飼野康二）, and the song went as high as No. 2, eventually becoming the 86th-ranked single of the year.

Although Koizumi was apparently not too thrilled with the final title, "Hyaku Percent Danjo Kyousai" won Yamakawa a Best Arrangement prize at the Japan Record Awards for that year. In fact, it was the first time that a woman won the award.

Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）was another 80s aidoru for which Yamakawa had come up with several songs. One was her 2nd single, "White Rabbit kara no Message"（ホワイトラビットからのメッセージ...A Message From the White Rabbit） which was composed and arranged by Yamakawa and then released on New Year's Day 1987. Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）was the lyricist. My impression so far is that Yamakawa provided quite a number of sprightly tunes for her young charges. It hit the top spot on Oricon and became the 37th-ranked single of the year. Apparently the animal of the title came about since 1987 was the Year of the Rabbit.

I mentioned Hiroko Taniyama at the top there so this is a song that she wrote and composed titled "Country Girl"（カントリーガール）, her 8th single from March 1980. Yamakawa also arranged this one about a young man enthralled with the lass in the title. It got as high as No. 55 on the charts.

Before I discovered that Yamakawa was providing a lot of aidoru material, my impressions of her were that she took care of the mellower side of pop back in those days or she was into the City Pop side of things. "Tomete, Passio"（とめて、パシオ...Stop It, Passio）, a track from Etsuko Sai's（彩恵津子）5th album, "PASSIO", from October 1986 is a Yamakawa composition that fulfills the latter impression. Chinfa Kan（康珍化）, under his pseudonym of Shirusu Morita（森田記）, provided the words to this mysterious song of the night. Yamakawa is even one of the backup singers here.

I did find a mellower song here in the form of "Aki no Jasmine Tea"（秋のジャスミン・ティー...Autumn Jasmine Tea） by veteran Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）. Not sure whether Yamakawa composed, arranged or both but there is a nice touch of Latin with this one. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out who the lyricist was, but the song was originally part of Ito's 1984 album "fado".

For my last song, I've gone with Yuko Imai's（今井優子）cool "HOTEL TWILIGHT" from her 1988 album "VOYAGEUR". Yamakawa arranged this number written by the aforementioned Keiko Aso and composed by Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）, and it rather gleams with that champagne-on-the-town sound that I often associated with some of the female pop singers at the end of the 1980s.

On one Mixi blog, one writer stated that he took a listen to "HOTEL TWILIGHT" and remarked that he had initially thought it was a Swingout Sister song with those strings and dramatic arrangement. The statement knocked me for a loop since I finally put two and two together. That champagne-on-the-town sound in that certain corner of J-Pop of the time might have been inspired by the British group. So, perhaps I can say that as much as the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan probably inspired City Pop at the beginning of the 1980s, Swingout Sister may have influenced the urban contemporary tunes of Japan at the end of that decade.

To sum up, Yamakawa has created a wider palette of music than I had expected, ranging from sweet aidoru to cool urban. Of course, J-Wiki probably hasn't included every single work that she ever made so I will continue to look forward to any further discoveries.

Rie Sugimoto -- Yasuragi no Yubiwa (やすらぎのゆびわ)

Recently, I was giving a listen to my favorite album by Rie Sugimoto (杉本理恵), “Heal Ring”, from August 1992. One of its songs, “Beyond The Maze”, have already been covered by me years ago, but now I’m here to talk a little bit about the album’s last song, which is called “Yasuragi no Yubiwa”.

“Yasuragi no Yubiwa” is a ballad that seems to come out from a fairy tale. As I could see while doing a little bit of research, composer and pianist Hiroko Taniyama’s (谷山浩子) music style is described as fantastic and mysterious, so the song’s vibe is not a surprise after all. As for Rie’s voice, it’s what it is: very shaky and weak (well, she was crying too, but we all know she isn’t a great singer as well). However, she sompensates being a nice and tender girl, which coupled by the song’s beautiful melody and lovely piano-centered arrangement, makes for a very beautiful aidoru ballad.

Like I said before, Rie enjoyed some underground status as an aidoru singer who made vocal renditions of songs inspired by video game music (interesting enough, “Yasuragi no Yubiwa” is “Heal Ring’s” only original song, the other being reworked versions of video game music). It was an interesting niche concept, but didn’t help her in the mainstream scene at all. By the time she was releasing songs, the aidoru scene was mostly dead anyway...

Lyrics were written by Hiroko Taniyama. She also worked on the composition, but this time with Akimitsu Honma (本間昭光).

I want this album!!!

Hiroko Taniyama -- Yoru no Buranko （夜のブランコ）

As I mentioned in my last entry for Michiya Mihashi's（三橋美智也）"Ako to Guitar to Uramachi to"（アコとギターと裏町と）, which was a B-side ballad for his 1964 single "Yoru no Buranko" (Night Swing), I was searching for the latter song at the usual sites such as YouTube. I was unsuccessful but then I found out that "Yoru no Buranko" wasn't exactly an exclusive title. There was another song with that same title by singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子）.

Now, Hiroko Taniyama has been a name that I have heard before although up to today I had never indulged in any of her music. There is one article on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" in which she did provide the lyrics for a Yuki Saito（斉藤由貴）single in the mid-80s, "Doyoubi no Tamanegi"（土曜日のタマネギ）. In fact, she provided a number of songs for Saito and also aidoru Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）among many other singers. But the surprise piece of trivia here according to J-Wiki is that her possibly first contribution of her music career was all the way back in 1970 as a 14-year-old when she composed and wrote the song "Boku tachi no Himitsu"（僕たちの秘密...Our Secret）, a B-side for the single "Shiroi Tenshi"（白い天使...White Angel）for the group Baby Brothers who would soon transform into Finger Five. And this was a couple of years before she released her own debut single, "Ginga Kei wa Yappari Mawatteru"（銀河系はやっぱりまわってる...The Galaxy Does Turn）.

The Yokohama-born Taniyama has released 23 singles and 36 studio albums to date. Single No. 22 is the aforementioned "Yoru no Buranko" from June 1994 which is this very atmospheric urban contemporary ballad about a secret tryst. It's perfect for night listening and I always love a bluesy saxophone as Taniyama almost delivers the lyrics as a whisper to emphasize the illicitness of the affair. Considering that she created the song in the early-mid 1990s, the arrangement of her "Yoru no Buranko" had me thinking of folks like Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）, Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）and Toko Furuuchi（古内東子）which has definitely raised her profile in my own eyes.

So far, it has just been the one song that I've heard but I am starting to get interested in the rest of Taniyama's output. Considering how prolific she's been in her own singing career from the 1970s to the present day and the fact that she's labeled as a New Music singer, I'm quite interested in how her music has evolved over the decades when I consider the musical journey that Yumi Matsutoya（松任谷由実）has taken me and all of her fans.

By the way, this is the second title I've come across in a week in which I couldn't find the intended song and singer but found a great different tune with the same title under a different singer. Martin's tune was the first example.

October 27, 2020: Just wanted to let you know that I did get some new information from Mike according to our conversation in the comments section below so I've made a follow-up to "Yoru no Buranko."

Nope, not the "Yoru no Buranko" I was looking for
but I still found a good song nonetheless.

Yuki Saito -- Doyoubi no Tamanegi （土曜日のタマネギ）

Up until last month, I hadn't heard of this song by 80s aidoru Yuki Saito（斉藤由貴）, but I was rather intrigued by the title of "Doyoubi no Tamanegi" (Saturday's Onion), especially since it did break into the Top 10 on Oricon at the peak of No. 6. The doo-woppy music was by Toshio Kamei（亀井登志夫）, and the lyrics by singer-songwriter Hiroko Taniyama（谷山浩子） give the analogy of a ruined soup as representing a young relationship on the rocks. With the kitchen sounds in the song, I thought Saito in danger of slicing a finger off considering her depression, but apparently there was the titular onion at the very bottom of the pot refusing to give up and encouraging her to do the same.

There was even an extended single version of "Doyoubi no Tamanegi", which was Saito's 6th single released in May 1986. For the first half of this version, there is an overture treatment of the melody before Saito sighs and gets on with the chopping and slicing. The original single, though, was placed as a track for the singer's 2nd album, "Glass no Kodo"（ガラスの鼓動...Glass Beat） which came out in March of the same year and hit the top spot on the album charts. The above link, however, is not for the extended version but has a lot of Saito musing out loud before she starts singing.

A final bit of trivia here. The guy providing the backup vocals is Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）just around the time of his debut.