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.
I was watching "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）last night when I saw the ever-beaming enka veteran Mitsuko Nakamura（中村美津子）appear on stage to perform a song that I'd initially assumed was one of her oldies. As it turned out, it was her latest (her 73rd) single from May this year.
"Jinsei Banzai"(Here's to Life) was released to commemorate Nakamura's 40th year in the music industry and I'm pretty sure when it comes to the annual Kohaku Utagassen, her name will probably be in the Red team lineup. Written by Kyosuke Kuni（久仁京介）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, it's a very genki song showing off her satisfaction and gratitude to everyone over the past four decades. The enka is in there of course, but I could hear a rumbling rhythm reminiscent of a 50s Latin-tinged number.
This saying has been making the rounds in Toronto for a few weeks now: maybe we're done with winter but winter isn't done with us. And sure enough, it isn't. We're getting another dumping of the white stuff including some freezing rain, and the high temperature come Tuesday will be -6 degrees Celsius. Just makes one want to flee for the warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?
Today signifies the Ides of March and thus we are still about a week away from official spring, but hopefully viewers will forgive me if I opt to jump the gun and get some spring here on KKP. We have Candies'"Haru Ichiban" (春一番）and Yoshie Kashiwabara's（柏原芳恵）"Haru Nanoni" (春なのに）as prime representatives of the season. However, I also found this proud harbinger for spring recently.
"Sakura Zensen"(Cherry Blossom Front) was Rumiko Koyanagi's（小柳ルミ子）17th single from January 1976 (so I guess the songwriters were also pushing for an early spring back then, too, huh?), and it's notable for that sharp trumpet heralding the coming of spring and perhaps better things to come. Within Koutarou Aso's（麻生香太郎）lyrics, there is reference to a past love that became part of history during the dark winter but also a look forward to warmth, high school baseball season and of course those hothouse strawberries...all in the prefecture of Kagoshima.
Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）took care of the melody while Shunichi Makaino（馬飼野俊一）was the arranger. "Sakura Zensen" maanged to peak at No. 21 on Oricon, and apparently though it didn't get onto one of Koyanagi's studio albums, it has been included in some of her BEST collections.
I've had takoyaki, the great Osakan street food, from time to time when I was living in the Tokyo area and have even tried the Toronto variety. Of course, I'm no expert on it but I believe that the ideal takoyaki is piping hot and creamy on the inside while the outside is pleasantly doughy with all of the nori, mayonnaise and thick sauce covering the balls. We've got commenters on this blog who live in Japan, so would like their input on the ideal takoyaki. One other point that I'd like to add is that whenever NHK shows tourism in Osaka, they always put up scenes of the folks navigating their palates through the searing hot snacks.
Now with the Holidays over, regular programming has continued to return. "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）is another NHK stalwart that has come back onto screens this week and the crew was in Takatsuki this time around. One of the songs that an old couple performed was indeed takoyaki-themed.
Well, you can't get more obvious than the title of "Takoyaki Biyori ~ Fuufu Yatai" (A Good Day For Takoyaki ~ Husband & Wife Stand). This is a duet between enka singers Yutaka Oe（大江裕）and Hiromi Yamaguchi（山口ひろみ）, the latter of whom is getting onto the blog for the first time and for the former, it's about the earliest in his discography that I've come across. Released in December 2015, it's a grand old enka about the ups and downs of a husband and wife making their way through life and finances by cooking up and selling takoyaki. They sing and speak so sugary sweetly at each other in their Kansai dialects that I figure that there must be something behind the heavenly veil, and sure enough at the very end, I get to hear some of Yamaguchi's razor-like tongue.
"Takoyaki Biyori" was written by Miwa Ito（伊藤美和）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）. As for Yamaguchi, she hails from Osaka and her mother and aunt were a postwar comedic duo named Kamogawa Kamome and Chidori（加茂川かもめ・ちどり）. While in university, Yamaguchi was introduced to the enka legend Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）and shortly after became one of his many apprentices with her debut in 2002. Up to last year, she has released 29 singles and a couple of original albums.
As I mentioned in the previous article, "Uta Con"（うたコン）was back after several weeks of hiatus due to the Holidays. One of the guests was enka singer Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）who, back on New Year's Eve, managed to pull off another Guinness world record of sustained kendama catches (there are actually other snakes of people doing this sort of thing?!) on the Kohaku Utagassen.
It seems as if Miyama is taking after another famous enka legend by the name of Hiroshi (Itsuki) and becoming quite the Renaissance man or Swiss Army knife. He not only sings but loves kendama, breeds Rhinoceros beetles and handles the drums with aplomb, and those are the things that I remember; there were a few other hobbies that popped up on the screen but I forgot what they were.
Anyways, Miyama was on the drum set last night as he performed his latest single which was released only a couple of weeks ago and which makes the song the second one to be listed under the 2026 label here on KKP after this particular tune. "Hana to Samurai"(The Flower and the Samurai) is an enka song with a bit of a jazzy/rock n' roll twist so I guess I can also place this under the category of New Adult Music as well. Written by Haku Ide（いではく）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, it's all about remembering and engaging in all of those Japanese ideals such as being faithful to duty and family. I gather that it's the added genre panache that kinda softens the doctrinaire in "Hana to Samurai".
One additional thing that I discovered in Miyama's Wikipedia page is that his vocals have been called the Vitamin Voice because fans have claimed that his golden tones have provided a sense of security and vitality. So, he's the tonic that rejuvenates...something that will always be welcome in enka.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I was watching "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...Songs of Japanese Spirit） on Jme which was celebrating Sachiko Kobayashi's（小林幸子）60th anniversary in the recording industry. I also stated that I had come across some intriguing and attractive kayo kyoku for the first time.
One of those songs is "Hokasarete"(Being Let Go), a melancholy ballad about the aftermath of a romantic relationship in which at least one of the now ex-lovers didn't want to end. Written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, this was the 1984 debut single for Yuiko Kinoshita（木下結子）, who I hadn't heard of before. It took a bit of doing but I found some information on her at the Holiday Japan website. A native of Osaka, she had been working in a company and doing some commercial jingle recording on the side following high school for a couple of years before it was time to go behind the microphone in the recording booth.
"Hokasarete" is one of those 80s tunes that aren't easy to peg into one genre hole which makes it all the more interesting to me. It's got the Kansai dialect bluesiness, pop and some rock guitar in there so I also threw in the New Adult Music into Labels. Plus, the arrangement also reminds me of a far more famous ballad "Love is Over" originally by Feifei Ouyang（欧陽菲菲）right down to certain string sequences. In fact, I could easily imagine Ouyang or Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）covering "Hokasarete" in terms of the melody and the lyrics. I was struck by one line, though, where Kinoshita sings "Watashi wa yappari enka desu"（私わやっぱり演歌です...I'm an enka ballad after all）. Of all the genre names that I've included, enka is definitely not one of them but I'm gathering that the protagonist in the song is comparing herself to a typical sad traditional ballad considering her current plight.
Unfortunately, I've never been to Yamagata Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan but above, here is a video by YouTuber rivideo3 of the Shonai district by the Sea of Japan. I think once when I was teaching a student, he was telling me a bit about Yamagata and its ramen.
(shortened version)
One reason that I'm starting off with a geography lesson here is that when we were watching "Uta Con"（うたコン）earlier this morning, enka singer Kouhei Fukuda（福田こうへい）made his appearance to sing his latest single, his 15th to be exact, "Shonai Shigure Sake" (Early Winter Sake in Shonai), which was released right on New Year's Day 2024. Written by Toyohisa Araki（荒木とよひさ）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, it's the story of a man from the titular district who has long since moved to the big city but still missing his hometown to which he can never return to, since apparently according to Araki's lyrics, he sold the family homestead. I can imagine the poor lug drinking a cup of sake to the old home.
For an enka of regret, "Shonai Shigure Sake" possesses a lot of brio (especially with that electric guitar wailing away in there) in its melody. Perhaps the hint is that all is not lost and that he can go back home again, although Fukuda sings that though he wants to head back in the worst way, he simply can't do so now.
The Fukuda file might be more of an annual thing when it comes to his singles. About a year ago, I wrote about his 14th single, "Tenkuu no Shiro"（天空の城）.
As with the previous article for Saori Minami's（南沙織）"Kizutsuku Sedai"（傷つく世代）, enka singer Takashi Hosokawa's（細川たかし）performance of "Oki Tegami" (The Letter I Left For You) is a song that I heard for the first time on that same episode of "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）where I saw Minami perform her song.
"Oki Tegami" was Hosokawa's 5th single from July 1976 and despite the proud and jaunty arrangement by Tachio Okano（あかのたちお）, the song written and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）is a sad one about a woman reluctantly but necessarily ending an affair with a Dear John letter included with some mild warnings about his health. From the "Yoru no Hit Studio" performance and the listening to the above recorded version, I did think that there was some resemblance melodically with Hosokawa's famous hit debut "Kokoro Nokori"（心のこり）from 1975 and it turns out that arranger Okano was the guy in charge of that song, too, although the lyricist and composer were different.
If I'm not mistaken, the video below is right out of that "Yoru no Hit Studio" episode itself. In recent years, Hosokawa has come out on shows like "Uta Con"（うたコン）in the most flamboyant of Japanese garb, but back in the day, he used to be in those really sober-sided suits.
My anime buddy and I had our usual talk earlier tonight, and once again we touched upon the topic of Ginzan Onsen located in Yamagata Prefecture. He and a couple of his friends had the opportunity to stay there a few years ago before the pandemic. Their timing was very good since they did go in the winter which is apparently quite the ideal time to visit. It's seen as prestige hot spring accommodations which are not easy to access so naturally folks are even more intrigued to visit.
I've been out most of today so I'm only able to put up the one article and so why not go with "Fuyu Hotel" (Winter Hotel) by enka singer Hitomi Nishiyama（西山ひとみ）. Written by Mami Takubo（田久保真見）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, the arrangement of electric guitar and strings creates the atmosphere of a windy and wintry snowscape where this titular hotel is supposedly located. Over there, a woman waiting for her gentleman friend to check in wonders how much longer their brief bubble of sin will last before it bursts.
"Fuyu Hotel" was the coupling song for Nishiyama's 2019 single, "Uragiri no Hana"（裏切りの花...Flowers of Betrayal）. According to her profile, she was born Hitomi Fujiki（藤木妃都美）in Kumamoto Prefecture, the daughter of a master rokyoku singer and began her career in the mid-1990s.
First off, let's point out this seasonal fact: Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Toronto currently in Eastern Daylight Time. Last Tuesday night, TV Japan was going to broadcast NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン） as usual, but then on Wednesday morning over in East Asia, North Korea decided to lob over a missile or a satellite which pretty much stopped all normal programming for several hours due to live reporting on the situation. Therefore, the taped-delay "Uta Con" was cancelled last week. C'est dommage!
However, the compensation is that we get "Uta Con" two nights in a row this week. Last night, we actually got a rare Monday TV Japan broadcast of "Uta Con" and tonight we get the usual show (expanded for some reason).
The theme for the show broadcast last night was the annual tribute to the late Queen of Kayo Kyoku, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）, and so everyone did their covers of her songs. But as usual, we did get some new stuff from the guests, one of whom was enka singer Fuyumi Sakamoto（坂本冬美）and her 53rd and most recent single as of this writing, "Saikai Sakaba" (Reunion Bar) which was just released early last month.
"Saikai Sakaba" was written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）as a heartfelt enka about folks meeting up once more in their beloved watering holes after the years of the pandemic. Now that Japan has basically lifted virtually every COVID restriction, folks are free to meet up in the various commercial establishments once more although my friends have been informing me that half of the folks they see out on the streets of Tokyo have still been keeping their masks on. And yet, I'm sure that there have been some hearty reunions in restaurants and izakaya.
Tokuhisa's melody is one of joy and warmth while Yoshida's lyrics express the return of the camaraderie and excitement in the favourite bar, including a final hearty toast from Sakamoto. I'm sure that the libations and snacks have been flowing very rapidly. I can understand that sentiment since meeting up with some friends earlier in February for dinner for the first time in three years. Even earlier, my family got to have a special breakfast in our old neighbourhood diner after such a long period away. I also have to mention that it's the first time to have Sakamoto back on the byline in over three years as well.
I don't quite remember when I started enjoying enka and Mood Kayo. I mean, it's been something that I have been listening to for my entire life when my parents played the old LPs on the stereo but I always considered that brand of kayo kyoku the stuff that my parents liked and I just had to hear it. Pretty sure that it wasn't during that 1981 trip to Japan or even exposure to "Sounds of Japan" on the radio since enka tunes were the main songs on most of the broadcasts (which I didn't listen to) while the pop stuff that I fell for (which I did) made their presence known perhaps once a month. Still, listening to Takashi Hosokawa's（細川たかし）"Kita Sakaba"（北酒場）on "Sounds of Japan" opened the door a bit for me.
Most likely, it started to a small extent during my 1981-1991 JET Programme stint when karaoke almost became a job-related obligation and then things started further expanding during my far longer stint between 1994 and 2011. Of course, watching "Uta Kon"（うたコン）and its predecessor "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）on NHK and doing this blog over this decade has further strengthened my amity toward these older genres. The music for enka and Mood Kayo with its noble koto, violins and Latin brass among other instruments has also proven to be a tonic of sorts whenever I feel that I've gotten a little too much of the J-Pop stuff, even my favourite genre of City Pop. Maybe the bouncy bass has its limits within me.
In any case, I was watching a recent episode of "Uta Con" when enka veteran Fuyumi Sakamoto（坂本冬美）appeared near the end to perform her 48th and latest single, "Ore de Ii no ka" (Will I Do?) which just came out late last month in August. For some reason, I was struck by this one although I have heard my fair share of enka on this show and elsewhere.
My father remarked during the performance that this was a refreshing change since I believe that Sakamoto had perhaps gone for a more modern enka approach in recent years with a truly rock guitar and arrangement. And I think that's what struck me positively about "Ore de Ii no ka" which is a story of a lifelong love between two soulmates, represented by Ou Yoshida's（吉田旺）lyrics. Koji Tokuhisa's（徳久広司）music with Toshiaki Maeda's（前田俊明）arrangement doesn't seem to have that contemporary enka feeling to it; there is something more old-fashioned as if "Ore de Ii no ka" had been composed back in the 20th century. The song peaked at No. 36 on Oricon.
For some years now, I've seen enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）as being the young prince of the genre, and as the average age of enka singers goes, indeed, the lad is still plenty fresh-faced although he's been going for a slightly more glam rock image recently. Still, Hikawa has passed the age of 40 so I can hardly call him a wunderkind of enka anymore.
Perhaps that label may be placed on the above fellow. I don't have much information on Osaka-born Yuuto Tatsumi（辰巳ゆうと）, but I have seen him on the two NHK music shows "Uta Kon"（うたコン）and "Gogo Uta"（ごごウタ）in the past couple of weeks. Apparently, he's just skirting the age of 20 and is currently a university student but he's been on the up-and-up about his enka career. He released his debut single"Shitamachi Junjou"（下町純情...Pure Heart of Downtown）last year, and earlier in March this year, his second single, "Otoko no Junjou" (Pure Heart of a Man), came out.
Written by Kyosuke Kuni（久仁京介）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, Tatsumi puts in a lot of brio into "Otoko no Junjou" but his voice still has that certain higher adolescent tone in his delivery which kinda reminds me of Hikawa. As for the song itself, there is also something in the arrangement that also has me reminiscing about "Yokohama Tasogare"（よこはま・たそがれ）, the classic by Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）.
It looks like another prince of enka has entered the court. May he enjoy his reign in the not-too-distant future.
A few days ago, someone was asking about featuring some of the more contemporary enka singers including Toshimi Tagawa（田川寿美）and Aiko Moriyama（森山愛子）.
Well, another name that cropped up was Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）who has become a regular face on the kayo programs on TV. I have put up an article on her hit "Kokoro Kasanete"（心かさねて）, but now I would like to present her March 2017 song "Hagurebana" (Wandering Flower) which immediately followed "Kokoro Kasanete".
A pretty philosophical ballad about the vagaries of life and love, "Hagurebana" is given the tender delivery by Ichikawa. It was written by Koyomi Asa（麻こよみ）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）with the typical enka arrangement in mind, but I've also noticed that somewhat haunting whistling in the background as if there were something even more spiritual in the sylvan setting. It's the type of song that would well accompany a person walking over that ancient arched bridge under the blossoming cherry trees.
"Hagurebana" has so far become Ichikawa's most successful song in terms of Oricon rankings as it peaked at No. 11. On the enka charts, it was her 6th song to reach No. 1.
I was watching the latest episode of NHK's"Gogo Uta"（ごごウタ）, that afternoon talk show featuring singers, mainly enka, and focusing more on the talk part although the singers do get to perform their latest singles. As much as I love my City Pop and AOR, I also still want to find out about the older genres of enka and Mood Kayo, something that I can find on "Gogo Uta" and (seemingly unfortunately) decreasingly so on "Uta Kon"（うたコン）.
One fellow that I saw for the first time yesterday was Hikota Aoi（蒼彦太）. Hailing from Kagawa Prefecture, he was inspired with the debut of Enka Prince Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）to become an enka singer himself while in junior high school. Debuting in 2011, his 7th single was released just last month and it's titled "Udatsu".
I found out from my parents that the kanji for udatsu is a fairly obscure one and even my father wondered what the meaning was. Apparently, according to my mother, the term is really only used nowadays in the expression "Udatsu ga agaranai"（うだつが上がらない）which means "No hope of getting ahead". The literal translation is "The pillar doesn't rise" with the original meaning of udatsu being "a short pillar set on a beam to support a ridgepole" so I gather that this is something on a sailing vessel.
Composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）and written by Kyosuke Kuni（久仁京介）, the song seems to be about being that sturdy pillar to survive and thrive in life. As an enka tune, yep, it's about as sturdy and shibui as it can get. With that shakuhachi and electric guitar in the background as musical companions, Aoi can pretty much stand up with arms defiantly crossed against a typhoon in his yukata.
Aoi also released two albums in 2015 and 2018. One thing that I noticed about him is his passing resemblance to seiyuu/actor Mamoru Miyano（宮野真守）, almost to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if they were indeed relatives. I also found out that the singer also enjoys making udon noodles and touring udon restaurants. Considering that he is from Kagawa Prefecture, again no surprise there either.
Ahhh...Shin-Nakamise Dori in Asakusa. I walked up and down this street a whole heck of a lot during my first couple of years in Tokyo. To be honest, I usually hit the McDonalds for lunch (you can see it on the right of the photo) but sometimes, a fellow teacher and I did hit one of the local eateries. If I go there again, I will definitely have to try something down-home and healthier.
For those who have read about me through the articles over the past 5 years, you may have already realized that I'm not much of a social drinker and never have been...which is kinda ironic considering that I was living in what is probably one of the densest conurbations for bars in the world. I'm sure Asakusa has its share of watering holes but my branch of NOVA in the area was a very small one compared to the big school in Ueno where I trained so the number of drink-ready teachers was not very big at all. We teachers at the Asakusa school never really went out together after a shift during my time there, and of course, due to NOVA's Prime Directive of no teacher-student fraternization (well, more of a guideline than a directive depending on where a teacher was stationed) outside of the school, there were no get-togethers at the local izakaya among us.
In a way, that was kinda too bad since I would have had a better insight into the life of a Mood Kayo-loving pub crawler. Then again, my liver is still working normally so things are good. Furthermore, I still enjoy my Mood Kayo which brings me to this article featuring sumo rikishi-turned-enka crooner Daishiro Masuiyama（増位山太志郎）.
The first two songs I covered about Masuiyama were released much later in his career...namely this decade and were either full enka or a straddle between enka and Mood Kayo. Well, this particular song that I discovered, "Sonna Night Pub" (That Kind of Night Pub) goes all the way back to his early singing days in 1978, and I think this goes full into Mood Kayo. Well, with a title that has "night pub", that would be rather obvious, wouldn't it?
And "Sonna Night Pub" is a comfortable number with all of the tropes of the genre: the strong strings, the chorus, the chirpy sax, the crooning delivery by Masuiyama and that arrangement which brings to mind a classy and smoky drinking joint. Composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）and written by Ryo Mizuki（水木 怜）, the ballad is pretty interesting since it may involve a seen-it-all hostess or regular customer who has traveled from club to club across the nation (Sapporo to Tokyo to Hakata) and has had her fair share of paramours. It's either that or each verse has a different regional hostess/client talking about her own experiences.
I may not have been a regular barfly but Mood Kayo tunes are fully appreciated by yours truly. There's nothing like such a tune to bring back those memories of walking through the venerable parts of Tokyo.
Caught NHK's "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）earlier this afternoon and it looks like that bell ringer was in a pretty snotty mood. I don't think he gave the full ring of approval until almost halfway through the show, and it turned out to be for an elderly lady singing an old Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）chestnut.
It was indeed a fine rendition so I decided to look up this song "Omae ni Horeta" (I've Fallen For You) and was surprised to find out that it was created for the Grande Dame of Kayo Kyoku in 1980. Although I know that Misora sang right to the end of her days at the end of the 1980s, my impression was that most of her classic enka songs were from the 1960s. But this particular song has that certain grandness of some of those old hits such as "Yawara"（柔）and the male point of view but with the topic this time being the simple reaction of falling in love.
However, along with the grandeur, I also noticed an underlayer of gentleness in "Omae ni Horeta" as if the protagonist here wasn't exactly the youngest buck in the forest but an older and more courteous sort who's fallen in love with a lady who may be the proprietress of the local nomiya. There's not so much hormonally-fueled lust in the guy's eyes than there is a wistful interest in the lass.
Released in February 1980, the ballad was written by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）who had tried his hand at singing for about a year in the mid-1970s before deciding making songs was more his forte. "Omae ni Horeta" ranked up there at No. 43 on Oricon.
I guess it has been that mixture of gusto and gentility that has made the song a favourite for enka singers since Misora's original version. Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）has given it a fine go.
And so has Natsuko Godai（伍代夏子）. I've also enjoyed the various versions for the fact that the singers have been given the chance to plumb the lower registers of their voices.
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