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.
Unfortunately, this was one aspect of Japanese culture that I never got to participate in...but then again, I get seasick rather easily, so by not doing so, I may have saved my friends from disgust and the tatami on the boat from something rather noxious.
The yakatabune are boats that can be seen sailing in bays and rivers and they can be chartered for private dinner parties. They are regular sights in Tokyo Bay and along the Sumida River, and I would think that at around this time, they must be very busy because it is the year-end party season. Nothing like a traditional seaside cruise and dinner to finish off the year.
Considering how much I've seen enka singer Mika Shinno（神野美伽）on television via programs such as "Uta Con"（うたコン）, I'm surprised that she's only popped up once on KKP, so I must rectify this situation. The Osaka native appeared on an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた） recently to perform a March 1989 single of hers, "Shunka Shuutou Yakatabune"(Yakatabune Throughout the Seasons) which was written and composed by Yoshikazu Fukano（深野義和）. It's a gentle and refined enka that emphasizes the gentle sailing of the boats hundreds of years ago with perhaps the only passengers being a romantic couple. No over-boisterous salarymen singing karaoke here. The song reached No. 47 on Oricon.
Even before the Japanese started getting that reputation of traveling in group tours while armed with cameras back in the 1970s and 1980s, they did and still love to travel even within the country, it seems, at least according to the enka genre. There is a large legacy of regional enka paying tribute to a certain city, prefecture, river or other geographical feature but ballads of traveling for the pure heck of it have also abounded, often with history in mind involving nomads during the feudal era of Japan.
One hit song with that them in mind was released in 1935 titled "Tabigasa Dochu" (Traveling Hat Journey) as originally sung by Taro Shoji（東海林太郎）. I read Noelle's write up of his "Meigetsu Akagiyama"（名月赤城山）and the description of the late singer which was confirmed when I actually saw ancient footage of him on a TV show singing "Tabigasa Dochu" on tonight's "Uta Con"（うたコン）. With those round glasses and tailcoat that Noelle described, along with that very earnest delivery, Shoji reminded me of a dusty university professor who had literally spent years in a classroom but was going to make the most of his 15 minutes on the stage.
Regrettably, I couldn't find any footage of Shoji singing "Tabigasa Dochu" but here are a couple of far more contemporary enka singers to fill in. One is Mika Shinno（神野美伽）who hails from Osaka and debuted back in 1984. I've seen her often on "Uta Con" and its predecessor program "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）so I was surprised that she hadn't been covered by either Noelle or me. She has also appeared on the Kohaku Utagassen twice in her career, in 1987 and 2003.
Going back to the song itself, "Tabigasa Dochu" was written by Masato Fujita（藤田まさと）and composed by Nosho Ohmura（大村能章）, and it's a jaunty song of vagabonds who go where the wind takes them while they live on the fringes of society. They don't mind the journey but they also hope someday to settle down. However, Ohmura's melody as arranged for Shinno's performance above seems to carve out a certain pride in this trek of itinerants which alternates between a romantic sweep during the sung portions while the intro, bridge and outro contain a certain manly staccato which may represent the proud don't-hold-me-back steps of the travelers.
(shortened version)
The other singer is the Prince of Enka himself, Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）. I found the arrangement for his take on "Tabigasa Dochu" as being a lot softer and more wistful although Hikawa puts in a good amount of brio for his performance.
Well, whaddaya know? I did find a video with Shoji's original take via this old 78 rpm. In contrast to those earnest performances by him on stage, his recorded version of "Tabigasa Dochu" sounds quite serene. Plus, I can make out an interesting plucky guitar in the background there...or is it a Japanese instrument?
Finally, you can take a look at this empty karaoke version of the song since the movie here can give some illustration to the lyrics.
