The Works of Jun Hashimoto (1939-2026)（橋本淳）

From Yahoo Japan

 

Not to say that I'm an X-Man or anyone like that, but earlier today as I was entering my usual digestion-induced nap, I got a little spark in my head about whether there would be an obituary regarding someone in the music industry, and annually, there have been a few. As it turns out, less than an hour ago, I was watching the morning news on NHK and the report came out that veteran lyricist Jun Hashimoto had passed away on May 21st at the age of 86 due to cirrhosis.

Since I began this blog back in 2012, as someone who hadn't been too up on lyricists, arrangers and composers at the time, Hashimoto's name was one that I came across fairly often especially in the early years of KKP. And according to both J-Wiki and NHK, he had written approximately 2000 songs of which a little over 70 have been covered here. He worked with a number of composers during his career which lasted close to 60 years but it was his collaborations with the late Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）that produced a lot of those kayo kyoku hits.

Born on July 8th 1939, Hashimoto was born Junsuke Yoda（与田凖介 ）, the son of famed poet and children's book author Junichi Yoda（与田凖一）, in Tokyo. He started learning about lyric writing on his own while studying at Aoyama Gakuin University, and he eventually came under the wing of composer Koichi Sugiyama（すぎやまこういち）in 1961. Some years later in 1966, his first stint at lyrics which ended up as a record was "Kiiroi Lemon"（黄色いレモン...Yellow Lemon） by another Sugiyama protege, singer Koichi Fuji（藤浩一）who would later become Masato Shimon（子門真人）. It was also Tsutsumi's first stint at composing a record as well under Sugiyama's wing. Thus, the source of all those Hashimoto/Tsutsumi hits can be tracked back here.

Of course, a couple of years later, Hashimoto and Tsutsumi would pen their first evergreen kayo hit, "Blue Light Yokohama"（ブルーライト・ヨコハマ）by Ayumi Ishida（いしだあゆみ）. 

The lights of the city are really beautiful, aren't they?                                                                                  Yokohama, Blue Light Yokohama                                                                                                                The two of us are so happy

As always, those words of love                                                                                                                    Yokohama, Blue Light Yokohama                                                                                                                Give those words to me

A year previously though, Hashimoto with Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets member and composer Tadao Inoue（井上忠夫）came up with "Blue Chateau"（ブルー・シャトウ）, arguably the Group Sounds band's most famous hit from 1967. In fact, NHK reported that Hashimoto was instrumental to the GS boom of those late 1960s.

Surrounded by the woods and the springs                                                                                                  There quietly sleeps the Blue Chateau                                                                                                      You are waiting for me                                                                                                              The dark and lonely Blue Chateau

Another Group Sounds hit that Hashimoto wrote was "Amairo no Kami no Otome"（亜麻色の髪の少女）by The Village Singers  (ヴィレッジ・シンガーズ) in 1968 with his mentor and composer Sugiyama behind the melody. 

The wind gently folds the long flaxen hair                                                                                              The girl holds the white bouquet to her chest                                                                                               As she comes down the hill as if with wings                                                                                     To her kind boyfriend she goes                                                         Her singing voice cheerful because she's in love

Even with the end of the Group Sounds period in the early 1970s, Hashimoto would continue to pen the hits including the popular duet song "Canada Kara no Tegami" (カナダからの手紙）in 1978 with Masaaki Hirao（平尾昌晃） , who also composed it, and Yoko Hatanaka（畑中葉子）. Yeah, to think I pummeled the heck out of that one at karaoke, and it was a Hashimoto classic!

Love letter from Canada                                                                                                                              If by chance, we were together                                                                                                                      How much fun we would have on this trip                                                                                                  Love letter from Canada

Hashimoto and Hirao would work together again soon after and this time, it would be for the theme song of one of the most famous anime series ever created, "Ginga Tetsudo 999"（銀河鉄道999）as sung mightily by Isao Sasaki（ささきいさお）.

The train comes out of the darkness into the sea of light                                                                     It's the endless universe where dreams scatter                                                                                          Let's cross the bridge of stars                                                                                               People will always search for happiness                                                                               As if they were voyagers

My last entry here involves Hashimoto's dalliance with City Pop, and I'm not sure how far down the rabbit hole he went but he and Tsutsumi worked together here as well to make Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美) "Street Dancer" in 1980. 

As I keep my sunglasses on                                                                                                                          I gaze at the flow of time                                                                                                                            Weekend                                                                                                                   The neon at noon, the glittering streets                                                                                Stuffing my face with a hamburger                                                                                                          Seeking the sprit of youth                                                                                                                          Together

Of course, this article isn't anywhere near as comprehensive as I would like it to be. However, I did want to pay homage to the man in some fashion and hopefully some of you can take a look at the other articles of songs that Hashimoto wrote over his decades in the music business. My condolences to his family, friends, fans and many fellow songwriters in the industry.

Boz Scaggs -- We're All Alone/Miss Sun

 

Welcome to another Reminiscings of Youth article since it is Thursday. And one of the reasons that I've had this category in the first place is because of one William Royce Scaggs, aka Boz Scaggs. Up to now, I've had his cool, uptown-and-downtown and upbeat songs such as "Lowdown" and "Jojo" as ROY articles, but I had yet to post this one mighty ballad of his from the "Silk Degrees" album of February 1976.

Arguably my memory of the really old days when I was a kid isn't exactly crystal-clear anymore, but I think out of all of the Boz songs, "We're All Alone" might be the first one that I had ever heard by him from the radio. The music is automatically identifiable although way back then, I hadn't known who Boz was; I just knew that the song was a pretty epic one, and one that has been covered by a lot of other singers such as Rita Coolidge and Frankie Valli.

Now, as I approach old age, I can honestly say that they certainly don't make them like "We're All Alone" nowadays when it comes to pop balladry. Glad that I did get my own copy of "Silk Degrees" a couple of years ago. 

Anyways, what was hitting the top of the Oricon charts when the album was released? Well, I've got Nos. 1, 3 and 5 from February 16th 1976, just a couple of days before listeners got their hands on "Silk Degrees" at the record store.

1. Masato Shimon -- Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun (およげ！たいやきくん）

3. Hiromi Ohta -- Momen no Handkerchief (木綿のハンカチーフ）

5. Iruka -- Nagori Yuki (なごり雪）

However, as the commercial announcer often says: Wait! There's more!

I have never and will never categorize Scaggs' "Miss Sun" from 1980 as a ROY tune. For one thing, I never heard this one at all in my childhood or youth. I only got to hear it for the first time in the last month! And it's such a banger! I am assuaging my poor soul with weak pleadings of "Better late than never" but man, am I over forty years late to the party here. Mind you, I'm in good company. The good folks at View From the 502 who have become hardcore Boz acolytes over the years were the music lovers who introduced me to this one and I still haven't quite pulled out from its allure. Have a read of the Wikipedia article for the song but basically TOTO had a lot of influence on this one.

The Firsts (Audio Ware) by J-Canuck

 

Welcome to the final full week of November 2025. With the autumn in full swing, it's easy to get a bit wistful about the passage of this year and time in general. And I've gotten into this mood as well. I've been doing "Kayo Kyoku Plus" now for what will be approaching 14 years so our baby has turned into a snappy teenager. 

I first started the blog out by talking about the many examples of kayo kyoku and J-Pop that I purchased and knew for years and years and what the surrounding situation was for each article. Of course, that has changed since for the past several years, I'm writing mostly about new songs by familiar and not-so-familiar singers and bands that I've encountered and sometimes when I get into a whole long series of those, I do wonder about getting things "on track" in a manner of speaking and at least presenting those songs that I've known about since my toddlerhood.

We have "The First" category in the Labels and I remember that I put up my own article almost five years ago on some of the firsts that I achieved through particular songs such as the first kayo kyoku that I ever heard. Well, along that similar track, I'm going to post about the first examples of Japanese music media that I ever bought or got as a gift since they are different from that other list. The above thumbnail shows the first entry.

1. First Tokusatsu Maxi-Single: Kamen Rider/Mirror Man/ Silver Kamen/Ultra Seven (1972)

2. First Audiotape: Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978...bought in 1981)

3. First 45" Single: Hiromi Iwasaki -- Madonna Tachi no Lullaby (聖母たちのララバイ）(1982)

4. First LP: Seiko Matsuda -- Train (1985)

5. First CD album: Akina Nakamori -- Cruise (1989)

6. First CD single: Miho Nakayama -- Virgin Eyes (1989)

The Doobie Brothers -- Takin' It to the Streets

 

Just to let you folks know, I'll be doing two Reminiscings of Youth articles today. Nope, there's no national holiday today. Frankly with yesterday's water outage emergency due to a burst pipe, I was too frazzled and tired to put up my usual two articles so I had to settle for one. And then a moment of providence arrived when I heard yesterday about The Doobie Brothers getting into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame this year. I already got my scheduled one which I will do last tonight but I just had to get a Doobie Brothers' song in here today as tribute to Michael McDonald and the band.

Now to be honest, this song really belongs not as a ROY but as a DIA entry...i.e. Discoveries in Adulthood. I really didn't know about "Takin' It to the Streets" until I had bought a BEST compilation of The Doobie Brothers during my time in Japan, and as is the case with many AOR/soft rock bands of the time, the guys are very popular in the country. The song was released as a single on St. Patrick's Day 1976 and was the title track on the band's 6th album which came out a couple of days later. 

The Doobie Brothers' go-to song for me will always be "What a Fool Believes" which wouldn't see the light of day for another few years, but "Takin' It to the Streets" is also a fine song in that Doobies' way with even more punch as the lyrics by McDonald seem to encourage listeners to sound the alarm bells to fight injustice of all types. I found out that this was the first Doobie Brothers' song to have former Steely Dan member McDonald as the lead vocalist, replacing the ailing Tom Johnson. I can't even imagine a song by the band without McDonald behind the mike and behind those keyboards, so this is quite the beginning for him and the band.

"Takin' It to the Streets" made it to No. 13 on America's Billboard while in Canada, it went as high as No. 7 on RPM. And I think with this song, the Doobie Brothers took it all the way to the bank. So, what was hitting the Top 10 in Japan on March 15th 1976? Let's take at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 10.

1. Masato Shimon -- Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun (およげ！たいやきくん）

2. Hiromi Ohta -- Momen no Handkerchief (木綿のハンカチーフ）

10. Masatoshi Nakamura -- Ore tachi no Tabi （俺たちの旅）

Masato Shimon -- Mr. Driver（ミスター・ドライバー）

 

I've known Masato Shimon（子門真人）as the fellow who cornered his own little market in anime and tokusatsu theme songs along with a tune having to do with a Japanese confection that became the biggest selling single of all time at 4.5 million records in Japan. So it's always something special when I can hear the singer do something that's just a plain pop song not having to do with animated figures or live-action superheroes.

Well, I was able to find one such song which just happened to be his 6th and penultimate single released in July 1976 according to J-Wiki. "Mr. Driver" has this feeling of a Glen Campbell urban cowboy song as Shimon sings about begging the cab driver in presumably New York City to hold on a few more minutes before saying his final tender goodbyes to his now-former paramour. Of course, referring to the legendary Campbell already meant that the nostalgia was flowing out of "Mr. Driver" in waves, but at the same time, I was also reminded of some of the more country-style Carpenters tunes.

Shimon composed the song while Konosuke Fuji（藤公之介）provided the lyrics. Koichi Sugiyama（すぎやまこういち）arranged "Mr. Driver", and yes, it's the same Koichi Sugiyama behind the famous "Dragon Quest" theme.

Masato Shimon -- Fireman（ファイヤーマン）

 

All firemen are heroes...that's without question. In Japan though back in the early 1970s, there was a Fireman who was a tokusatsu hero. "Fireman", or as he was known in certain overseas markets: "Magma Man", was a live-action series that premiered in January 1973 and was launched with two other similar series, "Ultraman Taro"（ウルトラマンタロウ）and "Jumborg Ace"（ジャンボーグA）in commemoration of Tsuburaya Productions 10th anniversary.

Ironically though, I never saw an episode of "Fireman". Actually, I remember the character in his manga form when my parents bought me those thick kids' books that were selling at the old Furuya food market in downtown Toronto back in those 1970s. Even back then, I thought that it was rather odd to name a superhero after a well-known essential service for any community, but I was informed that in Japan, firemen were and are known as shouboushi（消防士）, so the character's name was still an exotic one.

Seeing Fireman in action through one of the YouTube videos, I didn't think that there was anything special in his battling of monsters that couldn't have been replaced by one of the Ultramen or I assume Jumborg Ace (since he showed up in that same thick manga book), but variety is the spice of life. The theme song, "Fireman", is the usual heroic ballad of dramatic horns and strings created by composer Asei Kobayashi（小林亜星）and lyricist Yu Aku（阿久悠）with perennial kids' hero singer Masato Shimon（子門真人）behind the mike.

Come to think of it, I'll have to take a look at "Jumborg Ace" as well. 

For All You Cosplayers Out There....

 

Continuing on with today's Halloween theme, I started thinking about all of those cosplayers out there. I mean, I know that cosplaying has never been restricted to October 31st, but it is on that night that cosplayers can really go full out into the city at large instead of just cosplayer functions such as a ComiCon. Incidentally, yes, that is indeed a lady pretending to be Yuki Mori from the Space Cruiser Yamato. I took the photo at the Tokyo Anime Fair at Tokyo Big Sight back in 2009.

So, I thought what if I could give some tribute to those cosplayers and Halloween in general through my own Author's Picks of songs connected with costumes that I have seen such as the yellow-and-black uniform that I see on the aforementioned young lady above? As for me, I've been in costume but just for Halloween, and one costume that I did wear was the gold uniform for Captain Kirk way back when.

Isao Sasaki -- The Theme from Space Cruiser Yamato (宇宙戦艦ヤマト） (1974)

All these years, I've only seen folks in the Yuki Mori uniform, but I have yet to witness anyone in the other male crewmembers' uniforms. I have also never seen anyone dressed as good ol' Captain Okita.

Dali -- Moonlight Densetsu (ムーンライト伝説） (1992)

In the few times that I did attend Fan Expo in downtown Toronto last decade, I always saw a Sailor Moon（セーラームーン）and a few of her fellow Sailors traipse about in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. In fact, I'd say that it wouldn't be a Fan Expo without Sailor Moon.

Yoko Takahashi -- Zankoku na Tenshi no Tehze （残酷な天使のテーゼ） (1995)

I can't be absolutely sure that I actually saw anyone dressed up as Rei Ayanami or Asuka Soryu either in Japan or Toronto, but I believe that it's a given that have been cosplayers who were more than happy to dress up in their getups...and there were folks who were happy to see them dress up in their getups. Just ask Kohei.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu -- Crazy Party Night ~ Pumpkin no Gyakushuu（ぱんぷきんの逆襲） (2015)

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu（きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ）did come to the Art Gallery of Ontario to perform a few nights there, but I never got the opportunity to go. I could probably say that she was the first cosplaying singing star that I ever saw.

Masato Shimon -- Let's Go! Rider Kick! (1971)

This last one here is for the fact that my brother wore a Kamen Rider（仮面ライダー）costume for trick or treat when he was a very small kid back when we were living downtown. He may have scared one resident out of her wits, but she may have had a phobia against insects.

The Works of Asei Kobayashi（小林亜星）

 

Sad to say but I seem to be seeing and reading about these obituaries of figures in the Japanese music industry all too often these days. This morning, NHK reported the death of songwriter and actor Asei Kobayashi at the age of 88 after he had suffered heart failure on May 30th. I had just written another article regarding one of his creations a little more than a month ago.

My knowledge about Japanese lyricists, composers and arrangers has grown only because of my work on the blog, so before 2012, the name Asei Kobayashi was one that I was barely aware of. In terms of the visual medium of television, however, I've known about Kobayashi for years on sight alone since as a thespian, he became famous for his very first role as Kantaro Terauchi, the stonemason with the volcanic temper from the mid-1970s TBS drama "Terauchi Kantaro Ikka"（寺内貫太郎一家...Kantaro Terauchi's Family）. Looking like the most terrifying and willful Showa Era father, his most famous scene involved him literally tearing up his own living room and painting the walls with his family (albeit in a comical fashion), including young heartthrob singer Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. I don't know whether Kobayashi had ever created a song that was recorded by Saijo.

Interestingly enough, from reading an article on this website, I found out that "Terauchi Kantaro Ikka" was famous for tackling some of the social issues of the day, and considering Terauchi's personality, I immediately wondered whether this program was the Japanese equivalent of America's "All in the Family" which was becoming a controversial hit on CBS at the same time.

However, I was to gradually discover that Kobayashi's true forte was as a composer. He was born in August 1932 in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, and he was named after a playwright that his mother, a member of a drama troupe, had greatly admired. His father was a government official, and it had been his hope that young Asei would become a physician and so the lad attended Keio University. But much to his parents' dismay, he jumped ship so to speak to become a composer under the tutelage of Tadashi Hattori（服部正）.

I was also surprised to find out that the actor behind the fiery Kantaro was the same fellow who created the beloved themes for the following anime among other shows:

Gatchaman (ガッチャマン）(1972) by Masato Shimon

Mahotsukai Sally （魔法使いサリー）(1966) by The Three Graces

Then, Kobayashi composed the song that would be another huge critical and popular hit for enka singer Harumi Miyako（都はるみ）in 1975.

Harumi Miyako -- Kita no Yado Kara （北の宿から）

He also came up with a popular folk song. 

Yuuki Hide, Kotaro Asa and Singers Three -- Hitachi no Ki（日立の樹）(1973)

Kobayashi also composed a lot of commercial songs for various products, and in fact, in the same way he made quite the splash as a first-time thespian in "Terauchi Kantaro Ikka" in the 1970s, he became famous for one of his earliest creations (words and music) for a television ad, "Wansaka Musume"（ワンサカ娘...The Wansaka Girl） for the Renown company which specialized in textiles and clothing.

Originally recorded by Hiroshi Kamayatsu（かまやつひろし）in 1961, "Wansaka Musume" was taken up as the song for Renown and this time it was Mieko Hirota's（弘田三枝子）turn behind the mike in 1964.

Then in 1965, singer and actress Sylvie Vartan performed her own yé-yé cover of "Wansaka Musume". I tried looking it up but I couldn't find out what the wansaka meant. Maybe it's just onomatopoeia but hopefully one of you veteran readers can let me know. Anyways since then, "Wansaka Musume" has been given further covers by acts including Duke Aces（デューク・エイセス）and Ann Lewis（アン・ルイス）.

Kobayashi also had his regular appearances on game shows and his own commercials. He had quite the voice, and I'm not talking about his yelling one from "Terauchi Kantaro Ikka".

My condolences to Kobayashi's family and friends.

J-Canuck's Foodie Kayo/Kenji Endo -- Curry Rice（カレーライス）

A little over three weeks following my last Author's Picks article on traveling around the world, I decided to go for another one. This time, though, it's on the topic of food.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=841589629335176

Obviously when one thinks about world travel, one also has to consider the cuisine in those far-flung places. However, in actual fact, my inspiration to create this article wasn't based on trips to those nations, but the NHK program titled "Sara Meshi"（サラメシ）. The show focuses on the working class in all sorts of industries and what they go for in terms of lunch with the title being an abbreviation of "salaryman's meal". It's hosted by veteran actor Kiichi Nakai（中井貴一）who narrates it as if he were trying to become an anime character. The lovely thing about "Sara Meshi" is that it doesn't only show the workers' bento but also presents some of those people's favourite eateries during the busy noon hour.

I think this has been a relatively recent segment to the show but at the end, "Sara Meshi" has also been focusing on the beloved restaurants and dishes for those famous folks who have departed this mortal coil. For example, one episode featured the late Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）favourite restaurant and his steak don.

Now, the impetus for me to write up this Foodie Kayo list was last night's episode in which folk singer-songwriter Kenji Endo（遠藤賢司）who had passed away in late 2017 was given his tribute through an eatery that he once frequented. His beloved dish there was curry rice, and not surprisingly, one of his big hits was "Curry Rice" from 1972 which sold around 100,000 records. The fiddle was played by Masahiro Takekawa（武川雅寛）, a member of the band Moonriders as Endo quietly intones his love for the dish.

Up to now, I've had various types of curry with rice or naan: Indian, Thai, Pakistani and Indonesian. However, in my early days, it was always about the Japanese style over the rice thanks to those S&B cubes or powder. It was spicy to be sure but not fiery.

How about some of those other foodie kayo?

1. Akiko Yano -- Ramen Tabetai (1984)

COVID-19 has meant that access to those ramen restaurants here in Toronto has plummeted to zero for me since I don't live anywhere near one, although I still have my Cup Noodles and Sapporo Ichiban options. Until the restaurants are back up and running for dine-in service, I will be happy enough getting my aural version with the cool and funky Yano（矢野顕子）song.


2. Mariya Takeuchi -- Fushigi na Peach Pie (1980)

"Fushigi na Peach Pie"（不思議なピーチパイ）is as young and adorable as Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）was back in those early days, and as the original article indicates, this was a song that was only performed by Mariya with Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）and Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）doing the songwriting duties here. I've had peach pie before and it's fine although a bit tart. But I still prefer my apple pie over anything else in that category.


3. Masatoshi Hamada & Noriyuki Makihara -- Chicken Rice (2004)

Never thought that I would actually hear a song paying tribute to the classic yoshoku dish, but Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）pulled it off and had good buddy, comedian Masatoshi Hamada（浜田雅功）, pair up with him to perform this folksy number. I've had chicken rice on its own before but usually it is the majority component for the bigger dish of rice omelette when it's buried under a carpet of creamy beaten egg slid from a hot frying pan.


4. Masato Shimon -- Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun (1975) 

In the attempts to be perfectly transparent here, I don't think I ever dove into taiyaki all that much during my years in Japan. I mean, anko is splendid and all that, but I can't really say that it was a go-to sweet for me. But obviously, I was very much in the minority in the country, and Shimon's（子門真人）famous "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun"（およげ！たいやきくん）may still be the biggest selling single of all time. You might want to check the Guinness Book of World Records, though.


5. Kirinji -- Pizza VS. Hamburger (2019)

Man! Do I really have to choose? Just glad that the title wasn't "Pizza VS. Hamburger VS. Hot Dog VS. Ramen". Kirinji（キリンジ）apparently wanted to make this somewhat humorous track from their 2019 "cherish" a walk into the gastronomic version of "The Twilight Zone" where someone like William Shatner or Jack Klugman has to make that impossible decision between comfort foods. Still, the musical path is a fun one to take.


6. Rina Sato & Asuka Ohgame -- Egao ni Naru (2015)

Had to throw in an anison since I believe that the anime industry has also been a frequent purveyor of foodie-ism over the years. And one such show that gave new meaning to the words foodie porn is "Koufuku Graffiti"（幸福グラフィティー）which I'll be wrapping up viewing for the umpteenth time later tonight. All of the performed songs are great concoctions, but I have an especial affinity for the ending theme "Egao ni Naru"（笑顔になる）because of its addressing of all of the scrumptious dishes in the lyrics and the sunny Bacharach-esque arrangement.

I know that I've left at least one other food-based tune out of the list and there are probably quite a lot of other such songs, but the above is my reflection. If any of you readers out there have your own choices, please let me know.

Masato Shimon -- Iron King（アイアンキング）

From Scott on Flickr

Now that we've had iron-clad super heroes for a good decade now, I'm reminded of a Japanese superhero who had a similar name but didn't quite have the endurance as those Marvel guys.

This was Iron King, a moniker that Tony Stark most likely would have enjoyed to no end, who had his time on Japanese TV from 1972 to 1973. I know very little about him, especially when compared to the Ultraman and Kamen Rider franchises; in fact, I only found out about Iron King through the pages of a very thick manga compilation that my mother had bought me at the local Japanese food store.

For years, I had thought that the hero was actually named Ion King because of the way the katakana presented itself, and because I knew that the appliance iron was written as アイロン in that syllabary. But I guess to distinguish the hero from the appliance, アイアン was used for the former. And in katakana, ol' Shellhead is actually written as アイアンマン.

A couple of things that I learned today in preparation for this article were: 1) rather ironically, it was the adorably bumbling sidekick-y guy who actually henshin'd his way into Iron King instead of the conventional leading man. So if I were to bring in a Marvel movie universe analogy, it would be Paul Rudd's Scott Lang (Ant-Man) becoming the superhero with his good buddy, Chris Evans' Steve Rogers (Captain America) sans uniform, helping out where he could on the ground. 2) if I read this correctly, Iron King only had a minute to get the job done before he started petering out; basically only a third of the time that Ultraman had before exhaustion started kicking in. I'm not sure whether this was due to sponsors really wanting to squeeze commercials in at the end of the episode.

If he hasn't already been given the accolades, I think singer Masato Shimon（子門真人）should be getting some sort of award from the government for his contributions to music. He has sung a tune about a bean jam-filled dessert that still holds the record for being the No. 1 single in Oricon history, has given us one of the more beloved anime themes, and has also recorded another more famous tokusatsu hero theme song.

And he sings the opening theme for this show under the simple title of "Iron King". Written by Mamoru Sasaki（佐々木守）and composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）, who also provided the score for the series, the theme has all of the usual 1970s tokusatsu theme song tropes: staccato trumpets, gravitas-laden timpani, racing bass, and the triumphant vocals of Shimon. All of them come together to get those boys and girls glued in front of the sets for a half-hour of laughs and kicks.

Masato Shimon -- Star Wars

Well, in a little less than a month from now, millions (billions?) of fans of a certain sci-fi franchise will be getting their Xmas present a week early in the form of "The Force Awakens". I'm fairly interested myself although I'm nowhere near as orgasmic as some of those folks on the YouTube reaction videos for the trailers. Even if I wanted to, there is no longer any way that I can pick up a ticket for December 18th; I'll just have to see how the fandom reacts on that day.

Long ago in a condo not very far away (in fact, I'm occupying it right now as I type), I was watching the US morning news program "Good Morning America" when the late entertainment reporter Rona Barrett gave me the first glimpse to some spaceship movie coming out soon starring a walking carpet and a pretty girl wearing a pair of cinnamon rolls on her head. Of course, for the next few years after the release of "Star Wars", pop culture everywhere slowly turned toward the Force via TV shows, toys and the Oscar-winning John Williams soundtrack with that amazing theme song. I ended up heading over to my next-door neighbour's place to hear the record with my old friend a number of times before I finally got my own LP.

But even before I heard the real McCoy, I had been hearing the 1977 disco version of "Star Wars" (as shown above) by MECO on radio and TV commercials. And I finally caught the actual movie...finally...in 1979 with my father at the Fairview Theatre where the movie had been playing non-stop everyday for 2 years straight...the lineup was still enormously long; remember that this was a time long before the Internet, VCRs were still fairly expensive and kids played with something called toys.

Of course, after seeing that movie, my worldview changed drastically.

Over the years, I had heard that there was a Japanese-language version of "Star Wars" so it was just a simple trip over to YouTube to find Masato Shimon's（子門真人）hammy take on the classic that came out in 1978. Shimon was the fellow who performed a number of anison such as the theme for "Gatchaman"（ガッチャマン）and even sang the most successful song for 1976 according to Oricon, "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun"（およげ！たいやきくん）. So, "Star Wars" probably didn't intimidate Shimon at all.

The Japanese lyrics were provided by Masako Arikawa（有川正沙子）and it was basically Shimon singing to the MECO disco version. As it is, it isn't quite as cringeworthy as I assumed (at least up until the "Cantina Band" sequence...did a quick skip of that) and it's about as entertaining as Bill Murray's lounge lizard take on it. Glad he didn't give up his day job.

Lucasfilm wasn't too thrilled though since the Japanese version had been produced without Williams' permission so any further sales of the Shimon single was stopped promptly. I can only assume that anyone who was able to get a copy back in 1978 may have something of some monetary worth.

Anyways for all of you around the planet, as of this writing, I think you have around 35 or 36 sleeps before the big day. May the Force be with you! And...Han shot first.

Masato Shimon -- Let's Go! Rider Kick! (Theme from Kamen Rider)



As kids, my brother and I were huge into the Japanese kaiju movies such as Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra (discovered The Peanuts that way), and then when we actually traveled to Japan and spent several days on my grandfather's farm in Wakayama Prefecture, we also took a liking to some of the live-action superhero shows. Of course, there was the "Ultraman"series, but a close second was "Kamen Rider"(仮面ライダー...The Masked Rider). If the English translation sounds familiar to you, there was an adaptation of some of the adventures of recent incarnations of the insectoid motorcycle-riding hero in the United States and Canada several years ago done "Power Rangers"style.

To continue to show my aging process, I will let you know that we watched the very first Kamen Rider during our first Japanese summer in 1972 as we saw reruns in the afternoon (the show had premiered the year before). I got a handbook of sorts of the super bug, and my brother got a costume of the Rider (Halloween trick or treating that year earned my brother quite a few weird looks....I guess parents had never seen a cycle-riding bug with a ventilation fan for a belt before....go fig). And the both of us got a 45 rpm compilation record of superhero theme songs. The first track was the legendary theme for the first Kamen Rider.

For me, "Let's Go! Rider Kick!"still stands as the coolest theme song for a live-action Japanese superhero (although the theme for Ultra Seven is pretty good, too). Sung by Masato Shimon (子門真人） who also sang the theme for "Gatchaman"（ガッチャマン） and one of the biggest hits in Japanese pop music history, "Oyoge Taiyaki-kun!"（およげ！たいやきくん）, he, for some reason, sang it under the pseudonym of  Koichi Fuji（藤浩一）. I remember dancing, jumping and kicking to the theme song with its staccato horn intro and the defiant tones of Shimon-san....also remember getting yelled at by Mom when I started wrecking some of the breakables in the apartment. Still, a great song since the arrangement sounds perfect for a rumbling motorcycle racing on the roads in the early 70s.

Masato Shimon -- Oyoge！ Taiyaki-kun (およげ！たいやきくん）

from Eliza Adam on Flickr

First off, a little lesson on Japanese confections. The above is taiyaki, a sweet bean paste-filled cake made in the shape of tai, or sea bream. The crisp outer shell is made from a pancake or waffle batter. It can be found basically anywhere in Japan, but in Tokyo, if you head over to Asakusa, you're guaranteed in finding a place that makes the stuff. I've had taiyaki myself a few times on visits to the metropolis' traditional quarter.

Now, to the story of this unlikely children's song which has become immortalized in Japanese music legend. "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun"(Swim! Taiyaki) is a tune about a taiyaki which manages to find temporary emancipation until his inevitable end. Written by Hiroo Takada（高田ひろお） and composed by Juichi Sase（佐瀬寿一）, it had been created as one of the songs for the long-running Fuji-TV kids' show, "Hirake Ponkikki".

It had been first sung on the show in early October 1975 by folk singer Keitaro Ikuta（生田敬太郎）. But when an accident suddenly waylaid Ikuta for some time, singer Masato Shimon（子門真人） came to the rescue and helped in sending the song into the sales stratosphere. Released as a single on Christmas Day 1975, it soon got huge demands in the record stores in the New Year. In fact, it debuted at No. 1 on January 5 1976 and stayed there for 11 straight weeks. I don't think a real taiyaki would have quite that sort of staying power.

It also reached another yet-to-be topped record by becoming the biggest selling single of all time at 4.5 million records in Japan, something that has been noted in The Guinness Book of World Records. And so the question is begged to be asked: what was up with this taiyaki? The answer isn't a profound one. According to J-Wikipedia, it just seemed the perfect storm of melody, Shimon's voice and that mysterious ability to entrance adults as well as the little ones. There have been further examples of a children's song reaching that sort of success: one was "Dango San Kyodai"（団子３兄弟....The Three Dumpling Brothers) in 1999, and perhaps a case can be made for 1990's No. 1 song, "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン....Dancing Ponpokorin）, the theme song for anime "Chibi Maruko Chan". And in fact, "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" was the No. 1 song for 1976. The eponymous album also reached the exact same heights for the year.

I think that video has also reached a certain legendary status.

Masato Shimon with Columbia Yurikago Kai/Kome Kome Club -- Theme from "Gatchaman"(ガッチャマン）

I remember reading the original manga for "Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman"(科学忍者隊ガッチャマン.....Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) back in the early 70s as a kid. At the time I was more of an "Ultraman"fan, so I didn't really give too much devotion to the bird-based superteam at the time. However, one night in the late 70s, I was watching a Buffalo NY channel, WKBW, when I saw a commercial advertising this cartoon. And much to my shock and awe, it turned out to be the characters from "Gatchaman"....named on this side of the Pacific as G-Force with the show being titled "Battle of the Planets". If I'm not mistaken, it was slated for every Thursday night at 7:30.

Of course, as has been the case for many an anime crossing over from Japan to North America, changes had to be made. In the case of "Gatchaman", that included a different instrumental theme song. However, instrumental versions of the original Japanese beginning and ending themes were used throughout "Battle of the Planets".

Anime song and children's song vocalist Masato Shimon（子門真人）, who would later become the singer behind one of the Oricon rankings juggernauts of 1975, "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun"(およげ！たいやきくん....Swim Taiyaki!), sang the opening theme, "The Gatchaman Song", with a children's chorus group, The Columbia Yurikago Kai （コロンビアゆりかご会）as backup. His machine gun-like staccato delivery of the opening words "Dare da, dare da, dare da!"(Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?) is still recognizable even today, and the song carries that usual brass-and-strings infused urgency that accompanied Japanese superhero theme songs of that time.

The ending theme was titled "Taose Galacta"(倒せ！ギャラクター....Defeat Galacta) in which the Columbia Yurikago Kai did solo duties here. Galacta was the original name for G-Force's enemy of Spectra in "Battle of the Planets". As was also the case with ending themes for anime, "Taose Galacta"was a more gentler and folksier tune, and listening to it brought a lot of memories of my time traveling in Japan right in that year. I recollect that there was a jauntier, more military-sounding instrumental version of this song used whenever the Phoenix launched from its underwater base (I have to admit that I spent many an hour drawing that iconic ship).

Even with all of the changes, I really enjoyed "Battle of the Planets", although I do cringe at some of the 7-Zark-7 insertions.

November 1 2012: OK, I just had to put Kome Kome Club's version of the main theme here....had my hair standing on end, just with the horn section blasting those notes out!