Mariko Miyagi -- Gaado Shita no Kutsumigaki（ガード下の靴みがき）

 

In the last several years, a YouTube genre known as ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos has popped up in all sorts of settings such as massage, haircuts and even shoe shines. In oldspeak, I guess you can say it's all about getting that tingle up the spine and relaxing through the sights and sounds of getting that rubdown or other sort of tonsorial treatment. For me, I really did enjoy getting the full service at a Japanese barber when I was living in Ichikawa. I never had that shoe shine though since frankly most of my life has been spent in either sneakers or loafers. By the way, the above video is from Japan ASMR.

This kayo kyoku here is "Gaado Shita no Kutsumigaki" (The Shoeshine Boy Under the Overpass), a 1955 song by singer/actress Mariko Miyagi（宮城まり子）which probably tugged at quite a few heartstrings. Written by Tetsuo Miyagawa（宮川哲夫）and composed by Ichiro Tone（利根一郎）, the kayo involves a young lad all alone in the city with a dead father and a very ill mother just trying to survive as a shoeshine boy. The music possesses that wistful and plaintive feeling of innocence and industriousness as he tries to persuade customers for some work.

Miyagi was one of the early veterans on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen, appearing no less than eight times between 1954 and 1962. "Gaado Shita no Kutsumigaki" was the second song that she performed on the New Year's Eve special in that same year of 1955, and considering her later work helping children, maybe this song had a very deep effect on her.

Bonny Jacks/Mariko Miyagi & Victor Jidou Gasshoudan -- Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni（手のひらを太陽に）

 

Well, I've had one representative song from the currently running anime "Tomo-chan wa Onna no Ko!"（トモちゃんは女の子！...Tomo-chan is a Girl!）in the form of Maharajan's "Kurae! Telepathy"（くらえ！テレパシー）. There have already been some highlights from the first few episodes of the show including main character Tomo giving her own special touch to traditional Japanese kids' songs at karaoke. I will definitely have to cover the song that Tomo sings here very soon since it is a classic and because her seiyuu Rie Takahashi（高橋李依）has really shown her range.

But allow me to introduce an old kayo that I hadn't realized was specifically a children's song until I got to listen to it again after many years. I simply assumed that "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni" (The Sun in the Palms of Our Hands) was just another one of those Showa Era songs that everyone loved to do in a singalong. It's jaunty and people can do it in unison so I can imagine that it was a fun tune to do at karaoke, and maybe ol' Tomo can give it a shot the next time she goes...if she does go a next time.

Bonny Jacks（ボニージャックス）is a chorus group that I've always wanted to get onto the blog just because I like the sound of that name of theirs. Formed in 1958 from the Waseda University glee club, they first consisted of Takeomi Kashima（鹿島武臣）, Motoyasu Tamada（玉田元康）, Hisao Nishiwaki（西脇久夫）and Masato Ohmachi（大町正人）. With the deaths of the last two members in 2021 and 2011 respectively, it's currently a trio with Hideyuki Yoshida（吉田秀行）joining in 2003. "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni" is one of Bonny Jacks' trademark tunes that was released as a single in 1965 and it was successful enough that the group made their final of three appearances on the Kohaku Utagassen that year.

Not surprisingly, "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni" has had its covers over the decades, and in fact, Bonny Jacks' tilt at the song was also a cover. The song about friendship and love of life in all its myriad forms (sounds rather Shinto) was first recorded in 1962 for NHK's music program for kids "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）with lyrics and music provided by Takashi Yanase（やなせたかし）and Taku Izumi（いずみたく）respectively. Recorded by Mariko Miyagi（宮城まり子）, a singer and actress who would later become an advocate for children with disabilities, and Victor Jidou Gasshoudan（ビクター児童合唱団...The Victor Children's Chorus）, the orchestra has an almost rumba approach to the arrangement. Miyagi herself is downright boisterous in her delivery.