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.
Showing posts with label Kikutaro Takahashi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kikutaro Takahashi. Show all posts
Recently, there have been YouTube channels such as Pokke ASMR featuring cute anime cats providing tender loving ASMR care to those other cute animals who have gone through the wringer at work. Who doesn't need a massage and/or head spa after a hard day? I have to say that the sound effects are rather scrumptious.
I heard this one on a recent episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）. "Kougen no Yado"(Highland Inn) was an April 1955 single released by Isao Hayashi（林伊佐緒）with the singer taking care of the melody while Kikutaro Takahashi（高橋菊太郎）took care of the lyrics. It's a soothing kayo kyoku about heading up to that titular highland inn away from the city for some well-needed rest and recreation. The slow languid rhythm along with the bird-sounding flute help with the aural therapy.
To be honest, I was initially surprised about the existence of such a hedonistic song in the midst of a very tough postwar period of economic regrowth. However, I figured that even back then, workers simply needed some sort of R&R although I don't know whether they could afford something like a highland inn. Perhaps just a car ride into the countryside and perhaps a stay at a rustic ryokan would do the trick.
1930s film quality will be in like 1p and I'll still be like, "This is the most adorable thing I've ever seen." From 松平晃、ミス・コロムビアらが参加した、コロムビア芸 術団の慰問風景を収めた貴重映像！(YouTube)
I have to admit that Akira Matsudaira (松平晃) has grown on me considerably, which was the last thing I was expecting considering my initial cold reception of him. I wasn't a fan of his voice because it had a quality that, to my ears, made it sound dull on cursory listens for the longest time. But that ironically became what I like about it, and I now find it endearing. I don't really enjoy songs in the minor key very much, and his major hits were mainly in minor. But I came to realise that his softer and more forlorn tone complemented the darker sort of melodies, and slowly began to uncover his jolly tunes that were mostly hidden. I thought he always looked bored/mildly annoyed, or had the dopiest of smiles. But I now find that awkwardness cute in a warped way, especially after seeing how adorkable he seemed to have been.
I compare Akira-san to his Columbia Records senior Tadaharu Nakano (中野忠晴) A LOT. It's mostly because when I see one I would inevitably see the other, and lately I've just been seeing a lot of things where they were literally placed next to each other. This made me realise that they were like different sides of a coin, their works surprisingly complementing each other during my listening time. Mr. Nakano pulls of bright, cheery, and confident, but when it comes to the foreboding or sentimental, I'd say that Akira-san has him beat. His softer vocals were able to convey loneliness and, at times, a sort of naïve sweetness that can be heart-meltingly... adorable. A case in point is "Koi wa Hana yori mada Akai" (Love is still Redder than Flowers).
"Koi wa Hana yori mada Akai" was composed by Yuji Koseki (古関裕而) and written by Kikutaro Takahashi (高橋菊太郎), a power combo if I've ever seen one, from 1937. The rosy waltz-inspired tune with its tender strings aptly expresses the ups and downs of being in love. Akira-san's subdued delivery makes it feel as though we are hearing the inner thoughts of a shy protagonist who is very much head-over-heels for his beloved. He's certainly on cloud nine when bringing her flowers and when taking her out on a date, but becomes extra gloomy when he is unable to see her. In a way, one could also interpret the narrative in the perspective of the protagonist nostalgically looking back at the memories he had of, say, his first love.
Waltz-inspired melodies are more of a slow-burn for me, but the way Akira-san handled the tune really knocked it out of the park. He just conveys "shy protagonist" so well, and I don't really think any other singer from that era (1930s) can pull that off that convincingly. The closest I could think of was Bin Uehara (上原敏), but Bin-san just sounded sad and forlorn for the most part.
That photo was taken almost exactly a month ago after I went with some ryukoka enthusiasts to a record event organised by the one and only prof. Yoshinori Osakabe (刑部芳則), who's one half of my favourite podcast "Osakabe-Takehei Showa no Utagoe" (刑部たけ平昭和の歌声). I'd brought various photos/photo cards of my fellows in anticipation of scoring an oshikatsu hit on the event's program based on the prof's personal favourites. I even brought Akira-san's photo just in case because he'd been featured on the podcast. Little did I know he'd be the only one among my collection to show up. Turns out my taste is the complete opposite of the prof's save for my budding interest in Akira-san. After events like these, my tradition is to have dessert and take a snapshot of the photo/photo card I brought. Even though Akira-san wasn't yet of that caliber, prof. Osakabe did introduce his song and I brought his photo, so I got my tea and cake-tart at a cafe after the show and... *click*.
Matsudaira seems extremely popular among a wide-range of ryukoka fans, the professor included, and I couldn't understand what it was about him that made him so for the longest time. But hearing his song on a gramophone for the first time at this event and picking up the aforementioned nuances and gentleness in his voice allowed me understand why. I get it now.
They're all wearing bow-ties.
A few months ago, I joked that Matsudaira was the "Ichiro Fujiyama we have at home" (if you get the meme). A few months later, Matsudaira is the one I have at home. On my shelf. And in my photo card holder. They say irony is a dish best served cold, but this one feels like a bouquet of red flowers presented by a brightly grinning Akira-san.
A few days ago on Thursday, my fellow KKP writer and co-administrator Noelle Tham posted her "Noelle's Favourite Hachiro Kasuga Songs Composed by Tadaharu Nakano"(中野忠晴作曲お気に入りの春日八郎曲) article in tribute to the fact that the First Enka Singer had been born in 1924, a hundred years ago. She also kindly extended the invitation to anyone else involved in the blog to provide their own angle on the late Fukushima native who had passed away in 1991 at the age of 67.
Well, I'm never going to decline that invitation especially when it seems as if I haven't heard many renditions of his old songs recently on shows such as "Uta Con"（うたコン）. But not being as much of an expert on Kasuga as Noelle, I hadn't been sure about how to go about it. Therefore, I've opted to take a slowly, slowly approach and take a look at his first several appearances on the national broadcaster's New Year's Eve special, the Kohaku Utagassen.
For the record, Kasuga appeared a total of 21 times on the Kohaku ranging from 1954 to 1989. His longest continuous stretch went from 1956 (the 7th edition) to 1969 (the 20th).
So, without further ado:
(1954) Otomi-San (お富さん) 1st appearance on the 5th edition in 1954
Noelle posted an article on "Otomi-san", based on the kabuki play of a cad trying to extort money from a wealthy merchant's concubine only to find out that the lass is his ex-girlfriend. Well, that's dang awkward...sounds perfect for a rom-com/thriller movie if updated. And as Noelle pointed out, the melody by Masanobu Tokuchi (渡久地政信) sounds so up-and-at-'em cheerful so I'm hoping that there was at least some humour in the original play. Actually, I got to know "Otomi-san" through a skit involving the late comedian Ken Shimura（志村けん）and aidoru/tarentoYoko Ishino（石野よう子）. You can take a look below at the video at 4:46.
One of the most famous kayo kyoku around and perhaps Kasuga's most representative recording, "Wakare no Ippon Sugi" is a melancholy song reflecting what was happening in Japan at the time as it struggled to recover from the ashes of war. Tens of thousands of people were being heavily encouraged to move from the countryside to the cities to work in the factories and the offices to get the nation back on its feet again, and the song itself was the story of one person making that lonely move away from his hometown. The above video shows Kasuga performing "Wakare no Ippon Sugi" for the 2nd time on the 1969 edition. He wouldn't appear again until the end of 1974.
(1957) Haha no Tayori（母の便り）3rd appearance on the 8th edition in 1957
I was scrolling down the Kasuga file on KKP to see if either Noelle or I had actually covered it. Maybe it's included in one of Noelle's compilations but I know now that it hasn't been done under my watch, so here it is. Written by Ryo Yano（矢野亮）and composed by Akira Maki（真木陽）, as with "Wakare no Ippon Sugi", "Haha no Tayori"(A Letter from Mother) is something to get the tears flowing as a son working far away from his family gets that letter from his mother to see how things are (and probably when he's coming back). The opening bars of "Haha no Tayori" say it all: it feels/sounds like a mother diligently doing the regular chores at the farmhouse knowing that her boy is giving it his all for home and country.
(1958) Wakare no Toudai（別れの燈台）4th appearance on the 9th edition in 1958
Another song that I haven't covered in the Kasuga file, initially I'd thought that "Wakare no Toudai"(Farewell at the Lighthouse) was a song of heartbreak because my impression was that the titular lighthouse would be the ideal sight in the distance for a romance to end tearfully. But perhaps I've been watching one too many J-Dramas in the past. Reading the lyrics by Kikutaro Takahashi（髙橋掬太郎） , it's more along the theme of the immediately preceding two songs...a man leaves his seaside town by ship to a faraway place in Japan or even completely overseas to make his own mark. Kenji Yoshidaya（吉田矢健治）was responsible for the wistful melody.
(1959) Tokyo no Ari（東京の蟻）5th appearance on the 10th edition in 1959
Both Noelle and I have given our respective articles regarding "Tokyo no Ari", and now having this song alongside some of Kasuga's other entries here, this 1959 hit stands out even more for its Mood Kayo sense complete with tinkling piano and bluesy saxophone. The theme of loneliness in the big city continues here as well but while the others dealt with it from the wistful rural side of things, "Tokyo no Ari" has Kasuga commiserating over his beer from the frustrating city side as he feels little different from Family Formicidae in terms of his service to the nation.
Welcome to the first weekend of February 2024. After getting through one of the grayest Januarys on record, we Torontonians are now bathed in brilliant sunshine. We could use a lot of that Vitamin D!
Therefore, it must seem a tad ironic that I'm starting this weekend session of KKP with an old kayo that's quite melancholy in verse and melody. And, true to my age and aging memory banks, I can't quite remember how I found out about Ichiro Fujiyama's（藤山一郎）"Sake wa Namida ka Tameiki ka" (Is Drinking About the Tears or the Sighs?). I very much doubt it was another discovery from the Weather News segment and the song hadn't been listed on the playlist during last week's episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）.
Regardless, it's a good song to place onto the blog since it was a huge hit for the legendary Fujiyama after its release in September 1931 and probably one of the landmark examples of Showa era kayo kyoku. On J-Wiki, it's been designated as a form of ryukoka（流行歌）, which literally means "pop song", as well as a kayo kyoku (same meaning). However, despite coming to realize over the years through working on this blog and learning from fellow co-administrator Noelle that the genre of enka hadn't actually originated until the 1950s after the war, I still couldn't help but categorize "Sake wa Namida ka Tameiki ka" as a retrofitted enka tune because of the sound and the people involved in its creation.
For one thing, it was Masao Koga（古賀政男）, an up-and-coming composer at the time, who came up with the contemplative melody (powered by that famous guitar playing of his), something that has been a characteristic among that section of kayo kyoku known as the Koga Melodies (and you can get plenty of those through Noelle's Creator articles on the man himself at Part 1 and Part 2) although he has also been capable of jaunty tunes as well. Kikutaro Takahashi（高橋掬太郎）, who was also a newspaper reporter in Hokkaido, wrote the lyrics of heartbreak and loneliness. From the title, I'm assuming that the heartbroken lad in the song was trying to drown his sorrows in drink but not altogether successfully.
According to a 1997 issue of the "Kobe Shimbun"（神戸新聞...The Kobe Newspaper） via that J-Wiki article, "Sake wa Namida ka Tameiki ka" became a huge hit for the classically-trained crooner Fujiyama while the world was struggling through a major economic tempest. In fact, 800,000 records were sold which outpaced the sales of phonographs that year in Japan by a ratio of 4:1. In a foretelling of 1950s/1960s movies based on hit kayo, a couple of movies were inspired by Fujiyama's hit.
Years ago, the owner of the juku that I was teaching at for several years invited me on a Sunday day trip over to her hometown of Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture. So I was able to see the usual souvenir shops, her relatives and the nearby town of Nagatoro which has its famous boating excursions.
A couple of weeks ago, I was watching NHK's show dedicated to minyo（民謡...traditional folk song） and one of the singers performed "Chichibu Ondo" (Chichibu Folk Song) which of course brought back those memories of traveling with my old friend to Saitama.
Both Noelle Tham and I have written about minyo including the festival ondo, so there has been my experience with "Tankō Bushi"（炭坑節）and "Soran Bushi"（ソーラン節）. Now both of those songs were born sometime in the 20th century with my surprise that the latter tune had actually been created in the 1970s. However, according to one tourism website for the nearby town of Minano (which states that the song was born there), "Chichibu Ondo" probably had its origins around two hundred years ago in the early 19th century. I couldn't narrow it down to the exact year so I'm using the Label "1800" which would mean that "Chichibu Ondo" is the oldest song to be placed onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus".
Of course, I also don't know who the original singer was for "Chichibu Ondo" but at one point, enka singer Michiya Mihashi（三橋美智也）recorded his version of the song with Kikutaro Takahashi's（高橋掬太郎）lyrics. According to the English page of that tourism website I mentioned, the music was provided by Gisaku Yoshioka with lyrics by local poet Isekiko Kaneko sometime in the early Showa period, so that was probably an earlier form of the song before Takahashi's revision. Again, if I'm mistaken here, please let me know.
There is also a festival dance which accompanies "Chichibu Ondo". The song and dance together represent the hardy people of the area and the industries and traditions that were prominent there such as silkworm cultivation. The Chichibu Ondo Festival usually takes place every August 14th in Minano but when I saw subtitles go up on that NHKminyo program whenever a singer performed a regional ondo or bushi that the particular festival for that song had been cancelled this year due to COVID-19, I figured that the Chichibu Ondo Festival would probably share the same fate for 2020. However, I'm sure that we are all hoping for a return of all of the regional festivals next year, and maybe a major world sports competition as well.
This article is a sequel of sorts to my talk with my new friend, Aja, who has been practicing Japanese dance for years, Yesterday, she sent me a list of various songs that she has known, and one of them was "Tanko Bushi" (Coal Mine Melody). Now that song rang a whole lot of memory bells since I've not only heard the classic minyo but I've actually danced to it.
Let me explain. 30 years ago when I was an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, the Japanese-Canadian Students' Association (as it was called back then) had just begun its time at the St. George Campus in downtown Toronto. Not long after its genesis, we heard an advertisement for some cultural festival that was to be held, and I believe one of the components was a demonstration of the world's dances. So, one of our more effervescent members, Yoko, who had experience in dance, wanted to get a small group together to demonstrate Japan's "Tanko Bushi". My good friend, Laura, (who introduced me to Aja), myself and a few others decided to take part and so we learned how to dance it in the large common room of the residence where Yoko had lived. And the dance was practiced as how you see it above in the training video.
Somehow our motley crew got our act together and when the dance demonstration was done at the main auditorium of the Medical Sciences Building, we not only did it but we did it a second time inviting members of some of the other dance troupes. It worked out pretty well but I distinctly remember (and felt) the participating member of the Jewish Students' Union accidentally smacking me in the knees during the second run. No offense taken, though, obviously.
"Tanko Bushi" was originally recorded back in 1932. According to Wikipedia, the most popular version was the one recorded by minyo singer Masao Suzuki（鈴木正夫）, although it didn't state whether Suzuki's take was the very first recording (his career lasted from 1931 to his death in 1961). It is, though, the recording that our JCSA group followed.
The minyo is known as a folk song from Fukuoka Prefecture and at this time, it is said to have originated in the city of Tagawa with the lyrics referring to the old Miike Coal Mine. As for those lyrics and the melody, I couldn't find any record of who created the song unfortunately.
From what I've read, there have been a number of variations on "Tanko Bushi", so I'm sure enka and other kayo singers over the last century and into this one have given their renditions. The legendary Michiya Mihashi（三橋美智也）gave his contribution in 1956 according to the description under the above YouTube video with Kikutaro Takahashi（高橋掬太郎）providing some more lyrics and Toshiro Yamaguchi（山口俊郎）giving perhaps a more mellower enka-like feeling to the proceedings. Perhaps it can still be danced to.
Anyways, I'm providing the translation for the song below. It comes straight from the Wikipedia article on "Tanko Bushi".
The moon, has come out, Oh, the moon is out, heave ho Over Miike Coal Mine has the moon come out. The chimney is so high, I wonder if the moon chokes on the smoke... Heave Ho!
