Kawai Fujii -- Hitoyo Momo Iro（一夜桃色）

 

When I first encountered this song called "Hitoyo Momo Iro" by singer Kawai Fujii（藤井香愛）some months ago, that title reminded me of another tune from a few decades prior. Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）"Momo Iro Toiki"（桃色吐息）was probably that singer's biggest hit, although there are other tunes by her that I've enjoyed much more. Still, one thing that was niggling at me was the "momo iro"（桃色）part which translates as "peach-coloured". Both songs are treated as love ballads, but I've never associated peach with love.

However, when I looked up Jisho.org, I found out that "momo iro" can also refer to "pink" which has been associated with love and sex in Japan. Then I scrolled down further and saw the expression "momo iro yuugi"（桃色遊戯）which is translated as "sex play". Personally, my safety word will always remain "apples". 🍎😍

Regardless, "Hitoyo Momo Iro", which I guess can be translated as "One Night of Passion", is Fujii's 4th and most recent single which was released in January 2022. Written by Neko Oikawa（及川ネコ）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, Fujii tenderly philosophizes about love and that night. The arrangement by Masayuki Sakamoto（坂本昌之）has that light and wistful Mood Kayo or perhaps a Neo-Kayo, somewhat reminiscent of some of the songs that enka singer Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）had been singing back in the 1980s. "Hitoyo Momo Iro" peaked at No. 14 on Oricon.

Kawai Fujii -- Sono Ki mo nai Kuse ni（その気もないくせに）

 

Another fine day out there which means the fan has switched on in here.

(shortened version)

Basically a year ago, I wrote about a singer named Kawaii Fujii（藤井香愛）that I discovered on YouTube who had brought back the memories of old-style Mood Kayo through songs such as her 2nd single "TOKYO Maigo"（TOKYO迷子）from 2019. Well, it looks like she's gotten some more fame under her as she made her first appearance on last week's episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）.

Fujii performed her most recent single "Sono Ki mo nai Kuse ni" (Although I Don't Feel Like It) on the NHK program. It was originally released last year in April 2020 and got up to No. 35 on Oricon, but it was given a re-release in March of this year and it's done even better by getting up to No. 30. Written by Kazuya Senke（千家和也）, composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, "Sono Ki mo nai Kuse ni" is a look back at the old snazzy Latin-tinged Mood Kayo of the 1970s and 1980s.

The lyrics by Senke have been made to match a lot of the words from those Mood Kayo chestnuts as a woman sullenly admonishes her probably imminently to-be-ex-paramour in a bar not to bother with the soothing words if the result is a breakup. Still, the drinks are helpful. However, taking things back into the real world, I hope that Fujii has continued success in her career since it would be nice to have some of the classy kayo back in some form again.

Kawai Fujii -- TOKYO Maigo（TOKYO迷子）

Ahhh...nothing like a beefy Mood Kayo while looking over the bright lights and big city. That would especially hold true of Tokyo. Even better if one was holding a glass of bourbon.

I don't quite remember how I found out about kayo singer Kawai Fujii（藤井香愛）but I figure that it must have been during one of my random browsings of YouTube. In any event, I do like her 2nd single "TOKYO Maigo" (Lost Child of Tokyo) which came out in July 2019 for that languid bluesy melody with the saxophone in there; something nice and old-fashioned. That melody was provided by veteran composer Kaoru Ito（伊藤薫）with the lyrics coming from Chisato Sakura（さくらちさと）.

Those lyrics have Fujii pining for a love in the big city or she may be just missing the megalopolis in general. I certainly can understand that latter feeling. Mind you, under the current circumstances I'm grateful to be with family here in Canada, but the Tokyo area still remains a home away from home for me.

(shortened version)

"TOKYO Maigo" managed to get up to No. 62 in Oricon. As for Fujii herself, according to her J-Wiki file, she'd been a big admirer of Speed and Namie Amuro（安室奈美恵）when she was a kid, and started dance lessons and voice training from the time that she was in Grade 2, but due to her parents' influence, she began getting interested in enka and kayo kyoku, including the songs of Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）. She made her debut in 2018 with the song "Tokyo Rouge"（東京ルージュ）.