Masayuki Suzuki/Yosui Inoue -- Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa (飾りじゃないのよ涙は）

 

Yes, the man so cool his sunglasses sprouted from his face organically is back on KKP. Indeed, I'm talking about the God of Love Songs himself, Masayuki "Martin" Suzuki（鈴木雅之）.

I'm usually not a huge fan of tribute albums of famous artists in Japan, although I did buy one for Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）several years ago. And so I was surprised to find out a few days ago that such a tribute album dedicated to the songs of Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）had been produced and released in May 2025. Titled "Meikyo: Tribute to Akina Nakamori"（明響...Akina Resonates）, it apparently consists of two CDs with the first one consisting of those other singers covering her hits while the second one has the original versions of those hits sung by Akina herself back in the 1980s.

Speaking of Martin, he contributes his golden tones to one of Akina's biggest hits, "Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa" (These Tears Ain't For Show) and I gotta say that he hits this one right out of the park like a Kazuma Okamoto homer (which I hope the newest Blue Jay will do later today on Opening Day). I remember when I first heard the original version and thought it a pretty upbeat song which got my OK. But then when I heard the extended album version of the original 1984 single which launched her landmark "Bitter & Sweet" album from 1985, my ears and brain were sent into the stratosphere so that I ended up hearing the track a few times that night when I purchased it in Chinatown. 

A similar feeling rammed into me when I heard the Suzuki cover version a couple of nights ago, and it combines quite the potent cocktail of crystalline Neo-City Pop, funk and 60s guitar rock. Singer-songwriter Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）probably smiled through his own dark sunglasses and said "Yes, we have the singer" (a slight joke from "F1"). If there were going to be a fourth season of the anime "Kaguya-sama"（かぐや様は告らせたい）, I wouldn't mind having this be the theme song.

Continuing with the name segues, Inoue brought his own cover of "Kazarijanainoyo Namida wa" from his own self-cover album "9.5 Carat"（9.5カラット）from December 1984 which ended up as the No. 1 album for 1985. For some reason, I never got around to posting this one up until now, despite the fact that I remember hearing it on my old beloved CHIN-FM radio program "Sounds of Japan" decades ago. Anyways, Inoue's cover seems to have a darker and more haunting tone. Plus, the other notable thing about it is that it was arranged by Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, the man behind all that Studio Ghibli music.

Yuko Ishikawa -- Akikaze no Maria（秋風のマリア）

Wikimedia Commons

 

Just by pure coincidence, it's been exactly one year since I've had singer-songwriter Yuko Ishikawa（石川優子）up on the byline of an article. Last year, it was her 1981 "Saigo no Yoru ni"（終末の夜に）which was quite the bluesy City Pop piece.

This time, we have a completely different animal by Ishikawa up on the board here. "Akikaze no Maria" (Autumn Wind Maria) is a very upbeat number that, despite the title, doesn't really sound all that autumnal. It actually comes across as being very summery with all of the skipping and running along the beach that such a song would entail. Ishikawa took care of words and music with Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）taking care of the arrangement. And yes, it's THAT Joe Hisaishi. The song belongs to the singer's August 1987 14th album "Kimajime de Suki"（生真面目で好き...I Like You Overly Earnest）.

"Night" Songs

 

Over a decade ago, I came up with the KKP article "J-Canuck's Nighttime Playlist" which was composed of songs with a nocturnal theme or mood thanks to a "Myojo"（明星）songbook collection. Of course, feel free to peruse that old chestnut. However, last night, my mind was wading through the usual dross as I was zoning out from watching the baseball game when I realized that there were a fair number of kayo kyoku with the word "night" in their titles. So, why not provide a small modest list of such songs for fun?

I've also come up with a sequel.

(1977) Hatsumi Shibata -- My Luxury Night （マイ・ラグジュアリー・ナイト）

(1984) Tomoko Aran -- Slow Nights

(1988) Joe Hisaishi -- Night City

(1989) Toshinobu Kubota -- Oh! What A Night!

(2009) Perfume -- NIGHT FLIGHT

Joe Hisaishi -- L'etranger

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't have any unauthorized images of Totoro and Mei/Satsuki doing the tango here without risking the wrath of Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）. Thankfully though, Kayo Grace and Mr. Calico were kind enough to step in since they do love to dance.

This is the second time I've had the great composer and arranger Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, who has handled many a Studio Ghibli soundtrack, on the blog in his capacity as a former singer himself. A few years ago, I was frankly gobsmacked when I discovered that he did have this time behind the mike in the 1980s, and with the spirited City Pop tune, "Night City", for that matter. This wasn't only a single for him but it was part of his 1988 4th album "Illusion".

Coupling with "Night City" on the single and also a track on "Illusion" is "L'etranger" which continues the sophisticated pop ways from the A-side. This time though, Hisaishi is more in tenderhearted crooning mode as "L'etranger" has a more ethereal side to the sophisti-pop and some added dimension with a mix of tango and bossa nova. Enjoy your Chablis!🍷

Yudai Suzuki -- Something Never Change

 

Probably one of the bigger surprises that I have received while working on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" for nearly thirteen years is the fact that Studio Ghibli's musical maestro Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）once had his own City Pop phase. Almost three years ago, I was somewhat flabbergasted at the composer with a full head of hair and sunglasses making like any street player on the roads and avenues of Tokyo as he sang "Night City" in the late 1980s.

Well, he didn't stop with himself when it came to the urban contemporary during those razzle-dazzle days and nights of the Bubble Era. Hisaishi also arranged City Pop singer Yudai Suzuki's（鈴木雄大）11th single from October 1987, "Something Never Change". Written and composed by the singer, it's another strutting and funky number on the streets of Japan's largest city, and just imagine Totoro and his minions in sunglasses and attitude shuffling down Chuo Dori as if there were no tomorrow.

Risa Junna & JOE'S PROJECT -- Piano（ぴあの）

 

"Uta Con"（うたコン）for this week focused on the theme songs for the past number of NHK morning serial dramas including the currently running "Tora ni Tsubasa"（虎に翼...The Tiger and Her Wings） which will be wrapping up in a couple of weeks. I still remember the preceding asadora which was the jazz-and-kayo-kyoku-filled "Boogie Woogie"（ブギウギ）with actress/singer Shuri（趣里）even singing with Yoshie Nakano（中納良恵）and Yu Sakai（さかいゆう）on the theme song, "Happy Boogie"（ハッピー☆ブギ）.

It's not everyday that the star of an NHK morning serial also ends up singing the theme song but Shuri's performance wasn't an unprecedented event. As I was to find out on "Uta Con" today, the honour of being the first asadora star to sing the theme song of her own show goes to actress/singer Risa Junna（純名里沙）who appeared to sing "Piano", the titular song of her series which came out in 1994.

As it turns out, Junna has plenty of experience behind the microphone and on the stage since she had been a top star at the famous Takarazuka Revue. The troupe even encouraged her to take on the NHK role of Piano Sakurai while taking a break from performing on the stage. Not surprisingly, her vocals are wonderfully sweet with JOE'S PROJECT, aka master composer and arranger Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, and lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）. A single was released in August 1994 which peaked at No. 48.

After retiring from Takarazuka in 1996, Junna has remained active through television, movies, stage and commercials.

Miki Imai -- Mikazuki no Saber（三日月のサーベル）

 

Welcome to the middle of May right after Mother's Day. Hope you all had a wonderful tribute to your Moms wherever you are. Sushi was the order of the day for our family.

Another mantra of mine since starting up "Kayo Kyoku Plus" years ago has been "Always check out those B-sides or coupling songs". There is a good chance that you may encounter something wonderful or at the very least intriguing there since that song may have never ended up on an original album or a BEST compilation.

Case in point: the lovely singer-songwriter and actress Miki Imai（今井美樹）. I've been more than happy to fill up the blog with her tunes ever since I began KKP back in 2012 and my thought was that I basically got all of my favourites of hers posted. Well, lo and behold, I did find a song that I'd never heard by Imai and it was indeed a B-side/coupling song for her 2nd single "Yasei no Kaze"（野性の風）, released in July 1987. Compared to her very languid ballad on the A-side, "Mikazuki no Saber" (Crescent Moon Saber) is quite the different animal.

Created by the same people behind "Yasei no Kaze": lyricist Masumi Kawamura（川村真澄）, composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）and arranged by Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, "Mikazuki no Saber" is something more for the dance floor...well, as much as a J-Pop song can be. In fact, I swear that Tsutsumi and Hisaishi had Bananarama's "I Heard A Rumour" on the brain when they came up with this one. I don't think I had ever heard Imai attempt something Eurobeat and her voice was getting close to cracking in those higher registers. Well, I can say that it's definitely in the intriguing department and as far as I know, it may not have gotten any other presence outside of the original single. I'll have to thank Crispy French for this post.

Azumi Inoue -- Sanpo（さんぽ）

 

"Uta Con"（うたコン）is off for another week so when I turned on Jme this morning, there was a special called "Ghibli no Uta"（ジブリのうた...Ghibli Songs） on NHK. Basically, the title said it all: it was all about the magical theme songs from the many Studio Ghibli movies over the decades. Plus, the backdrop for the performances was logically the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.

Not being all that huge a Ghibli fan, I've never visited the museum myself and I have heard that getting tickets is almost as difficult as pushing Totoro into a Jenny Craig programme although a few of my friends were able to get them and visit the place. But I think whoever came up with the idea for it was pretty smart in limiting the numbers since I think the magic can be retained by not having Disneyland-level numbers of rambunctious kids and adults clambering all over the exhibits. By the way, the video above comes from the YouTube channel Always, Ros.

For the fans, "Ghibli no Uta" on NHK must have had them swooning as at least some of the original singers were back to sing their contributions to the Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）ethos. To be honest, I was midway through my oatmeal and therefore not watching the screen when I heard the familiar adorable tones of the opening theme march from the 1988 "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）, "Sanpo" (Stroll), by Azumi Inoue（井上あずみ）. I mean, how could this not have every kid under the age of seven automatically marching throughout the living room while the opening credits are playing or when Inoue performs this on stage? 

Written by children's book writer Rieko Nakagawa（中川李枝子）and composed/arranged by Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, it's no surprise that "Sanpo" has been included in elementary school textbooks from time to time, and the argument has gone on about whether the song is an anison or a douyou（童謡...children's song）. Why not both? Everyone knows about the ending theme but "Sanpo" is still going to be the song that gets kids and their parents up and at 'em.

Personally though, I think my highlight from the show was "Jinsei no Merry-Go-Round"（人生のメリーゴーランド）as performed by an interpretive dancer. Dang, those lightning-quick hand moves really woke me up.

AI -- Okuribito（おくりびと）

 

Happy Monday! As I've mentioned in the past, I generally don't watch the Oscars anymore for a number of reasons, and as for last night's reason, I was out with friends for a nice if pricey Korean BBQ dinner (just wish the restaurant would accept credit cards). I've heard that there really wasn't anything cringe about this year's ceremony as there has been in the past (such as the slap heard around the world) and the big shocker was that Jimmy Kimmel and company were able to finish the program before 11 PM Eastern Daylight Time! I actually had to check things to make sure that there hadn't been some sort of terrorist attack.

I had heard beforehand that there were three Japanese movies that were in contention for Oscars, and I'm glad to hear that two of them won. Many congratulations to "Godzilla Minus One" for Best Visual Effects and "The Boy and the Heron" for Best Animated Feature. The amazing thing is though I haven't been one who watches a lot of Oscar movies, I managed to catch four such flicks in 2023: the above two, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer". 

I wondered about putting something up to begin this week's round of KKP entries to commemorate the Oscar victories but I had already contributed articles regarding "Godzilla Minus One" and "The Boy and the Heron" back in December. Didn't want to quit quite yet so after breaking a brain cell or two, I realized that the movie "Okuribito"（Departures） had won for Best Foreign Picture back at the 2009 Oscars.

Never thought that I would see two former cute teenage singers from Japan show up on Hollywood's biggest staged event but it did happen. 

I figured that any major Japanese motion picture would have some sort of song attached to it, and sure enough, Japanese-American R&B singer AI provided one. "Okuribito" is a tenderhearted creation written by AI and composed/arranged by Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）. It's certainly a different tune for AI since "Okuribito" has a heartfelt orchestra backing up a hushed and solemn delivery by the singer. There's even some prominence given to the cellos which happened to be the instrument of profession for Masahiro Motoki's（本木雅弘）main character before transitioning to become a ritual mortician. It's a perfect fit for the tone of the story. "Okuribito" was the coupling song to AI's 18th single "So Special -Version AI-" from September 2008. 

Of course, there were a few highlights in last night's ceremonies. After his antics, John Cena has been compared here in Japan to one other local comedian with a similar shtick.

Joe Hisaishi/Suginami Junior Chorus -- Kaze no Toorimichi（風のとおり道）

 

I recollect that one of the friends in our group had once been humorously pegged as resembling the friendly but mysterious Totoro in "Tonari no Totoro"（となりのトトロ）. The poor guy never quite lived it down; almost any time he came by, a few of the guys would start humming the famous theme song from the movie. He was generally laid back about it, though.

When I posted the article for that theme song almost a decade ago, I noted that another iconic Studio Ghibli movie with Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）at the helm, "Kiki's Delivery Service", remained my favourite over "Tonari no Totoro". To give further clarity, and I apologize in advance to Totoro fans, I frankly fell asleep through a lot of the movie; it just seemed a little too relaxed although the Kusakabe sisters did have that fight near the end. And of course, the arrival of the Neko Bus and the finale perked me up considerably.

Recently, I had my memories jogged once again when I encountered one of the instrumental motifs from "Totoro" and that was "Kaze no Toorimichi" (The Path of Wind) by music maestro Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）. Apparently, there are a few versions of it including the gravitas-laden one above with the cello but I remember hearing the majestic and magical synthesizer version used in the movie such as in the scene below.

I had no idea that there was a sung version of "Kaze no Toorimichi", and it was by the Suginami Junior Chorus（杉並児童合唱団）. Miyazaki himself provided the lyrics.

Joe Hisaishi -- Syntax Error/Syntax Error II

 

Well, after writing about aidoru over the decades for the past three articles, I feel that I should finish tonight's round of KKP articles with something totally different.

If it weren't for "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I wouldn't have realized that composer/arranger extraordinaire Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）wasn't just about the heartwarming Studio Ghibli orchestral soundtracks. Over the past few years, I've learned that he has gone into City Pop (even going behind the mike himself) and some frenetic fusion and funk early in his career.

Let's add one more genre to his impressive collection. Hisaishi has even dove into avant-garde technopop...or maybe just plain techno. In June 1985, he released his 2nd solo album "α-BET-CITY" which was assessed by "CD Journal" as being a project in which Hisaishi supposedly insisted that the synthesizer ought to be a synthesizer and not a copy of any other instrument. Well, if this track "Syntax Error" is of any indication, then the master definitely showed off that the synthesizer was indeed a synthesizer.

"Syntax Error" does copy what sounds like some animal out in the jungle but aside from that, there's nary a familiar instrument that the synths emulate. It's a regulated cacophony of synthesizers working together like an assembly line in a factory, except that instead of a physical device, this line is disgorging all sorts of sounds to create a soundscape for aural consumption. There are no hints of Kiki, Totoro or Howell hiding out here...unless they were assimilated by the Borg. I get hints of Yellow Magic Orchestra circa early 1980s as I hear "Syntax Error". 

As a sequel, Hisaishi created "Syntax Error II" for his compilation album "Curved Music" from September 1986 which is quite a bit shorter than the original but no less crazy. This time, I'm hearing an especially busy Art of Noise in this piece that brings images of a robotic pest exterminator going on a search-and-destroy mission on some ants. The whole thing about "Curved Music" is that all of the tracks were involved in various commercials, and "Syntax Error II" was actually used for an ad selling the "Nikkei Business Daily" newspaper. Man, I wonder whether Hisaishi was at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on an especially volatile day of trading when he was inspired to create this track.

Momoko Kikuchi -- Ivory Coast

 

Well, that was a heck of a day and night on Friday with me going all nuts by putting up 13 articles, but I just had to hit that 101 before finishing September.

I guess that I got some of that gumption from watching this specific scene early in "Top Gun: Maverick". I also wanted to reach Mach 10.

Anyways, no City Pop for this weekend. Ironically, I'm starting off the weekend with an 80s aidoru who did have the penchant for the urban contemporary genre, but this time around it's different with this particular tune. "Ivory Coast" was the B-side of Momoko Kikuchi's （菊池桃子）10th single "Aidoru wo Sagase"（アイドルを探せ...Find the Idol） released in March 1987. With that supposedly African-esque percussion along with some synthesizers, "Ivory Coast" tends more toward synthpop by my personal estimation.

Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, the composer who has usually come up with the City Pop goods for Kikuchi, was also the one behind "Ivory Coast" with Masao Urino（売野雅勇）as the lyricist. Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）handled the arrangement. The leisurely paced song was also included in the singer's 4th album "Escape from Dimension" which came out a little later in May.

Joe Hisaishi -- Fuyu no Tabibito（冬の旅人）

 

When I think of the Japanese dramas of the late 1980s, my mind usually goes to the trendy dramas in which the young and beautiful reside in apartments that are way too expensive for their jobs and cavort in plush and/or resort environments. However, I recently discovered that there was a Fuji-TV drama in early 1989 which was actually based on Leo Tolstoy's final novel "Resurrection" (1899). Couldn't get more highbrow than that. Titled "Hana no Wakare"（華の別れ...Farewell of the Blossom）, it starred Satomi Tezuka（手塚理美）as a budding designer, Sachiko, who ends up in a tense liaison with a young man returning from studying overseas in the United States; meanwhile, Sachiko actually already has a proper boyfriend. You can play the video immediately below now.

For a Tolstoy-based J-drama, an appropriate theme song would be good here, and so singer-songwriter Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）was asked to come up with such a creation. He came up with "Fuyu no Tabibito" (Winter Traveler) which was also his second single from January 1989.

Following from his surprising City Pop single "Night City" several months earlier, "Fuyu no Tabibito" has also been categorized as a similarly City Pop tune on J-Wiki, although I don't really agree with the assessment. If anything, the classy piano piece with Hisaishi singing is probably more in relation with a more contemporized and livelier version of the languid Fashion Music from around a decade previously. With Ikki Matsumoto（松本一起）behind the lyrics, "Fuyu no Tabibito" was probably designed to match with the Tolstoy cachet.

The J-Wiki article also has the list of musicians involved in the recording of the song, and there are a few big people from the New Music and City Pop genres. Along with Hisaishi handling vocals and keyboards, Fujimaru Yoshino（芳野藤丸）was on guitar, and the husband-and-wife duo of Yasuhiro Kido and Junko Hirotani（木戸やすひろ・広谷順子）were helping out in the chorus. "Fuyu no Tabibito" made it as far as No. 77 on the singles charts. Meanwhile, it was also included on Hisaishi's 4th album "illusion" (also containing "Night City") from December 1988. 

Wonder City Orchestra -- African Market

 

Knowing composer-arranger extraordinaire Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）for all of those lush soundtracks of the Studio Ghibli animated epics such as "Kiki's Delivery Service", it was quite the kick in the pants to discover that in the late 1980s, he not only created but sang a dramatic City Pop tune titled "Night City". Listening to that one, I felt more like having a drink with Totoro in the Keio Plaza Hotel rather than stand with him under an umbrella.

Going even further back in his career, I found out that Hisaishi was all for the minimalist music scene in the early 1980s as a member of the percussion group Mkwaju Ensemble. However in 1982, he put out his own solo album, "Information", under the name of Wonder City Orchestra. The first track "African Market" is definitely beyond minimalist although that Mkwaju Ensemble（ムクワジュ・アンサンブル）percussion threads itself throughout the song. But surrounding it is a lot of atmospheric and fast-flowing fusion and funk that was all created by Hisaishi. Now, I feel like I should be having that line dance with Totoro, Kiki and the Cat Bus.

Joe Hisaishi -- Night City

 

A few days ago, when I was looking up information on composer/arranger Joe Hisaishi's（久石譲）"Jinsei no Merry-Go-Round"（人生のメリーゴーランド）, just another one of the maestro's wonderful songs for Studio Ghibli, I also opted to see what else he had done early in his career. After all, it's always interesting how a veteran in the music industry began everything.

Well, in his J-Wiki profile, I saw in his singles category, his very first contribution was a song called "Night City" that he had released all the way back in August 1988. Looking at that title, I wondered whether he had actually concocted something City Pop, since it was the late 1980s. I rather scoffed at myself at first. This was the guy who had provided the music for "Nausicaa" and "Laputa" earlier on after all.

But then I discovered and played the video on YouTube, and man, was I in for a surprise! The video had been posted up almost two years ago, so I was definitely late to the party, but still, I was rather gobsmacked that he not only composed this fast-moving case of sophisti-pop in the big city, he also sang the tune. And would you get a load of his appearance on the CD single? He's ready to paint the town red! Warm up that sports car!

Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）provided the lyrics for Hisaishi's debut single. "Night City" was also a part of his 4th album, "illusion", which came out later in December that year.

Joe Hisaishi -- Jinsei no Merry-Go-Round（人生のメリーゴーランド）

 

Last night on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, singer Kumiko（クミコ）performed a lyrics-filled version of the theme song from the Hayao Miyazaki（宮崎駿）movie "Howl's Moving Castle" (2004), and it was OK. However, my feeling was that the original song had packed more of a punch. By the way, I never saw the actual movie with SMAP's Takuya Kimura（木村拓哉）playing Howl himself and Christian Bale dubbing the role in English. I read with some mirth that Bale's work on the movie came on the cusp of him taking on the Batman role and that his performance in "Howl's Moving Castle" was practice for the Dark Knight's terrifying voice. Perhaps in that case, Howl should have been called Growl.

Of course, when it comes to a Studio Ghibli movie with Miyazaki, it's going to be Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）on soundtrack duties, and with "Howl's Moving Castle" came the instrumental "Jinsei no Merry-Go-Round" (Merry-Go-Round of Life). And it's one of those masterpiece creations by the maestro himself that sent shivers up and down my spine. Even more than his wonderful "Hareta Hi ni..."（晴れた日に...）theme for "Majou no Takkyubin"（魔女の宅急便...Kiki's Delivery Service）, Hisaishi encapsulates the pathos, romance, adventure and even some comic relief from the movie into the three minutes and change of this epic waltz. I can see couples in their finest dress whirling around the floor in some European castle while this is playing.

And yet, despite the waltzing nature of the song, it also really sounds like being put on the most amazing merry-go-round of your lifetime. "Jinsei no Merry-Go-Round" was the coupling song for Chieko Baisho's（倍書千恵子）"Sekai no Yakusoku"（世界の約束...Promise of the World） single which I assume is sung during the ending credits of the movie. Baisho played the main character of Sophie in the original version. I'll have to cover that one sometime later on. It was released in October 2004, about a month before the movie came out.

Mariko Takahashi -- Tasogare Bito（黄昏人）

Actress Hitomi Kuroki（黒木瞳）has been a familiar face on the big and small screens for decades, and I first got to know her through the movie "Shitsurakuen"（失楽園...A Lost Paradise） based on the original novel by Junichi Watanabe (渡辺淳一) which became all the rage during its year of release in 1997.

Although her height is 163 cm, she has always stood tall and elegant on screen with a very appealing vocal delivery which is most likely because of her training in the Takarazuka Troupe. Perhaps she might be known to Western audiences because she was in a J-Horror film when that particular genre was being remade into Hollywood movies. Kuroki starred in the 2002 "Honogurai Mizu no Soko kara"（仄暗い水の底から...From the Depths of Dark Water） which was adapted into "Dark Water" with Jennifer Connelly in 2005.

Her film debut though came with "Keshin"（化身...Incarnation） in 1986 as she portrayed a Ginza nightclub hostess in her mid-20s in an affair with a literary critic acted by Tatsuya Fujii（藤竜也）. As with the aforementioned "Shitsurakuen", the movie was also based on a Junichi Watanabe novel of the same title.

The reason that I have gone into cinematic adaptations of novels of trials and tribulations of passion is that I've become quite enamored with the theme song for "Keshin". It can be quite hard to find a YouTube video of an original Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）song so I was quite happy to encounter this theme titled "Tasogare Bito" (People of Dusk).

First off, I have to tip off my hat to the uploader or whoever concocted this slick video (Sorry but that video has been taken down.) which melds scenes of Ginza and the actual movie. Obviously, I also give my compliments to Takahashi and all of the folks behind the creation of "Tasogare Bito": lyricist Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, composer Toshio Kamei（亀井登志夫）and arranger Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）. Although I'm not sure if I would categorize it as a City Pop tune, it's properly urban, elegant and smoky at the same time as if it's the melodic equivalent of that seen-it-all done-it-all hostess wrapping suitors around her well-manicured finger. Plus, there is an overall aura of almost James Bondian mystery surrounding the proceedings here and I think "Tasogare Bito" could have become one of the many ending themes for the weekly TV mystery drama. Finally, Takahashi's voice is simultaneously haunting and enticing...just the perfect singer for this number which ended up as a track on her 12th album from September 1986, "Forest".

Joe Hisaishi -- Kaerazaru Hibi（帰らざる日々）

I have to admit that I have never seen Hayao Miyazaki's（宮崎駿）"Kurenai no Buta"（紅の豚...Porco Rosso） from 1992, although I've heard plenty about it. Just looking at the poster for the first time, I was kinda left scratching my head about an intrepid pig fighting enemies in the sky during World War I. At the time, I'd assumed that it was only pet beagles of round-headed kids who were allowed to do that sort of thing, but hey that's fine. In any case, from Studio Ghibli, I've seen a cat bus, a teenage witch and a wolf-raised princess but not a flying porcine ace.

Having said that, I've discovered one piece from the "Kurenai no Buta" soundtrack composed by perennial go-to composer for Studio Ghibli, Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）. Titled "Kaerazaru Hibi" (Bygone Days), it hit me right in the heart. Classy, jazzy, melancholy, deeply romantic and cool all at the same time, I don't where it comes in during the movie, but I can only imagine that it has the title character nursing a martini in some swanky party hall while everyone else is living it up on the dance floor. Porco Rosso is probably surrounded by a wealth of the beautiful people and yet be the loneliest presence in the place.

It's awfully hard to choose...whether I like the originally recorded track or the concert version performed here by Hisaishi. His piano is wonderful, but I also love the "drunken" trombone solo and the truly vivacious clarinet that aren't in the original version...it adds some more to my image of what's happening with Porco. My opinion coming up is perhaps out of left field, but I think that this can be a Taisho or early Showa Era theme for a then-contemporary samurai warrior inserting himself into someone else's troubles and solving them before having to leave again on his lonely wanderings, despite any potential romances. It can describe Porco himself. In any case, a wonderful piece of music.

Joe Hisaishi -- Summer

Kinda nice to bring this one in, especially since we've apparently got snow coming in as we approach the weekend here. I was watching tonight's extended "Uta Kon"（うたコン）when a quintet of shakuhachi players gave a brief performance of a song that immediately sparked familiarity from years back. The fact that it was composed by the famous Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）then sparked me to search for "Summer".

It took me a while to track it down but "Summer" was used for some years as the music for Toyota Corolla commercials in Japan. With that gently flowing piano, it did feel like a Hisaishi composition.

Originally though, "Summer" was the theme song for the Takeshi Kitano/Beat Takeshi（北野武・ビートたけし）film "Kikujiro no Natsu"（菊次郎の夏...Kikujiro） that had come out in 1999. Despite hearing it as a most wonderful background piece for those Toyota ads all those years, tonight was the first time that I heard the song in its entirety. Starting off feeling a bit reminiscent of "Krazy Klock", a song that my junior high school band class practiced ad nauseum, the familiar theme comes in before things take on somewhat of an overture-like feeling. I never saw "Kikujiro no Natsu" but I assume that parts of "Summer" were used throughout the score for the movie.

Nice to get that warm melodic glow again although we are in November now.

Hatsumi Shibata -- Latin Night（ラテン・ナイト）

Among some of the more intriguing corners of YouTube I've come across has been the one for chiropractic sessions. Dr. Gregory Johnson's channel has been one I've visited a few times since he's used the term "crack addicts" to refer to his viewers who love it when the good doctor goes down to town cracking on those backs and necks.

Well, tonight, perhaps I can entice those "bass addicts" in City Pop land with this one called "Latin Night" by Hatsumi Shibata（しばたはつみ）. The singer had a long career and my last article on her was when she first started out under her first stage name of Kanna Hatsumi（はつみかんな）back in the late 1960s with her brand of 60s go-go boot-friendly pop.

Now moving ahead by around 15 years, she embraced the City Pop aesthetic with "Latin Night" from her June 1985 album "Voices". That boppy bass welcomes listeners to the big city night of fun and luxury, and Ms. Shibata is your congenial host. I couldn't track down who wrote and composed the song, but I was able to find out Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）, the fellow behind all those Studio Ghibli tunes, arranged this one for her. Still, it would be kind of hard to imagine Totoro and Kiki getting down on the dance floor in Roppongi.