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.
I was a little surprised on Sunday that there was an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）on Jme since it's the Holidays. I'd assumed that the program was going on New Year's hiatus, but as it turned out, they had one more in them to get out before the New Year which is fine for my parents especially.
A Los Primos song was covered in that last episode which had me thinking. The Mood Kayo group really loved their go-touchi（ご当地）songs especially with the term "blues" in the title. There have been "Ginza Blues"（銀座ブルース）, "Niigata Blues"（新潟ブルース）and "Asahikawa Blues"（旭川ブルース）, and that's for starters. How many more do they have?
Well, as it turns out, Akira Kurosawa & Los Primos（黒沢明とロス・プリモス）did release their 17th single in February 1970 titled "Yoru no Blues"(Night Blues). Yes, no geographical reference point here...at least not in the title. But as it turns out, those Los Primos guys pulled off a three-in-one. That's right. The three verses in "Yoru no Blues" stake claims to Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki, all major port cities in Japan. And it looks like the guys in those verses just can't seem to make the best of their opportunities, but dang, isn't it all very atmospheric, just like any Mood Kayo song should be?
Written by Kyosuke Kuni（久仁京介）and composed by Masakazu Mizushima（水島正和）, it feels like a fairly lighthearted tune for a Mood Kayo although there is the classic posture of Shoji Mori（森聖二）as the main vocalist at the time while the others were on instruments and haunting chorus, even with some languid scatting. The only thing that struck me was hearing the mellow horns provide the final harmonized note instead of the voices of Los Primos themselves.
Is that Agatha Harkness in the photo? Not sure but the above is actually a shot of Roppongi during Halloween night 2009. There are plenty of areas in Tokyo which have their various drinking establishments and certainly Roppongi was one of them. Although I was never much of a drinker, I did go with the gang to Shinjuku, Shibuya, Yurakucho, Shimbashi, and yes, Roppongi for the rounds at the local izakaya or even the odd Irish pub.
I can honestly say, though, that my shadow never frequented a bar in the Yaesu area which is right by Tokyo Station, although I came fairly close with that visit to a Yurakucho hole-in-the-wall one night. And that is my segue for Hikota Aoi's（蒼彦太）3rd single from September 2014, "Yaesu no Sakaba" (Yaesu Bar). Back in 2019, I contributed an article for what was at the time, his most recent single "Udatsu"（梲）from January that year (he came out with another single in 2020).
"Yaesu no Sakaba" is an enka tune that got me right from the start with that nostalgic accordion and then the Latin guitar poured on in. Written by Kyosuke Kuni（久仁京介）and composed by Akito Yomo（四方章人）, the song is an affectionate tribute to that beloved watering hole as Aoi describes it as that locus for people from all walks of life in all sorts of stages in their lives. The melody also screams traditional and welcoming comfort through heartwarming libation.
The same songwriting duo was behind the coupling song for "Yaesu no Sakaba", "Iwashigumo"(Mackerel Sky) which literally translates as "Sardine Sky" (to each country, its own fish). This one is done a whole lot more wistfully as Aoi sings about a fellow in the big city pining about how much he wants to return to his hometown but knowing that he can't due to unknown circumstances. At this point, the titular sky may be the only link between him and the old town.
I had just written about one of Yomo's very early compositions, the very melodically different "Shiroi Kassouro"（白い滑走路）for Terumi Azuma（東てる美）all the way back in 1978. Yomo has definitely gone into more traditional music in the last several years at least.
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.
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.
To be honest, I find it ticklish to listen to Japanese songs that have the singer repeat one particular word over and over and over again - the lyricists responsible for such tunes must've had an easier time churning out the lyrics. I guess it's due to the fact that this language is not my native tongue, so I pay more attention to how the word sounds like in comparison to what I know in English rather than its meaning. That part comes a little later, especially if the show doesn't have subtitles. Anyway, some examples include "Anata no Blues" (あなたのブルース), "Musoubana" (夢想花), and ever since Tuesday night's "Kayo Concert" featuring songs of the "Northern Country", "Tsugaru no Koi Onna".
Written by Kyosuke Kuni (久仁京介), this song features the Tsugaru region in Aomori - a hot bed for enka - which is known to have cold winters with lots of snow, so I can see why Kuni had Kenji Ninuma (新沼謙治) sing the word "Yuki" (雪) in rapid succession and even list down the 7 different types of snowfall there at the chorus. The rest of "Tsugaru no Koi Onna" looks to be about a woman from, you guessed it, Tsugaru, pining for her man as she waits for him to return to her - I'm not completely sure if its from the woman's point of view, or the man's, or if Ninuma is just narrating what goes on. And from the looks of the first stanza, she's not taking the separation very well. For a while I wondered how the listing of snow relates to the latter since it seemed to have come out of nowhere, but I soon (this morning, Singapore time) got the idea that the woman has to wait till all the 7 types of snow have fallen before she can see her loved one again. To complete the song is a rather forlorn and slightly dramatic score composed by Mondo Okura (大倉百人).
"Tsugaru no Koi Onna" was released in 1987 as Ninuma's 27th single. Although there's no information about how well it did, I think "Tsugaru no Koi Onna" did well enough for it to still be sung from time to time. It also seems to be one of Ninuma's more well-known tunes.
The video right here was of the performance earlier this week. It was a duet between Hiroshi Miyama (三山ひろし) and Kouhei Fukuda (福田こうへい). Fukuda seemed to be holding back on this one.
Several months ago I had encountered this new Enka singer, Kouhei Fukuda (福田こうへい). While I'm now more excepting of this fellow after being exposed to the genre's veterans like Hideo Murata (村田英雄) in the months that followed, bluntly speaking I did not like this guy at all at that point in time. I found his singing style difficult to listen to, especially when he sang his 2nd single, the very traditional sounding 'Toge Goe'.
However, when Fukuda had appeared on a recent episode of Kayo Concert singing the same song, I decided to have another listen to it and figure out why 'Toge Goe' has been floating up and down within the Top 20 in the En-kayo charts for the longest time - it has been more than 2 months since I've started checking the Oricon rankings for such songs, and every week I see it in there with its highest position being 1st place... and 6th place when it came to the regular Oricon charts.
Anyway, the first singer that came to mind when Fukuda opened his mouth was the late Enka-Rokyoku master, Haruo Minami (三波春夫), especially when hitting the higher notes! Hence my current appreciation for Fukuda. Some research later brought to light the reason for his powerful delivery. Turns out this Iwate native has a background in Min'yo, starting at age 23. But he only made his debut 13 years later in 2012 after emerging victorious at the 25th Japan Min'yo Festival. Hmm, no wonder his performance of Minami's 'Otone Mujou' (大利根無情) was spot on.
'Toge Goe' was written by Kyosuke Kuni (久仁京介) and composed by Akito Yomo (四方章人). This is the same duo who spawned Fukuda's debut hit 'Nanbu Semi Shigure' (南部蝉しぐれ). And the song did so well that it got awarded the Golden Disk in July for selling more than 100 000 copies - it already sold about 130 000copies 2 weeks after its release (2nd April 2014). This guy is really on a roll here!
