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.
A few months ago, I posted up an article regarding a collaboration between Neo-City Pop singer-songwriter Hitomitoi（一十三十一）and indie rock project Wild Nothing, aka Jack Tatum, which was titled "Like a First Kiss" and included on the singer's March 2025 album"Telepa Telepa". That song had some of that 1970s nostalgia imbued into it.
Well, from the same album is the track "Deja Vu no Blue"(Deja Vu Blue) which was written by Hitomitoi and composed by Dorian. There is no doubt about the time placement for this one. It's the danceable 2020s brand of City Pop as the video shows all that is fun and games in Tokyo. Some wonderful self-harmonizing by the singer and the images of the city and dancing feet may have inbound tourism into Japan rising again. By the way, I heard that last year was a record with over 40 million tourists coming in from abroad. Anyways, there is one piece of nostalgia included in the video for this very skippy song and that is the old-fashioned green public phone, although it looks pretty sauced up (maybe it imbibed too much of the Long Island Iced Tea I'd mentioned in the previous article).
Now, that's what I call a whirlwind tour of Hong Kong! There's no way that I could catch up with Hitomitoi（一十三十一）at that speed. I'd be crying "Uncle!" and slinking into some cheap noodle place.
The Hokkaido-born singer-songwriter was someone I profiled last year for her 2023 "Love Groovin'" with DÉ DÉ MOUSE. Well, last year in December 2024, she cooperated with indie rock project Wild Nothing, aka Jack Tatum, for her next digital single, "Like a First Kiss". The song was also included in Hitomitoi's latest album "Telepa Telepa" which was released in March 2025. Wild Nothing came up with words and music while Hitomitoi helped with the Japanese lyrics.
What I've liked so far (along with the speedy video) about "Like a First Kiss" is the frenetic pace and the arrangement of the song which seems kinda nostalgic...like something from the 1970s. Maybe it's just me but there's something that feels rather Santana. I also enjoy that certain way Hitomitoi sings the lyrics; there's a stylized delivery in there.
Well, I found out early this morning that Summer 2025 will officially arrive today at 10:42 pm EDT. I would say that it arrived a few days ago with the high temperatures and humidity. It already arrived in Japan where it's beginning to tucker millions of residents out. But in recognition of the change in seasons. I'm leaving some summery City Pop stuff for you. Enjoy the beer and your weekend!🍺
Today's weather report for Toronto is sunny with a high temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. Pretty decent forecast for autumn.
The first song for this KKP broadcasting day is "Weather Report" by Hitomitoi（一十三十一）. This was her 6th single from May 2006, and it's a fairly galloping tune of dance beats and a soupcon of Latin. Written and composed by the singer, the song seems to be about someone driving on the highway in a romantic maelstrom as well as trying to flee from a potentially real maelstrom outside. It's the type of song that can get you shimmying on the dance floor and get you moping at the table at the same time. "Weather Report" is also available on Hitomitoi's first BEST compilation "Toicolle" which was released in January 2007.
Looks like Kayo Grace is ready for a bit of nighttime grooving since it is the usual Urban Contemporary Friday on KKP.
When I first discovered and wrote about electronica DJ, songwriter and keyboardist DÉ DÉ MOUSE back in 2022, it was for his 2021 song "Neon Light no Yoru"（Neon Lightの夜）which included Glasgow producer TANUKI and Neo-City Pop singer Hitomitoi（一十三十一）. It struck me as being an example of some light club technopop for Kayo Grace to bop about.
Despite DÉ DÉ MOUSE's name coming first, the digital single "Love Groovin'" came out in May 2023 as Hitomitoi's release. With words and music by DÉ DÉ MOUSE, the synths are back again in full force but this time around, the overall feeling is more along the lines of Neo-City Pop as the singer trips the light fantastic in various parts of nocturnal Shibuya, I believe (and perhaps putting an extra strain on the TEPCO grid). The Youth Mecca can be quite dazzling at night but, especially on a Friday evening, just be careful and avoid the vomit puddles when you're heading back to Shibuya Station.😱
It’s Oliver Ebisuno, coming back to Kayo Kyoku Plus after a long break. For some time now, in spite of work and personal stuff, I wanted to make an update on the blog, but always felt either unmotivated or drained from strength when sitting in front of an open draft editor. I think the time is right for a special post; to be specific, an Author’s Pick text. Shamelessly, I admit that J-Canuck’s Driving to City Poptwo-parter provided me with much needed dosage of inspiration.
Evidently, I do not live in Japan and there are no prospects of me visiting the country in the nearest future, but I thought it would be fun to mix my love for Japanese music with my personal experience, that is, commuting to work.
The city I live in is such a hole in the middle of nowhere (and forgotten by the Almighty) that basically right after finishing high school I had to get used to commuting. I had to undergo a one-hour trip by bus while studying for 5 years, the same applied to PhD studies, and my first employment. Last year, I switched jobs and now I also commute by bus, but this time to a different city, which is located roughly an hour away from my place of residence.
Being on the bus for two hours per day (please bear in mind that this is a “there and back again” route) gives me a lot of time to do various sorts of stuff like reading, browning the web, but also listening. For years, I was never that keen on the idea of listening to music outside of the comfort zone of my home, but I warmed up to the idea after the pandemic.
Now, en route to work (and most importantly coming back from it) I can’t help but listen to Tomoko Aran. Her albums Fuyuu Kuukan and Last Good-bye really calm me down and put me in a positive mood, especially in the morning. The same also goes for Toshiki Kadomatsu’s After 5 Clash and Hitomitoi’s City Dive albums.
When I am in a more adventurous mood, then I reach for music that is more charged with Synth-Pop or Rock. In such instances, Yoko Oginome’s Route 246 Connexion and Chisato Moritaka’s Mi-ha prove to be invaluable. Very rarely, when I feel deeply melancholic, I decide to desperately turn to Wink’s Best of selection or Naomi Akimoto’s Poison 21. Please refer to the selection of my favourite songs from the aforementioned albums here:
That’s it for the moment, I sincerely hope that you enjoyed my list of suggestions. I should also add that apart from the aforemtioned songs/albums, I also tend to listen to either Pet Shop Boys or Animotion while commuting. Thank you for reading.
Image sources: The feature photograph at the top of the post was taken by me on a bus to work on wintery night at 5 AM. I usually sit at the back, so it was easier for me to make sure that the faces of other commuters won’t get caught by the phone camera. The image of Akina Nakamori next to Mercedes was found on Pinterest. All the hyperlinks lead to previous Kayo Kyoku Plus posts.
Hope you're all having a good weekend. It hasn't been too bad here at all. Pretty sunny and the temperatures aren't too blazing.
Listening to this song "Neon Light no Yoru" (Neon Light Nights), I did get some reminders of Bananarama's big hit from 1987 "I Heard A Rumour". However, this isn't a Eurobeat tune but more of a representative of electronica by DJ, songwriter and keyboardist (among other hats) DÉ DÉ MOUSE. With the help of Glasgow producer TANUKI and Neo-City Pop singer Hitomitoi（一十三十一）, "Neon Light no Yoru" could make for a nice accompaniment in one of the club-laden neighbourhoods of Tokyo or other Japanese metropolis on a Saturday night. It was released as his third single from July 2021.
DÉ DÉ MOUSE is a solo project fronted by Daisuke Endo（遠藤大介）who hails from Gunma Prefecture and began his career in 2005. According to J-Wiki, he combines refined pop melodies and ethnic music and extrudes them through electronica (although I think "Neon Light no Yoru" seems to be straight dance-friendly technopop). Up to 2022, he has released eight albums, eleven mini-albums, four singles, and several digital download singles. As for his name, he got the DE from the initials for his name while the MOUSE came about from the fact that he's a fairly small individual at 160.5 cm or just under 5'3". Endo is also a big fan of the band Kirinji（キリンジ）.
Not sure if this had been meant to be a Neo-City Pop number by the longstanding aidoru group Negicco, but the observations that Hitomitoi（一十三十一）is behind words and music (along with track maker PARKGOLF), her lyrics seem to have a couple setting up the ideal City Pop-themed date late Friday night, and the video was filmed around Yokohama Bay might have genre fans thinking that the trio is flexing their urban contemporary muscles.
Whatever the case may be, "Gozen Rei-ji no Sympathy" (Sympathy at 12 AM) is a cool and glossy number that was released as Negicco's 24th single in August 2020. With those trip-the-light-fantastic synths in play, the song is also pretty light and trippy. I can only hope that I can spend another couple of nights in Yokohama once more.
Perhaps I'm a little late to the party, but City Pop-themed dates may have already taken place before the pandemic with couples coming into Tokyo or Yokohama to enjoy that midnight drive over the bridge. And once things settle down for safe tourism, they can resume. 💖
I was actually saving this up for the arrival of the appropriate season several months down the line but I figure that being in February (aka the winter doldrums) and not having featured Neo-City Pop chanteuse Hitomitoi（一十三十一）in several months, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to have something summery today. Maybe it can bring in a bit of sun to part some of this seasonal drear.
"Garasu no Summer Holiday" (Glass Summer Holiday) is a track from Hitomitoi's December 2014 mini-album"Pacific High/Aleutian Low" (considering that release date, maybe the singer was also thinking the same thing about bringing in that bit of summer). Written and composed by her with a composer credit given as well to Tokyo DJ and music producer Grooveman Spot, it's got some crystalline keyboards, jangly guitar and even a soprano saxophone to keep the beat going. It sounds exactly how the photogenic Hitomitoi is basking on that lounge chair on the cover of the album.
Anyways, I'm feeling quite toasty warm so I don't think that I'll quite need the cardigan now. Just hoping that the spring temperatures really do come soon.
Let's see..."Remington Steele" had a slick and handsome con man and an intrepid but struggling private detective while "Moonlighting" starred a beautiful if suddenly penniless former model teamed up with a wiseass private detective. Both were detective comedies, both were set in Los Angeles, both were broadcast on American TV networks in the 1980s, both had some pretty stylish music, and both were programs that I enjoyed for a while at least ("Moonlighting" had its wheels fall off for some reason in its later seasons).
Those two old shows came to mind when I read the synopsis of this NHK drama that had just finished its run last month titled "Talio Fukushu Daiko no Futari"（タリオ 復讐代行の2人...Talio: Two Agents of Revenge）. From what I found on the website "My Drama List", the show had a young lawyer pair up with a fraud artist to right various wrongs every episode. I had been wondering what that first non-Japanese word "talio" meant. At first, I had assumed that it was the name of one of the main characters, but instead it refers to the Latin expression "lex talionis" or the "law of retaliation". Basically, we're looking at "An eye for an eye". Ah, I see...the more we learn, right?
Because I no longer have much interest in Japanese TV dramas, I've only seen "Talio" through the commercials for the series on TV Japan so I had no idea that the Neo City Popsters of the band Ryusenkei（流線形）and singer Hitomitoi（一十三十一）were responsible for the soundtrack. Aye, I can only imagine what that must sound like. However, at this point, I'll settle for the opening and ending themes starting with "Kinyoubi no Venus" (Friday's Venus).
Hitomitoi provides the lyrics about someone who just can't seem to catch a break in life and is desperate for any chance to get out of the rut. Meanwhile, Ryusenkei's Cunimondo Takiguchi（クニモンド瀧口）has some groovy summery vibes for our ears which is splendid considering the time of year that folks were watching "Talio". The interesting thing is that the singer is another friendly face from the genre, singer-songwriter Yasuyuki Horigome（堀込泰行）who this time is only behind the mike and not on the computer helping out in the creation. The mellow keyboards and horns also do the trick here.
Meanwhile, the ending theme is "Kanashii kurai Diamond" (Sad Diamond) which keeps the good times going. Also created by the same folks involved in the opener, "Kanashii kurai Diamond" fairly thrums like the motor of the Cabriolet that's mentioned in the song. Kinda feels like some Rod Stewartdisco. Basically, it's time to hop into the convertible and take a drive down the coast. Nice video featuring Hitomitoi and I guess that would be Ryusenkei sitting around. I wonder if that is actually a set from "Talio".
From the lyrics of both songs, I also wonder if they refer to the main character of Mami Shirasawa, the lawyer who needs that leg up from the very person that she probably would incarcerate under normal circumstances. I probably won't catch the series but I'm glad that Ryusenkei, Hitomitoi and Horigome have hopped into another medium.
Espadrilles...I've heard the term but wasn't 100% sure on what those were but thanks to Jisho.org and Wikipedia, I realized that they were a form of casual shoe. Perhaps they are trendy now but I wouldn't know about anything about that.
The reason that I have begun this article with a shoe is that I found out about this song by former Especia member Monari Wakita（脇田もなり）titled "Espadrilles de Tsukamaete" (Grab Him With the Espadrilles). This is Wakita's most recent single that came out over a year ago in July 2019. Earlier today, I had completed an article on a Satellite Young song and compared it to some of the stuff that Especia was doing, and I then wondered what other delights I could find of the now-disbanded group and then I stumbled onto Wakita's solo material.
I'll tell you...as soon as I heard those lovely synths in the opening of "Espadrilles de Tsukamaete", I knew that I was in for something good. Marcos V. introduced her solo stuff through a couple of Author's Pick compilation articles but I'm also happy to add an article in the Wakita file with her name in the actual byline above, especially for something this catchy. The synths are just the beginning here; the overall rhythm and chords involved are very appealing to me as I get hints of Neo-City Pop, soul and some of that synthpop. I think the arrangement is such that I can probably drop the aidoru tag for her here.
Moreover, "Espadrilles de Tsukamaete" and its urban contemporary goodness got the naruhodo remark from me when I read that it was genre mainstays Hitomitoi（一十三十一）behind the lyrics and dorian who took care of the cool blippity-bloppity beats. The two of them had also worked together almost a decade previously on the song "summer rich".
Finally, I have to also thank the video for pointing out what those espadrilles were all about. It was made pretty plain to me.
Sunday would be the ideal day to put up this track from Hitomitoi' s（一十三十一）9th album"The Memory Hotel" from October 2015. It's written by the singer and her contemporary, Cunimondo Takiguchi（クニモンド瀧口）from Ryusenkei（流線形）and composed by Takiguchi, but it's not the usual Neo City Pop that we've seen them do together on projects such as the 2006 Ryusenkei album"Tokyo Sniper".
One commenter for the YouTube video above put it best: "Labyrinth ~ Kaze no Machi de" (In The Windy City) would be the ideal song to listen to while soaking in a bath. This pop tune is as soothing as the conclusion of throwing in some of that special onsen powder into the hot water, and it's no surprise that it was placed as the final track in "The Memory Hotel". Even the video comes off as a strange but oddly comforting dream in Hitomitoi's head. The combination of synths and strings acts like some sort of relaxation-inducing lullaby. Methinks that this would also be the type of song to hear once that Friday night of a long hard work week comes to pass, although Sunday is nice, too.
As for "The Memory Hotel", it peaked at No. 69 on Oricon. Another one to put on the wish list.
Y'know...I think that cover of Ryusenkei's（流線形）"Tokyo Sniper" is the meme gift that keeps on giving. How many more captions can any of us come up with for that somewhat annoyed jogger on the lonely road? I already gave a couple in the actual article for the album. Maybe another one is "OK, so was the hitchhiking sign a thumbs up or my arms on my hips?".
Ahem...I did mention in that article as well that I would eventually write about the remaining tracks that I hadn't covered there. So, more than a year later, here is one of them. Actually, it's the 2nd track, "Hanabira" (Petals), written and composed by Ryusenkei guitarist Cunimondo Takiguchi（クニモンド瀧口）.
Glad that I could save this one for its own article since with Nika Eguchi（江口ニカ）, aka Hitomitoi（一十三十一）, in there as the vocalist, "Hanabira" is this creamily groovy piece that has some interesting influences, in my opinion. Track 4, "Koi no Last Number"（恋のラスト・ナンバー）has Steely Dan written all over it, but those first several notes of "Hanabira" had me hearkening back to good ol' Gino Vannelli, and then near the end, in the last minute and change, I even got some fine Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）via that rat-a-tat horn intro into the silky sax solo. That's about as nice an aural cameo appearance as I can get as a City Pop fan.
The last couple of nights' sleep have been truncated because of my worries about COVID-19. For instance, I woke up this morning at about 6 am (8 am is usually my get-up time) and my mind started thinking about what could happen over the next number of months which led to less than a full load of sleep and a lot more tension.
Then, later in the morning, on one of the news channels, a mental health expert came on for an interview and he basically stated that everyone is fretting about a future that no one can predict, so he recommended that folks just focus on the present and what has to be handled during today. There was indeed one urgent matter that needed my attention, and focusing on that, the overarching matter of the virus got pushed out so that I could resolve it to my family's satisfaction. As a result, I'm just going to take things day by day (e.g. grocery shopping) and deal with them as best as I can.
Now, let's get going with some middle-of-the-week City Pop of the 21st century. It's been almost a year since the lovely Hitomitoi（一十三十一）has graced these pages on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so let's welcome her back with her "Last Friday Night Summer Rain" from her June 2013 album, "Surfbank Social Club".
I guess with J-urban contemporary for the past decade, one of the sounds related to the genre can be that certain crystalline synth that inhabits "Last Friday Night Summer Rain". The melody by Kashif brings images of future utopias by the beach but the lyrics by Hitomitoi paint a breezy romantic picture of love in Shonan. And perhaps it's also a playful painting as well since from a translation of Hitomitoi's words, perhaps she was pulling a shoutout to Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, Noriko Miyamoto（宮本典子）and Toshikazu Miura（三浦年一）, all of them City Pop singers. Nice to hear a song of the genre with a sly sense of humour.
It was definitely a busy weekend with a translation assignment, my regular Skype student and even a first-time podcast but it was that first task that has my shoulders in knots right now. Thankfully, I got it done a full 24 hours before its due date. Now I just have to face the music with my doctor tomorrow since I've gained a few kilos over the past several months (sigh). Just can't win.
Well, at least for the evening, I can relax a bit with some good music through the lovely tones of Hitomitoi（一十三十一）. Her "Summer Breeze '86" from her "City Dive" album of 2012 provides some super sunset solace. I'm slightly surprised that there was no mention of the second singer since he's in there enough to make this a duet, in my opinion. Written and composed by Cunimondo Takiguchi（クニモンド瀧口）from Ryusenkei（流線形）, I wonder if he is indeed singing with Hitomitoi as well.
Anyways, "Summer Breeze '86" is one of those songs that is slightly difficult to classify. It's got that R&Bgroove although I wouldn't say that it goes into funk but still has that nice and light pop feeling. Plus, it's mellow enough to travel into AOR territory, and even with at least one of those synthesizers in there, I was even wondering whether I should list it as at least a partial technopop tune, but I have held off. Inevitably though, it doesn't matter. It's just a tune that induces me to exhale the fatigue out and inhale some fine vibes.
My Sunday is coming to an end and Heisei is also approaching its finish within the next few days.
The past round of Holidays had me going on a slightly larger shopping spree than usual, and I decided that this time, I would focus some more on getting the Japanese urban contemporary stuff in the 21st century. Of course, that meant I had to get Ryusenkei's（流線形）"Tokyo Sniper" which was their 2nd album and their first full album from October 2006. I know the saying "You can't tell a book by its cover", but hey, as I've mentioned on the articles for the two tracks that I've already talked about on "Tokyo Sniper", the album cover of the perhaps annoyed jogger on a nighttime street is one of the most remembered for me when it comes to the newer City Pop material. I mean, the cover can reach meme levels and it seems to beg for a rash of funny captions such as "Geez, was the marathon at 10 am or 10 pm?!" or "If he doesn't show up in the next five minutes, I really will become a Tokyo sniper!".
Anyways, I ended up getting 9 discs this time around, which kept my mailman calling me up on the phone, but I have to say that "Tokyo Sniper" was indeed one of the albums that stood out. Before I get into some of the tracks, I would like to introduce the members of Ryusenkei: there is guitarist Cunimondo Takiguchi（クニモンド瀧口）, bassist Takehiro Oshizuka（押塚岳大）and keyboardist Yuzo Hayashi（林有三）. Also, there is the vocalist who is front and centre on most of the tracks, Hitomitoi（一十三十一）, under her guest name of Nika Eguchi（江口ニカ）.
I've listened to "Tokyo Sniper" twice now including the tracks, all written and composed by Takiguchi, that I've already written about on KKP, "Time Machine Love" and "Rainbow City Line", and I've come to the conclusion that Ryusenkei was sending a love letter to the urban contemporary/AOR music of the past on both sides of the Pacific. Case in point is Track 4,"Koi no Last Number"（恋のラスト・ナンバー...Love's Last Number）, which is very Steely Dan. But then I have to correct myself because it isn't strictly Dan. It actually sounds like a riff from "New Frontier", a song from "The Nightfly", the legendary 1982 album by Donald Fagen, one-half of the famous duo. Right from Note One, it has that shuffle/strut beat and the warm keyboards. In fact, Hayashi even plays with us Fagen fans by copying the first few notes from "New Frontier" near the end of the song which delves into a lady hoping that her beloved will finally show up for that final dance number at the hall.
"Usumurasaki Iro no Achira"（薄紫色の彼方...The Purple Beyond）is a soulful and groovy ballad slightly reminiscent of the 1970s, thanks to Hayashi, but I also have to give kudos to some of the drum work by Yuko Kitayama. Although Nika doesn't sound anything like her, that keyboard work reminds me of the music by singer-songwriter Toko Furuuchi（古内東子）back in the 1990s. The song is a sad story of a woman who comes to the realization while in the passenger seat of a Porsche that her love for the driver, her friend, will remain forever one-sided as the sun sets into purple.
Meanwhile, the title track, "Tokyo Sniper" seems to sound like another light tribute to a City Pop song from decades past, "THE TOKYO TASTE" by Rajie and Yoshitaka Minami（南佳孝）. Nika even does the duet with Hiroshima-born guitarist Saigenji. There is some nice keyboard canoodling near the end, and like "THE TOKYO TASTE", "Tokyo Sniper" would make for a good background number to strut through the hotel area of West Shinjuku or even a nice song to drive in that convertible on a warm spring night.
My final song for tonight and the final track on "Tokyo Sniper" is "Ame no Cinderella"（雨のシンデレラ...Rainy Cinderella）which is some lovely musical advice from Nika about how to not be afraid of love and embrace it for what it is. Nika sounds especially mellifluous with this torch song given some contemporary groove, and the rolling song reminds me of Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）"Koi wa Ryuusei" (恋は流星）, right down to the various horn solos and even the chorus work. It is a love letter about love to love, and hopefully without any reversions to pumpkins and mice.
Hard to believe that it's been over a little over 12 years since "Tokyo Sniper" was first released, but it is definitely a keeper for those who love City Pop no matter which decade it comes from. There are three more tracks to cover, but I will keep those in store for their individual articles...just because. If you can read Japanese, there is also kaz-shin's article on the album as well on his "Music Avenue" blog.
We've got a bit of weather breezing in right now and things are getting a little humid in my room, so I've got my 40-year-old fan whipping the air about. Something nice and mellow would be just the thing.
I think this cover for Ryusenkei's（流線形）2006 album, "Tokyo Sniper" will be the representative one when it comes to this band of 21st-century brand City Pop/J-AOR. I don't think the jogger is necessarily going to be assassinating anyone...certainly not in that getup, anyways. However, with that expression on her face and the slightly belligerent pose, I believe she's ready to give an exasperated chewing out to her slower-than-molasses boyfriend or husband.
One of the tracks on the album is "Rainbow City Line". At first, since I hadn't focused so much on the title, I had initially thought that this was a direct cover of Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）"Rainbow Sea Line", assuming that the Ryusenkei number actually had the same title. When I heard the melody and read the lyrics for each tune and realized that they were different, I kinda Gibbs-slapped myself up the head. I ought to practice reading the fine print a little more carefully.
Still, I read one comment on YouTube which stated that "Rainbow City Line" was a nice tip of respect to Yoshida, who can be considered to be one of the pioneers for New Music, City Pop, J-AOR and J-R&B. However, I think that Ryusenkei and vocalist Hitomitoi (一十三十一...for whatever reason, she decided to go with the pseudonym Nika Eguchi/ 江口ニカ for this song) were paying tribute to 1970s City Pop in general with the arrangement. Heck, even the lyrics pretty much paint the picture of a typical image on a City Pop album cover:
When I get off the highway, I feel the sea breeze. Through the sunset Reflected on the cafe terrace window, I still go after that vision in the distance. The love song gets gradually better And the city line flows out
Man, could I use a Corona right now! (Uh, no, that's not part of the lyrics. Just my feeling after hearing those dreamy words.)
It must have been quite the feeling listening to City Pop like this in the 1970s while sitting in that cafe or bar in one of the rising hotels in Tokyo. I will still bet on the Tokyo Prince Hotel for that view (personal bias definitely), although hotels since the old Prince have sprouted to much higher levels.
Almost forgot that it was Valentine's Day today. So I'm hoping that some of you were able to have a good time with your significant others tonight.
Considering that I didn't have a whole lot of time to give thought to what to put up for tonight's articles, I did have one on my Bookmarks tab that I had saved recently which could fit the Valentine's bill tonight. It's titled "Matenro no Koibito" (Skyscraper Lovers) by Hitomitoi（一十三十一）from her 2012 album, "City Dive".
With a nice little contemporary funky beat, "Matenro no Koibito" could probably describe some of the more well-to-do couples in Tokyo having an intimate candlelight dinner in their sky-high condos by the bay or one of the pricey restaurants up at the top of the West Shinjuku hotels. I probably would have settled for a Big Mac set at the nearby Golden Arches on ground level...which would most likely explain why I'm still single.
Anyways, Hitomitoi came up with the lyrics while Dorian provided the melody and arrangement. As for "City Dive", it only got as high as No. 142 on the charts. Rather too bad but I don't think Oricon has scared away the new City Pop/urban contemporary acts from plying their trade, happily for fans like me.
I came across some of this fellow's material on YouTube and when I saw that chanteuse Hitomitoi（一十三十一）was involved for one of his songs, I gave it a try. Nothing that broke the mold but it was still nice and sunny.
There's barely anything about this lad by the name of Dorian outside of a short blurb on this site called "felicity" but he has been doing his best to spread the word of gospel for urban dance music. I'm not quite sure that his "summer rich" with Hitomitoi would be something to boogie down to, but it does make for some pleasant listening. It's included on his third original album"Studio Vacation EP" which was released back in August 2011.
Along with Hitomitoi, Dorian has worked with folks like Towa Tei and ZEN-LA-ROCK. The only other information that I could find about him is that according to the music video for "summer rich", he can apparently shred a mean shovel!
Not sure whether the cool and groovy band Ryusenkei（流線形）was inspired by flying police boxes or speeding DeLoreans, but the guys came together to create another cool and groovy tune under the title of "Time Machine Love" as a track for their 2nd album"Tokyo Sniper" in 2006. I'm always going to remember the album for the cover image of that jogger taking a break on the road there.
And they got some able assistance from singer Hitomitoi（一十三十一）to provide this nice driving song for the highways and byways criss-crossing Tokyo. Good ol' kaz-shin on his Japanese-language blog of Japanese music "Music Avenue" noted that "Time Machine Love" which starts off "Tokyo Sniper" is reminiscent of some of Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）early material when she embraced R&B in the early 70s. Certainly, Hitomitoi's high-tone vocals can vouch for that. Plus I gotta mention that I enjoy some of that disco bass as well.
Yoshida was one of the early pioneers for New Music and City Pop in the 1970s and 1980s, and so whenever I hear some of these recent urban contemporary popsters such as Ryusenkei and Hitomitoi, I get reminded of a small debate that I've heard sometimes about whether City Pop should only be used to describe that metropolitan music that flourished in the late 70s and early 80s. Perhaps what the recent singers are creating and performing now should be considered examples of J-R&B or J-AOR or an extension of the soul-tinged pop that Misia and bird were doing starting from the early 2000s.
Well, I'm biased here since City Pop is my favourite genre within Japanese pop music but I still wouldn't mind it if that very genre name were still used for tunes right up into this decade. However, I'm sure the artists themselves will have their own strong opinions about how they would like to be classified or whether they even want to be classified at all. In any case, I still like "Time Machine Love" as a city song and would be willing to purchase "Tokyo Sniper".
