The Works of Ayumi Date（伊達歩）, aka Shizuka Ijuin（伊集院静）

From Yahoo.jp

Unfortunately, the Japanese music world and the literary world lost a major figure on November 24th. Shizuka Ijuin passed away at the age of 73 from cancer. Born as a 2nd-generation Korean-Japanese in 1950 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, he was known as Cho Chung-rae（조충래）but his Japanese name was Tadaki Nishiyama（西山忠来）. He later became a celebrated fiction author under the pen name of Shizuka Ijuin who won the Naoki Prize and the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Award.

According to his J-Wiki and Random House files, he wore some other hats such as commercial director, advertising executive and lyricist. For that last occupation, he took on the name Ayumi Date for which he has some representation on the blog. He came up with lyrics for a wide variety of singers in the pop, aidoru, rock and City Pop categories. Here are some of those songs. Of course, I offer my condolences to his family, friends and fans.

(1981) Masahiko Kondo -- Gingiragin ni Sarigenaku （ギンギラギンにさりげなく）

In a casual way, that's my way

Just live your life casually, casually

(I got you baby, I need you baby

I want you baby, Right on!!)

(I got you baby, I need you baby

I want you baby, Right on!!)

(1979) Bread & Butter -- Nagisa ni Ikou （渚に行こう）

I wanna walk together with you

on the beach that hasn't woken up yet

The remaining light of the stars

is on your lips

Kiss me gently

(1979) Yuko Asano -- Summer Champion（サマー・チャンピオン）

Summer Queen, Tempting Summer Queen

Woo Woo Summer Queen Summer Love

When I turn around, she whispers and hugs me

Looking at me with admiration, I will become the one and only champion

(1979) Mari Natsuki -- Wing（ウィング）

Forgotten in the crowd

I feel nostalgia when I go down the stairs

at the small station

I hear "Diana"

When I go up the white hill

The unbearable love

is surrounded by the scent of saffron

Mari Natsuki -- Wing（ウィング）

 

I've already given my accolades about the singer/actress Mari Natsuki（夏木マリ）when I wrote up my first article on her in October 2018 for her song "Ichiban Suki na Mono"（いちばん好きなもの）. My word for the lady was "vivacious" and if I can continue with an analogy, I can see her as the coolest and most street-smart senior citizen owner of her own small and stylish bar or café dishing out the drinks and advice on just about anything. Whenever she's appeared in recent dramas, she seems to have cornered the market on that sort of role.

But of course, Natsuki has been acting and singing since she was a young woman in the 1970s. In fact, she even had a brief run for several months on the long-running detective drama "G-Men '75"（Gメン'75）in 1979 and 1980 as Detective Keiko Tsugawa who had transferred in from the International Division of the Metropolitan Police Department for Tokyo and would later join Interpol.

Natsuki would even contribute a couple of songs to the long line of ending themes for "G-Men '75". The second of her two was "Wing", her 16th single from October 1979 which was written by Ayumi Date（伊達歩）, composed by Shunichi Tokura（都倉俊一）and arranged by Mitsuo Hagita（萩田光雄）. I don't have an extensive knowledge of those ending themes but "Wing" has that melodic feel that I've often associated with ending themes for Japanese cop shows: fairly soaring, reassuring and inspiring as if to let viewers know that the cops got justice and that everyone can relax and go about their business securely. I really enjoy "Wing" since I'm a sucker for the electric guitar and its chord progression from those times. Also, you can give an ear to the very first ending theme for the show, Yuri Shimazaki's（しまざき由理）"Omokage"（面影）.

Mari Natsuki -- Chinatown（チャイナタウン）

 

The above is a photo of Amausaan Uji Matcha located in downtown Chinatown in Toronto. It served up various matcha tea desserts and drinks. I went there with a friend around a year ago to try it out; it had apparently been open for a year by the time we got there, and I was surprised that it was empty although it was a weekday and classes at U of T (only 10~15 minutes away on foot) were well under way. The mille-feuille matcha cake was pretty good although the toilet seat in the men's washroom was pretty much unhinged.

Well, I found out that it's now permanently closed. Was it because the matcha hadn't been good enough for the students or was it COVID-19? Whatever the case, Amausaan now joins the growing group of restaurants that have been kicked to the curb because of the pandemic. I heard a couple of days ago that Furama Cake & Desserts Garden in the same neighbourhood will be closing down within a few days after about 30 years. I haven't visited that place in decades since a lot of that time was spent in Japan but I believe that I did enter the place a few times during university days. Rather sad sign of the times when longstanding shops have to give up the business. Well, if I can do so, I hope that I can go back to some of those other places with friends to dine once more.

Come to think of it, I probably haven't visited downtown Chinatown in nearly a year. Perhaps the Amausaan trip was the last time. When I was in my twenties, it was pretty much a given that my friends and I would visit the area at least a couple of times a week due to its proximity from the university and the fact that it had great food often at starving-student prices. But Chinatown was just that...a much-appreciated area of scrumptious dim sum and Japanese records.

For some reason, Japanese pop culture's take on the various Chinatowns treated the area as if it were a mystical and wonderful foreign land of strange goings-on. There have been several songs pinpointing the neighbourhood such as Yasuha's（泰葉）classic City Pop "Fly-Day Chinatown"（フライディ・チャイナタウン）, along with ones by Yuming（ユーミン）and Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）although I can't come up with the titles right now.

Veteran bon vivant Mari Natsuki（夏木マリ）has also given her contribution to the Chinatown ethos with "Chinatown", her 13th single under her stage name. She was actually born Junko Nakajima（中島淳子）and had even released a couple of singles in the early 1970s under her real name (will have to check those songs out soon enough). But getting back on track, "Chinatown" was released in April 1978, and it's a mix of straight kayo and that exotic kayo that had been the thing in the late 1970s. In fact, I'd say that "Chinatown" partially reminds me of Mayo Shouno's（庄野真代）"Tonde Istanbul"（飛んでイスタンブール）, although it really only took a relatively short train trip even back then from Tokyo to head over to Yokohama's Chinatown. No planes needed.

"Chinatown" was written by Yoshiko Miura（三浦徳子）and composed by singer-songwriter Masaki Niwa（丹羽応樹）. At this juncture, this would be my first Natsuki song in her early days although I did write an article about one of her much later tunes from 2013. As I said, I will tackle her earliest songs under her real name (provided that they exist on YouTube) but would also like to check out some of those other kayo under her name of Natsuki.

Mari Natsuki -- Ichiban Suki na Mono（いちばん好きなもの）

Over the years on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", we've covered a fair share of female singers who's possessed that mixture of style, class and even a hint of...danger. I'm thinking of ladies such as Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）of Pizzicato Five, Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）and Kaori Momoi（桃井かおり）. Now, I would like to introduce Mari Natsuki（夏木マリ）.

Perhaps for international audiences, Natsuki may be known as the voice of Yubaba on the Studio Ghibli film "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi"（千と千尋の神隠し...Spirited Away）, but I've seen this actress/singer a number of times on TV over the years. By my impression, she has that sort of presence which would demand the best armchair at a swanky soiree at some mansion where she could gleefully hold court as one of the best raconteurs that any of the partygoers ever met. I think the adjective "vivacious" would be an ideal one for her.

Beginning her recording career under her stage name of Mari Natsuki in 1973, she released her first single, "Kinu no Kutsushita"（絹の靴下...Silk Stockings）and since then she's released 26 more singles up to 2012 and several albums. The subject of this article "Ichiban Suki na Mono" (My Favourite Things) is a track on her 2013 album "Natsuki Mari ~ Inshouha Collection"（夏木マリ 印象派コレクション...Mari Natsuki ~ Impressionists' Collection）.

Purring her way through, I can imagine her singing an acapella version of "Ichiban Suki na Mono" under a spotlight in a darkened intimate live house in the basement while sucking back on a cigarette. However, I do like the full version here with that Latin jazz and Shibuya-kei vibe. Not surprisingly, it was Yasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）from Pizzicato Five who wrote and composed this one for Natsuki as she sings about her love of makeup, cigarettes and wearing fur coats (and nothing underneath). However, there is some darkness as she also mentions about crying within all that luxury. Still, it wouldn't do for her to show that side to her admirers.