Kokoro Umetani -- Hoshizora no Ruby（星空のルビー）

By W.carter via Wikimedia Commons

 

It's close to the end of May so in Toronto that means that it's time for the annual Doors Open festival. This is where various establishments ranging from companies to private buildings with some style and history open up for a couple of days for the public to explore. The last time I was at Doors Open was a few years ago and since then, various things happened so that I couldn't attend, and so I was rather determined to go to the 2026 edition despite the warning of heavy rain and high winds. 

Well, my friend and I made it to one Heritage building which had also been converted into a food hall filled with various restaurants so I was able to take photos and have a nice hamburger lunch. However, after waiting over an hour to get into The Toronto Star newspaper company while the elements whipped the surprisingly long line silly, we gave up (it was still another hour to go before people could take the elevator to go up) and grabbed a coffee before heading back home. Ugh!

Anyways, the inclement weather is continuing tonight so we may be unlucky enough to get hit with a power outage in the middle of me writing so I apologize in advance. We've actually got quite a lot of outages happening throughout Toronto tonight so I shouldn't be surprised if my neighbourhood does get hit with one.

All the more to bring out enka singer Kokoro Umetani's（梅谷心愛）latest single from March 2026, "Hoshizora no Ruby" (Night Sky of Rubies). It has quite the pedigree of songwriters helping out here with lyricist Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, composer Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）and arranger Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, and there is something about this song which feels rather nostalgic in a 70s or 80s kayo way. Perhaps there is a mixture of enka and kayo in here so the New Adult Music tag may apply. And in fact, it almost feels like an Aming（あみん）or Takako Okamura（岡村孝子）tune. "Hoshizora no Ruby" reached No. 21 on Oricon.

Yuuto Tatsumi -- Lonely Generation（ロンリー・ジェネレーション）

By Ashish 100 via Wikimedia Commons

It's been several years since I posted a Yuuto Tatsumi（辰巳ゆうと）song onto KKP and he's done some evolving over the years at least from what I've included in his file on the blog. I started with his 2nd single from March 2019, "Otoko no Junjou"（おとこの純情）which was a straight-up enka and then followed up with his 3rd single, the more Mood Kayo "Sentimental Heart"（センチメンタル・ハート）, a March 2020 release.

Well, six years have whizzed by and the young lad has become a man with a change in hair colour, to boot. Tatsumi appeared recently on NHK's "Hayauta" with his latest from March 2026, his 10th single "Lonely Generation", and to be honest, I'm having the Dickens of a time trying to categorize this one. Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, who usually composes Junretsu's（純烈）songs, took care of this one. 

As a brief aside, when I was looking through the KKP Miyuki file, I noticed that I had completely forgotten to add the music genre to Junretsu's "Futari dake no Himitsu"（二人だけの秘密）, probably because I couldn't really nail down an ultimate genre; in the end, I put it down to pop (of the kayo kyoku style).

I was having the same slight dilemma with "Lonely Generation" which was arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）and written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）. With those veteran guys behind it, there is something old-fashioned if very jazzy about this one. It's definitely not enka anymore although it may be a mix of some Neo-Mood Kayo and jazz/rock fusion. So, why not give it the New Adult Music tag although I've also thrown in the pop tag here, too, because it can perhaps fulfill the Neo-kayo kyoku feeling.

As the title states, the song is about isolated young folks struggling to make connections while not admitting to the loneliness. I would usually think Shibuya would be the setting for this sort of song, but the music makes me think more Akasaka and Roppongi. Maybe young Yuuto is making like an employee of the month at a host club there.

Kiiko Tokunaga -- Roppongi Transit（六本木トランジット）/Romance Tsushin（ロマンス通信）

 

We start these entries of KKP for the first Sunday of 2026 with someone who's been described at the Re:Minder blogsite as one of the "deep aidoru". In other words, she's probably a very obscure Japanese teenybopper singer who didn't last too long in the industry.

Kiiko Tokunaga（徳永希衣子）hails from Saga Prefecture but during her brief time in Tokyo (she was apparently back in her hometown by the end of the 1980s), she never got all that much nationwide media exposure, and the only two singles by her that have been mentioned are "Roppongi Transit" and "Romance Tsushin" （Romance Communication）. "Roppongi Transit" is actually the latter-appearing single that was released in 1988. Written by Eiji Takino（たきのえいじ）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, it's an interesting mix of bubbly synthesizer and down-to-earth guitar so I gather that this can truly be an 80s aidoru kayo although despite the mention of the (in)famous neighbourhood of Tokyo and a disco, the song doesn't really feel like Roppongi.

The above video has both songs with Kiiko's 1986 debut single "Romance Tsushin" coming in at 3:44. Strangely enough though, "Romance Tsushin" is also the B-side of "Roppongi Transit" in what was perhaps a stab at reminding Kiiko fans; I wonder then if there were any other singles between these two because two years is a gaping eternity when it comes to the gap between releasing aidoru singles. Anyways, "Romance Tsushin" does feel like a debut single with Kiiko sounding "greener" in her vocals and yep it does also feel like an 80s aidoru tune with those strings and sparkly keyboard. Issei Iwaki（岩城一生）was the composer here while Setsuko Nakamura（中村節子）was the lyricist.

Junretsu -- Futari dake no Himitsu（二人だけの秘密）

 

As expected, "Uta Con"（うたコン）had its final episode of the year on Tuesday night with a retrospective on 2025's highlights. They did have some guests performing in front of the camera, though.

One of the acts was the oft-appearing group Junretsu（純烈）which has now been whittled down to a trio. They will be showing up on the Kohaku Utagassen in a few weeks as one of the relatively fewer performers providing something akin to the old kayo.

Maybe they will be performing their June 2025 single "Futari dake no Himitsu" (A Secret Between You and Me) which is what they sang on "Uta Con". I quickly caught onto their combination of old-fashioned doo-wop and kayo kyoku, and my mind went back to the sentimental music of the 1960s and 1970s because of it. Written by Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, it's no wonder how old-school it sounds considering the three music creators behind it. 

The official music video above has Junretsu taking on double roles: of course, as themselves performing "Futari dake no Himitsu" in what appears to be an Okinawan bar and as a trio of lunkhead barflies smitten over a demure lady. Double of course, hearts will be broken.

Kokoro Umetani -- Himitsu no Hana（秘密の花）

 

I heard this on a recent episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）, and I found it quite lovely and old-fashioned. Teenage enka singer Kokoro Umetani（梅谷心愛）is making her way up the ladder in the music world and she released "Himitsu no Hana" (Secret Flowers) as her 2nd single from April 2025 earlier this year.

Remembering her from her debut single "Ban'etsu Sai Sen Hitori"（磐越西線ひとり）a couple of years back, Umetani was rocking an appearance that was a hybrid of traditional enka singer and 1920s flapper girl. So it's pretty refreshing to see her in the video looking like a typical young lady who's just celebrated her Adulthood Day ceremony (although she's still 17 as of this writing) and as someone in regular garb taking a walk along the beach. Speaking of mixing, what got my ears with "Himitsu no Hana" is not just the enka part but also the arrangement which comes across as being quite kayo kyoku, as if it were Mizue Takada（高田みづえ）singing back in the late 1970s. Maybe it has something to do with the songwriters. Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）was the composer and he's done plenty of contemporary enka but the arrangement was handled by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）who I've frequently associated with pop songs going back decades. Masao Urino（売野雅勇）was behind the lyrics for this one which managed to reach No. 13 on Oricon.

Yukino Ichikawa -- Inochi Sakasete（命咲かせて）

 

The last time I wrote about enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）was back in May 2024 for what was her most recent single at the time "Nocturne"（ノクターン）which had come out a couple of months earlier. Some months after that, Ichikawa was unfortunately diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We hadn't heard or seen her on any of the kayo-based shows on NHK for months so we were wondering about what had happened to her, and well, we finally found out some time afterwards.

Happily though, Ichikawa has recovered and she has resumed her career after her hiatus of many months of treatment. She recently appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）and last night, she also showed up on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）to the encouragement of her fellow singers and fans and a lot of hearty yells of "Welcome back!". Not surprisingly, a lot of tears were shed as well.

For her return performance, Ichikawa sang "Inochi Sakasete" (Let Life Blossom) which was released as her 25th single in April 2015. Written by Shinichi Ishihara（石原信一）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, it's an enka tune about coming back from turmoil and accepting love once again. Considering the circumstances, it wasn't surprising that Ichikawa sung that one, and hopefully she'll continue to progress in her health and career. The song managed to reach No. 25 on Oricon.

Junretsu -- Yume Mita Kajitsu（夢みた果実）

 

You know that January is racing by quickly when all that Kohaku Utagassen coverage from NHK on YouTube has suddenly disappeared like ghosts from the platform. The 75th edition is now nearly three weeks gone from viewing but I think one of the highlights is one that I've mentioned in my own article summarizing the New Year's Eve special.

There wasn't a whole lot of onsite performances this time around, but one that did stick out was when the kayo kyoku vocal group Junretsu（純烈）showed up just outside of a family's house in Gunma Prefecture to serenade the matriarch because she was such a huge fan of the guys. It was supposedly a surprise but since every TV show in Japan is planned down right to the second, it really wasn't although the grandmother fan was truly a very happy person and not suddenly having a heart attack at her heroes invading her home.

Junretsu's song of serenade was their April 2024 single "Yume Mita Kajitsu" (Dream Fruit), written and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）with arrangement by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. A saucy little number about coveting and consequences, the official music video has that film noir quality, and I'm sure that the grandmother was over the moon when the guys gestured to her with the lyrics repeating "I love you". 

"Yume Mita Kajitsu" went as high as No. 5 on Oricon. I hadn't been aware of this and I don't recall hearing about it on the Kohaku broadcast, but back last June, Junretsu member Hiroaki Iwanaga（岩永洋昭） had announced his intention to leave the group as of March 2025.

Toshimi Tagawa -- Kanashii Meguriai（悲しいめぐり逢い）

 

Enka singer Toshimi Tagawa（田川寿美）has been a regular presence on the kayo kyoku-based programs such as "Uta Con"（うたコン）and "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）, and yet I'm a little embarrassed to state that she's only appeared on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" in just a couple of songs, neither of which has her on the byline. Well, it's time for me to eradicate that glaring omission.

Interestingly enough, I saw her sing her latest single "Kanashii Meguriai" (Sad Encounter) from May 2024 on the latter NHK show, and I wouldn't say that it was purely an enka tune. I would place it in that hybridized genre that I've called New Adult Music since there's quite a bit of soul in there to the extent that I had also considered City Pop in its roots. The urbane melody by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）under the arrangement of Masayuki Sakamoto（坂本昌之）even had me thinking that it could almost be something that the God of Love Songs, Masayuki Suzuki（鈴木雅之）, would possibly tackle. Daizo Saito（さいとう大三）handled the lyrics.

"Kanashii Meguriai" is the 38th of her singles in a career that began in 1992 for the Wakayama Prefecture-born singer. Tagawa has also put out eight studio albums along with other releases. 

(short version)

Yukino Ichikawa -- Nocturne（ノクターン）

 

Along with JUN SKY WALKER(S)' "START", I heard another song that got my attention on Tuesday night's "Uta Con"（うたコン）. It's from a completely different genre, and in fact, I'm wondering whether this particular song belongs in a hybridized genre or a 21st-century version of an old genre.

The song of note here is "Nocturne", enka singer Yukino Ichikawa's（市川由紀乃）36th and latest single which was released in March 2024 this year. As written by Goro Matsui（松井五郎）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, it's quite the dramatic number about a dangerous romance, and at points, I was wondering whether this could have been the ideal theme song for a Japanese James Bond movie. But let's not get too crazy about this, I'm telling myself.

It's the arrangement that has gotten my attention nonetheless and with the music video having Ichikawa in her traditional get-up while singing so elegantly and delicately, the enka tropes are in there. On the other hand, there are those shimmering strings and piano that give "Nocturne" that Western orchestral feeling. Of course, there is the title which is definitely non-Japanese. So it does beg the question whether we can call this No. 23-ranking song that mix of enka and pop known as New Adult Music, or considering that enka has evolved and experimented over the past few decades with slightly different arrangements and instruments, could this be an example of Neo-Enka? Or despite the traditionalism, is it just pop?

Ikemen 3 -- Koi no Matenrou（恋の摩天楼）

 

The latest mega commercial complex got its grand opening in Tokyo on Friday. Azabudai Hills opened up its doors to the masses and it joins its Hills siblings: Roppongi Hills, Toranomon Hills and Omotesando Hills. There's been a lot of construction and change in my old stomping grounds since my last visit there in 2017, so I've got a feeling that I may need a new guidebook to grope my way around Japan's capital.

So, in tribute to that event, I was searching for any matenrou-based music since I've encountered a few such songs over the years. Well, it didn't take too long before I came across this new tune. "Koi no Matenrou" (Skyscrapers of Love) is a snappy and snazzy song about finding love among those steel and glass towers and holding on for dear life because the couple doesn't know what tomorrow will bring. 

The December 2009 song is so far the only single performed by Ikemen 3（イケメン3）. The three singers involved all have their own KKP files: Daisuke Kitagawa（北川大介）, Hiroshi Takeshima（竹島宏） and Keisuke Yamauchi（山内惠介）. Considering that they were put together as a male enka aidoru trio under the aegis of the predecessor of NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）, thoughts of Gosanke came to mind. Sure enough, the J-Wiki article for Ikemen 3 were given the nickname of the Heisei Era Gosanke. Not sure if there have been any reunions among the three but now that almost 14 years have passed by, I think the aidoru label can be taken off.

"Koi no Matenrou" was written by Koyomi Asa（麻こよみ）and composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）. It's again one of those songs that can be quite amorphous in terms of its genre. I can go with neo versions of enka and Mood Kayo but I can also use the convenient term of New Adult Music with a kick of Latin thrown in for good measure. In the end, it does feel like an adventure of romance in the big city.

Hiroshi Takeshima -- Santa Maria no Kane（サンタマリアの鐘）

Wikipedia Commons

Along with Ryokuoushoku Shakai（緑黄色社会）, Hiroshi Takeshima（竹島宏）appeared on "Uta Con"（うたコン）last night to perform his own recent single, his 29th to be specific, "Santa Maria no Kane" (The Bells of Santa Maria) which hit the shelves in March 2023.

The enka and Mood Kayo singer kinda hovers in that area between his two chosen genres and regular pop music so I guess that he might have that amorphous label of New Adult Music which had attempted to stick onto certain songs in that gray area a few decades ago. Alternately, "Santa Maria no Kane" could be Neo-enka or Neo-Mood Kayo.

In any case, the Fukui Prefecture native sings this rather lush and dramatic ballad about a love lost in Florence, Italy which is pretty far from Japan for a Mood Kayo. Regardless, when I look at that title, I was wondering which church the singer, lyricist Hiroshi Yamada（山田ひろし）, composer Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）and arranger Masayuki Sakamoto（坂本昌之）had been referring to. According to Wikipedia, there are five religious establishments in Florence which have a connection to that Santa Maria name, so I just went with Florence Cathedral which is known officially as Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. "Santa Maria no Kane" broke the Top 10 by scoring a No. 8.

Yukino Ichikawa -- Hana Wazurai（花わずらい）

 

I guess this enka would come under the thesis of "Love is such a fleeting thing". 

Well, in this case, l'amour could be compared to the relatively quick cycle of flowers budding, blooming and dying away. The title of Yukino Ichikawa's（市川由紀乃）latest is even called "Hana Wazurai". Looking up that second word on Jisho.org, I found out that wazurai is a fancier term for illness but I'm not sure whether anyone would want the translated title to be "Flower Illness" unless one was the most doctrinaire of botanists. Maybe "The Sweet Agony of Flowers" might be a bit more poetic if a bit florid since wazurai can also be defined as agony or worry.

But I digress. Ichikawa's 35th single from April 2023 is indeed a comparison of the brief and fragile nature of love, most likely from someone who's just finished another cycle of falling in and out of love. The drama has certainly been imbued into Kohei Miyuki's（幸耕平）melody and if this had been the old days, it probably could have actually been adapted into a film or TV drama. Goro Matsui（松井五郎）, who had once been a frequent collaborator on Anzen Chitai's（安全地帯）songs about forty years ago, was responsible for the lyrics.

The above video comes from King Records which produced "Hana Wazurai" and it's boasting that in the three months since it was posted onto YouTube, it's smashed the million-view barrier, and I guess for an enka song, that's a big thing. I probably wouldn't be surprised if Ichikawa got the invitation from NHK to come aboard the Kohaku Utagassen once more in a few months' time.

Gemini & Dodo/Ritsuko Abe & Naoya Makoto -- Sapporo City Light（札幌City Light）

 

This Mood Kayo trio could very well come under the title of the most obscure group from that genre because as much as I tried, I couldn't find anything about Gemini & Dodo（ジェミニ&ドド）, not even the names of the twin sisters and the man involved. All I could speculate was that the three of them could be natives of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island.

It's a pity though since their perhaps one-and-only 1986 single "Sapporo City Light" is a pretty solid contemporary Mood Kayo. According to piero 1040, the YouTube uploader of the video, the song was a smash hit in Sapporo itself and given some more promotion, perhaps it could have even gone nationwide. With lyrics by Keisuke Kisaragi（きさらぎ圭介）, "Sapporo City Light" is all about love in the big city and bright lights of Hokkaido's capital city, and probably centered in the nighttime district of Susukino. For those Junretsu（純烈）fans, the melody might sound quite familiar since it was composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）who's handled a number of the current group's songs.

A cover version was recorded under the title of "Sapporo City Light '87" the following year. This time, it was a conventional duet with singer Ritsuko Abe（安倍里葎子）and actor Naoya Makoto（誠直也）.

Yukio Hashi & Ritsuko Abe -- Kon'ya wa Hanasanai（今夜は離さない）

 

Yup, I finally saw the moment of Season 3 of "Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai"（かぐや様は告らせたい）last week, and though I heard that there was some controversy regarding the scene, I thought that most viewers reacted with varying levels of satisfaction. And as it turned out, there was a reason for that blue heart balloon to hide things. However, as strange as it may be, I'm not going to be using this particular scene as the analogy here for this song although I will be using the franchise.

So, let's imagine a slightly older Kaguya and Miyuki in 1980s Tokyo out in some swanky nightclub in Ginza or Akasaka. They are actually still engaged in their battle of wits and romance with the former turning on some ice while the latter is blowing the torch during a literal dance on the floor. That would describe what is happening lyrically in the July 1983 "Kon'ya wa Hanasanai" (I Won't Let You Go Tonight), a Mood Kayo duet between Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）and kayo singer Ritsuko Abe（安倍里葎子）.

From my feeling of its arrangement by Tatsuya Nango（南郷達也）, I'm gathering that Mood Kayo during the high-flying 1980s was fun, footloose and fancy-free with a touch of Latin. Kensuke Fujinami*（藤波研介）was the lyricist while the melody was composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, the same fellow who would come up with similarly happy tunes for the group Junretsu（純烈）many years later.

According to J-Wiki, Ritsuko Abe hails from Sapporo, Hokkaido and though she has been singing professionally since 1970, it was with "Kon'ya wa Hanasanai" that she finally got some of those accolades for a hit tune. Although she had thought that she could now go it alone and actually left the recording company behind the song, Abe apparently found the need to do the duets once more, so she worked with other singers such as Hiroki Matsukata（松方弘樹）. In fact, at one point, she was even called the Queen of Duets.

For Abe, "Kon'ya wa Hanasanai" was her 24th single while for Hashi, the song would be his 149th single. Over 300,000 records were sold and it earned a Japan Cable Award.

*I couldn't find definitive proof that the lyricist's first name is indeed Kensuke despite giving an educated guess. Even Jisho.org doesn't have the name in its files.

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.

Junretsu -- Kimi wo Ubai Saritai（君を奪い去りたい）

 

The current quartet that makes up Junretsu（純烈）has been labeled a contemporary Mood Kayo group although for the number of KKP articles on the guys, I think that it's been half-and-half between Mood Kayo music and pop.

With their February 2022 single "Kimi wo Ubai Saritai" (I Want to Take You Away), I think that it's not just only the latter in play, but there's also quite a bit of nostalgic rock in this song about stealing a loved one away from some of the stresses of life and heading to some place far nicer. Incidentally, the music video takes things into left field by cutting between a taxi ride with a driver who is extremely perceptive and the Junretsu four dressed up as if they were survivors from an atomic war. In fact, I found out that the person playing the cabbie was film director Minoru Kawasaki（河崎実）who specializes in parodies.

Music and words were provided by Junretsu's regular songwriter, Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）with Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）arranging the song. I think the nostalgic part of that melody is maybe due to the observation that it sounds like something that any of the Being bands and singers, such as DEEN and Tube, could have concocted back in the 1990s. I can even pick up on a soupcon of disco, a la Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）"Young Man"（ヤングマン）. "Kimi wo Ubai Saritai" peaked at No. 7 on Oricon.

Yukino Ichikawa -- Hizakura（秘桜）

 

Happy Labour Day! Obviously no work today and no particular need to get any supplies. So I get to do some more stuff on the blog.

I may have mentioned this NHK kayo program in a past article, but for the last little while, there has been "Hayauta"（はやウタ）which translates as "Early Songs", and the reason is that "Hayauta" has been televised at the eye-blearing time of 4:30 am on Sunday mornings! Now of course, with the advent of technology such as DVRs or even ancient stuff such as VCRs with the timer function, die-hard enka/Mood Kayo fans don't have to fret about waking up in the wee hours (way before pancake time) to catch something like "Hayauta". However, why anyone at the national broadcaster would program a kayo show in this slot is still rather mind-boggling. Perhaps they might be going along with the theory that older people tend to wake up a lot earlier.

Lucky for us guys on TV Japan, we were able to catch the latest broadcast of "Hayauta" at the far more amenable time of 1 o'clock PM yesterday, and it was definitely nice to catch a kayo show again after all of the hoopla surrounding the Olympics for a month. And one of the acts that I was able to catch was enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）with her recent single "Hizakura" released in March this year.

I've read that hizakura（日桜）refers to the cherry blossoms seen in the daytime, so this song title with the kanji for "secret"（秘）instead of the one for "day"（日）fronting the kanji in the title may be a Japanese pun. Looking through the lyrics by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）, the veteran songwriter who contributed the words for Naomi Chiaki's（ちあきなおみ）"Kassai"（喝采）all the way back in 1972, perhaps "Hizakura" here could mean "Secret Among the Cherry Blossoms" hinting at a tryst that has to inevitably come to its natural end.

Mind you, for something that lyrically feels very sub-rosa, the music by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, who has often worked with current kayo group Junretsu（純烈）, packs a lot of brio with those dramatic strings and the electric guitar punch. Yet, Ichikawa's elegant delivery does float above the melodic sturm und drang. "Hizakura" peaked at No. 11 on Oricon. My compliments also go to the set designer and fashion designer for the official music video.

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.

Yukino Ichikawa -- Nagori Uta（なごり歌）

 

Enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）has been on the Kohaku Utagassen twice in the 2010s but unfortunately will not be showing up on tomorrow's 71st edition.

However, I have to say that I've been enjoying her 31st single from April 2020, "Nagori Uta", which could mean "Parting Song" or "Traces of a Song" (probably the former). I think it's just the way that the song flows with those strings and the oboe. I mean, I realize that strings and oboe (or is it a soprano sax?) have often accompanied an enka tune but the arrangement here just does it for me and I'll leave it at that.

Composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, who has been a go-to composer for the group Junretsu（純烈）, and written by veteran Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）, who provided the lyrics to the wonderful "Kassai"（喝采）by Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）all the way back in 1972, Ichikawa sings about a woman who has fallen for the charms of a certain song and the person who sings it knowing that the latter is most likely unattainable. Maybe the singer is an old friend from college.

In any case, this was another pretty good hit for Ichikawa as it peaked at No. 11 on Oricon.

Junretsu -- Ai wo Kudasai ~ Don't You Cry（愛をください）

 

The vocal quartet Junretsu（純烈）has become a regular presence on the annual Kohaku Utagassen over the past few years and once again, they've been invited to join the New Year's Eve special on NHK. With "Propose"（プロポーズ） and "Junretsu no Happy Birthday"（純烈のハッピーバースデー）having been performed in the past couple of editions, I had been wondering what would Kazuyoshi Sakai（酒井一圭）, Yuujiro Shirakawa（白川裕二郎）, Ryohei Odai（小田井涼平）and Shota Gogami（後上翔太）present this year at Shibuya Hall.

Well, I don't think I need to wonder anymore. This song has been popping a fair bit on shows such as "Uta Kon"（うたコン）so I figure that their February 2020 single "Ai wo Kudasai ~ Don't You Cry" (Give Me Your Love) has been given the NHK go-ahead for performance.

Plenty of gusto in this one. Written and composed by their regular songwriter Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）with arrangement by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）, "Ai wo Kudasai" has brought in all of the ingredients for a Junretsu song: brio-filled Latin horns, old-style and new-style kayo, bar-friendly Mood Kayo and the reassuring voices of the guys. The music video surprisingly doesn't have the four put on the usual dancing show and they don't appear until the last minute of the song, instead focusing on their voices soothing a lonely young lady in a really nice living room set. That last scene though made me wonder whether the director was going for something like a pivotal part of "The Bachelorette". "Ai wo Kudasai" peaked at No. 3 on the Oricon weeklies.