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.
Well, World Cup 2026 is now a little over a week old now, and so far, my biggest impression is that we are getting a lot of tied games this time around.
Toronto, one of the host cities for the event, has been quite busy entertaining, feeding and quenching the thirst of the tourist masses flowing in. I'm hoping that everyone has been enjoying themselves. As for me, I'll be happy just staying home.
For the past few months, this song has been filling the airwaves at NHK to represent the national broadcaster's share of showing the sports tournament. It's been a couple of years since I've covered a Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）song but I've got another opportunity with his latest digital single "Karasu" (The Raven) which was only released a few days ago.
I guess it's a Yonezu characteristic to bring in some of the whimsical and classical to one of his songs, and "Karasu" is no different. By the way, the video was filmed at one of the Imabari Shipbuilding Corporation's facilities in Shikoku, I believe. According to the J-Wiki article for "Karasu", Yonezu came up with the title after the bird on the emblem of the Japan Football Association. Plus, he also mentioned that he had become friends with one raven at his house when he was a kid. Of course, Yonezu was responsible for words and music, and the translation of the lyrics can be found at "Lyrical Nonsense".
It's been six months since the NHK morning serial drama "Boogie Woogie"（ブギウギ）made its presence known on weekday mornings along with its jazzy theme "Happy Boogie"（ハッピー☆ブギ）. It even had the main actress Shuri（趣里）behind the mike as well belting the song out.
But of course, with half a year going by, a new drama has come out this month called "Tora ni Tsubasa"（虎に翼...The Tiger and Her Wings） starring Sairi Ito（ 伊藤沙莉）as a young woman in the 1930s punching through every obstacle to become a lawyer in Japan's male-centric society. As with "Boogie Woogie", the main actress also has a role in the opening but instead of singing us into every episode, she does a bit of dancing with some other ladies.
And what they're all dancing to is the irresistible pop theme song, "Sayo--nara Mata Itsuka!" (Good--bye and See You Again!) by singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）. The anarchy at the local A&W in the music video aside (our neighbourhood had its own issues in the past but I don't think even the old A&W was ever in that rough a shape), the song has got some nice punch and flow, and I like the addition of the strings. It all ends rather abruptly though but if Yonezu thought it was fine, then it's fine me with me as well.
I also learned that Ito is skilled in dancing so her choreography in the opening credits of "Tora ni Tsubasa" only gives a sliver of what she's probably capable of. Something a little clearer can be seen below. If I'm not mistaken, Ito is in front in the black T-shirt and red hat.
Last night, I happily met up with some friends who I hadn't seen since before the pandemic and after having a Korean BBQ dinner that I also hadn't experienced since the pandemic, we went to see anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki's（宮崎駿）most recent project "Kimi-tachi wa Dou Ikiru ka"（君たちはどう生きるか）, otherwise known here in the West as "The Boy and the Heron". It would turn out to be the first Studio Ghibli movie that I ever saw on the big screen; all of my previous viewings of such movies took place on television or the ancient medium of VHS tape.
I've already mentioned this in the comments for an article for one of the other songs used in a Ghibli movie, but I was never a huge fan of Miyazaki's brand of anime. His movies have had some very dazzling sequences (and this movie was no exception) but I simply felt that his stories often meandered a little too much for my liking. There wasn't so much of that this time around in "The Boy and the Heron". One other observation is that despite the trailer depicting some of the more dramatic scenes from the movie, I was a little surprised to see how cool and clinical the movie actually was; personally, I think the main character of Mahito would probably have become one of the most unflappably excellent Tokyo police officers this side of Sgt. Joe Friday. To my friends I said that the movie seemed to be a typical Ghibli film with a good dollop of Stanley Kubrick. Maybe it was because of this oddly police procedural vibe along with the sci-fi angle that actually had me enjoying it more than I expected.
It's been a few years since I posted anything by singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）. I remember back then about all the fuss made about his "Paprika"（パプリカ）all the way back in 2018, and it was from Miyazaki himself listening to the song on the radio that got him to request Yonezu to come up with the theme song for "The Boy and the Heron".
So, Yonezu created "Chikyuugi" (Spinning Globe) which is the ending theme and his 14th single released in July 2023. The intro has what sounds like a bagpipe off in the distance, and I guess from hearing other songs, J-Pop must really love the Scottish instrument as something to signal an earthier, smell-the-roses type of song. "Chikyuugi" reflects the entire story of the movie of which the understanding is that the people who have helped you will not be at your side forever but they will propel you to make those steps, uncertain or not, into the future. On Oricon, it hit No. 3.
Another J-Drama that has been getting a lot of hype on TV Japan these days alongside "Haken no Hinkaku"（ハケンの品格...The Pride of a Temp） is the TBS show "MIU404". Its catchphrase is "You only have 24 hours...catch the perp before anyone else!", and I think it's about this police mobile investigative unit of motley characters that has been given short shrift by every other department as they try to grab the bad guys.
Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）is the fellow behind the cool and funky "Motivation", the theme song for "Haken no Hinkaku", and "MIU404" has singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）providing the funky and groovy "Kanden"(Electric Shock). Up to now, I've had three of his creations on "Kayo Kyoku Plus": one serious, one for the kids, and one fairly inspirational.
But with "Kanden", Yonezu has something light, jazzy, bouncy and danceable as if the title truly wants to get you off your feet in a hurry. Written by Yonezu and composed by him and composer Yuuta Bando（坂東祐大）, it's another song by him that stands out from the other three which in turn stand out from each other. The music video is also quite the treat with the singer himself looking like some muscle for a loan shark in Tokyo as he plays around with some mirror-men that could have been bred by Reynolds Wrap. J.J. Abrams would certainly appreciate the last minute. Incidentally, the video was filmed at Tokyo's Toshima-en amusement park and some parking lot in Shibaura.
Taking a look at the lyrics and from what I've seen by one other YouTuber's attempt at translation and one person's commentary on the song, they seem to be about some young kids trying to live life large for the moment since there doesn't seem to be much to live for beyond that.
"Kanden" was released as a digital download single on July 6th for which it hit No. 1 on the Oricon digital charts. It's also available on Yonezu's 4th major album"Stray Sheep" which is due out on August 5th.
Over the past several months, I've had these two songs treated as if they were siblings. It's easy to do so because the parent, so to speak, is singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）. One of the "kids" is "Kite" by Arashi（嵐）which may still remain the official NHK song for the Tokyo Olympics as long as there's the chance for them to be held next year.
The other "kid" is "Paprika" by 5-strong children's song-and-dance unit Foorin. I'd also thought that "Paprika" had been meant to be another NHK song for the Olympics, but as it turns out, this was a product for the national broadcaster's "2020 Ouen Song Project"（2020応援ソングプロジェクト...2020 Cheer Song Project）.
Foorin's members are Hyuuga Yoshida（吉田日向）, Moeno Sumida（住田萌乃）, Takeru Narahara（楢原嵩琉）, Ririko Ikeshita（池下リリコ）and Chise Niitsu（新津ちせ）who are currently of elementary school and junior high school age. Apparently, songwriter Yonezu named the group as such since he felt that their cheerful singing and dancing reminded him of a foorin（風鈴）or wind chime, according to J-Wiki.
"Paprika", which was released as a CD single in August 2018, got plenty of attention as Foorin appeared on a number of shows including "Music Station" and the 2019 FNS Song Festival last year. As well, I saw the kids regularly perform the song as a part of NHK's"Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）series. Moreover, Foorin got to appear on the year-end Kohaku Utagassen both in 2018 and 2019, and on the latter show, they were joined by international versions of Foorin on the Shibuya stage to perform "Paprika".
I remember watching that mass Foorin performance and found that one of the members in one of the groups just seemed to be trying a little too hard for the camera, so I kinda reacted like Dr. Evil did at about 1:00 in the above video.
The CD went Gold and in its digital download format, "Paprika" went Platinum, as it peaked at No. 16 on Oricon. It would also end 2019 as the No. 7 single on Billboard Japan's Top 100. Yonezu himself provided a slightly funkier cover as a digital download-only single in February 2020 (which has also gone Gold) and also as a track on his 5th studio album"Stray Sheep" that is due to be released in August this year. One commenter (Jurist) for the above video for Yonezu's "Paprika" gives a detailed explanation about how the original songwriter's take on the song adds further deeper dimensions in the meaning.
Ah, just before I finish off, I just wanted to let you know about another feat that Foorin pulled off by winning a Grand prize at the Japan Record Awards last year according to a few sources including a "Nikkan Sports" article via J-Wiki. Since the average age of the group was 11.2 years, the five of them collectively became the youngest recipients of the award, and three of the group were the first-ever elementary school students to get it.
Whatever the fate of the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for late July to early August, the torch ceremony did take place earlier today at ancient Olympia, and so the torch run has begun.
One of the other scenes that I remember from last year's Kohaku Utagassen was Arashi（嵐）performing right in the middle of the newly-built Olympic stadium in Tokyo. It was a good opportunity to show off the new building and also for the aidoru quintet to show off their latest song, which has yet to be released as their latest single despite the New Year's Eve showcase.
"Kite", and indeed it is the English noun for that kid's piece of fabric in the sky, was written and composed by singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）who had his own debut for the 2018 Kohaku. Compared to other Olympic theme songs, it looks like Yonezu and NHK went for something more elegiac to befit the majesty behind an Olympics, and it's the official song for the national network's broadcast of the 2020 Games.
To be honest, it hasn't quite moved me like Misia's"Hatenaku Tsuzuku Story"（果てなく続くストーリー） for the 2002 Winter Games or got my blood pumping like Maki Ohguro's（大黒摩季）"Atsukunare"（熱くなれ）at the 1996 Summer Games, so I will treat "Kite" as an Olympic song that could grow on me as we near the time. Let's hope that the health condition of humanity will improve by show time.
Well, the lineup and the songs for the 69th Kohaku Utagassen for this New Year's Eve are up on Wikipedia. Just like the old tradition for a bride on her wedding day, there's something old (the appearance of Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）, some five years after he retired from the special), something new (folks like Aimyon（あいみょん）and Suchmos coming onto the program for the first time), something borrowed (the 90s dances for DA PUMP's"USA"), and something blue (you never know what Southern All Stars might pull off on live television on NHK...the wiring for the NHK switchboard might be reinforced).
On December 26th (just yesterday as I write this), it was announced that singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu（米津玄師）was confirmed to be appearing on the Kohaku. I've never heard of him but considering that NHK is making this announcement with less than a week to go before the show goes on, I gather that he must be a pretty big deal. Yonezu had apparently declined an initial invitation but when NHK offered to have him perform live from his native Tokushima Prefecture, he had a change of heart.
The song that he's scheduled to sing is "Lemon", his 8th single released in March 2018. In his J-Wiki biography, he admires bands such as Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Radwimps, and although I don't know any of the bands that have been mentioned well enough to give a comparison, for "Lemon", his delivery reminds me somewhat of the vocals of Masayoshi Yamazaki（山崎まさよし）. From what I've heard from this song alone, there is quite the powerful balladeer in Yonezu. Plus, there is something solid and reassuring with his voice as well even though he's only 27...something along the lines of a child having a parent or relative standing dependably behind him or her at a funeral.
Initially, after looking at his lyrics, I had thought that "Lemon" was another example of going through the emotions after a romantic breakup but then looking at the video and the writeup in the J-Wiki article for the song, I realized that this was probably about coming to some sort of stable ground following a death of a loved one. The olfactory touchstone seems to be the scent of the titular fruit in the title. The one part that kinda struck me was seeing Yonezu appearing in one of the church pews wearing stilettos; there was no explanation in the J-Wiki article about what the significance was for that, and there is even an article on the song on J-Rock News inquiring about it without any answer given. Perhaps the loved one that was lost was indeed a lover, and Yonezu wanted to channel her feelings by literally and figuratively walking in her shoes. As sad as the images were, the end of the video with the camera slowing panning away from the church visitors as they talked things over gives some hope of resolution to the tragedy.
"Lemon" was also used as the theme song for the TBS drama "Unnatural"（アンナチュラル）, about a pathologist studying the whys and wherefores of diseases. The single reached No. 2 on Oricon and went Platinum, breaking a million sales, and it looks like it'll settle in as the 18th-ranked single of the year. Even the music video on YouTube, uploaded by Yonezu, has reached over 243 million views since it first appeared in February. Perhaps the theme was also quite reassuring for viewers.
Yonezu covers pop, rock, R&B and electronica, but one thing that I was surprised about was that some years earlier, he had performed under the Vocaloid name of Hachi（ハチ）. This is one of his songs under that guise, "Donut Hole".
