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.
Hard to believe that enka singer Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）will be turning 78 in a couple of months' time. I haven't seen him on the Kohaku in over five years now since he retired from the annual NHK special.
When I first heard his 28th single from September 1977, "Akari ga Hoshii" (I Want to See the Light), I had assumed that this was one very dramatic enka for a person looking to cadge a light for his cigarette. But looking through Masato Fujita's（藤田まさと）lyrics, I quickly realized that the light this particular protagonist is looking for is the light of hope and recovery because it became evident that the fellow is pretty much at the end of his rope after drinking himself into isolation.
Drinking and enka have gone together like hamburgers and cola but "Akari ga Hoshii" is different in that Mr. Booze isn't seen as the good ol' buddy or salve for what ails someone but the thing that brings someone down to his knees. Prolific Minoru Endo（遠藤実）was also the composer of the very bittersweet melody including those silky and flourishing strings. There's no one better to tearfully beckon for salvation than Itsuki and the song didn't do too badly by scoring a No. 14 ranking on Oricon and selling around 200,000 records. It also got him his 7th invitation to the 28th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen at the end of 1977.
Out of a sense of curiosity, I wanted to check out whether veteran enka singer Kazuko Mifune（三船和子）was related at all to the legendary actor Toshiro Mifune（三船敏郎）. Alas, this doesn't seem to be the case. In any case, I saw the Aichi Prefecture singer for the first time on a recent episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）last year and she tenderly related her time under the tutelage of the late songwriter Minoru Endo（遠藤実）. Not surprisingly, she said that though he could be very gregarious and jaunty, he could also be quite the fist-thumping and furiously dissatisfied teacher. That probably describes a lot of kayo kyoku creators and singers.
The first several singles of Mifune, who debuted in 1965, were indeed created by her master Endo and that includes "Tanin Bune" (A Ship of Strangers), her 4th single released in December that year. It was also the song that I heard on that episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta". A very bittersweet tune with a lot of kobushi, it relates the story of a woman about to say goodbye to a lover forever as he gets on that ship. She even says outright in the lyrics that she would rather be told by her soon-to-be erstwhile paramour to go die somewhere rather than endure the reality of parting as such sweet sorrow. The song would become a big hit for Mifune throughout 1966 and sell over 100,000 records. However, she only got onto the Kohaku Utagassen for the first and only time thus far in 1995 to sing a completely different song.
With Tanabata happening a couple of days ago, I figure that Japan has entered its annual weeks-long festival season. Lots of traditional dancing, yukata-wearing, food-noshing and minyo-singing to be had all over the nation.
To be honest, I can't remember how I encountered this festive tune. Perhaps it was through one of the music shows popping up on NHK via Jme but it's appropriate for the time. At first glance, I'd assumed that "Dai Tokyo Ondo" (Great Tokyo Song) was something that had been around for a century at least but then I looked up its article on J-Wiki and discovered that it had been created by lyricists Tsuneharu Takita（滝田常晴）and Masato Fujita（藤田まこと）and composer Minoru Endo（遠藤実） back in the relatively recent year of 1979 (in May, to be exact). It so happens that the festive "Dai Tokyo Ondo" was actually created to commemorate the 15th anniversary of what is now the channel TV Tokyo back in that year. There was apparently a contest in which around 3000 entries were accepted for a celebratory song.
Mr. Takita must have been doubly honoured when he found out that veteran enka singer Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）and relative newcomer Akiko Kanazawa（金沢明子）would record "Dai Tokyo Ondo" as a duet officially as Hashi's 140th single. It also became the title song for a Hashi album that came out in September 1979.
"Dai Tokyo Ondo" may have been created on behalf of a TV station, but it has since also become a regular part of the Tokyo summer festival scene, and it's been covered by a number of other singers over the years. However, the Hashi and Kanazawa duet is supposed to the one that had the most success.
Met up with fellow KKP co-administrator Larry Chan along with a fellow translator and another good friend of 30 years' standing earlier today for a lunch at Sansotei, one of the ramen restaurants at the intersection of Yonge and Eglinton that make up what is basically now Ramen Central in Toronto. Yup, we've got representative branches of the major ramen joints in our fair city in that area: Sansotei, Santouka, Kinton and Touhenboku. I went for the Spicy Tan Tan and it worked out very nicely. It did have a kick but it didn't linger well into the afternoon. Sorry no photos of that culinary adventure today; I guess I was too engrossed into slurping up my noodles, so we'll have to settle for the instant Wakayama Ramen that I had on New Year's Eve.
So, on getting home tonight, I was wondering if there were any other ramen-themed kayo kyoku out there. Of course, there is Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子）slurp-worthy "Ramen Tabetai"（ラーメン食べたい）but I already posted that one over ten years ago.
However, I did find one from even farther back. "Namida no Ramen" (Ramen of Tears) was one-half of a single released by enka sister duo Komadori Shimai（こまどり姉妹）back in September 1963 with the other side of the 45" being "Ukikusa Shamisen"（浮草三味線...Duckweed Shamisen）. I haven't really written on Eiko and Yoko Namiki（並木栄子・並木葉子）since 2017, so it's nice to see them back on KKP, and with "Namida no Ramen", the iconic noodle dish seems to have replaced the tokkuri of sake as the libation that heals in this particular song. Having the delicious bowl of ramen brings back the memories of home and perhaps past romances and friendships which of course will hit the heart quite hard (mind you, the cholesterol will hit the arteries in the same way).
Veteran songwriter Minoru Endo（遠藤実）took care of both words and music for "Namida no Ramen". There is a lullaby aspect to the melody and the sisters sound as if they are the mama-san of a neighbourhood nomiya, as they coddle and reassure the uncertain customer about his status in life. As a ramen lover, I haven't exactly cried in my soup but I do appreciate the joy of having the bowl, especially during the winter.
Getting a bit late in the night but I just wanted to put up one more article since it's based on one more performance that I'd seen last night on "Uta Con"（うたコン）. Did want to make it a set to join Stardust Revue's"Sugar wa O-Toshigoro"（シュガーはお年頃）and Kiyoshi Hikawa's（氷川きよし） "Koushuuji"（甲州路）.
Enka singer Fuyumi Sakamoto（坂本冬美）appeared on the show to pay tribute to her fellow entertainer and singer Chiyoko Shimakura（島倉千代子）nine years following her passing, and the song that she sang was "Karatachi Nikki"(Japanese Bitter Orange Diary). This was a 1958 single that Shimakura had recorded with lyricist Sou Nishizawa（西沢爽）and composer Minoru Endo（遠藤実） behind the songwriting. It's a very poignant enka about learning the hard lesson about that first love and that it often ends up in that first heartbreak. Incidentally, the above version is a 1963 re-recording of the song on Shimakura's YouTube channel.
Most of the song takes on a very wistful and content pattern but for several seconds in the middle, it goes into a minor key to signify the loss of love. As well, I think the title was well chosen since as the translation of it shows, the breakup is quite bitter. Plus, from what I've read about the karatachi（枸橘）or the Japanese bitter orange on Wikipedia is that its bitterness is such that it's practically inedible although it can apparently be made into marmalade and medicine against inflammation.
Another interesting thing that I read about "Karatachi Nikki" on J-Wiki was that it broke a jinx observed in the music industry back then. Evidently, kayo containing a spoken-word segment were seen as non-sellers. Well, "Karatachi Nikki" roundly smashed that superstition by selling around 1.3 million records and if Oricon had been around in the late 1950s, the song would have hit No. 1 easily. No worries about any lack of accolades though since Shimakura was invited to sing the song on the 9th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen in 1958 and in her appearances on the 1973 and 1984 shows. In fact, Shimakura starred in an adaptation of the song into a motion picture in 1959; in 1967, there was a TV drama version as well although I'm not sure whether Shimakura was in that one.
The Mood Kayo band Toshi Ito and Happy & Blue（敏いとうとハッピー&ブルー）formed up in the early 1970s and later came up with their enduring hit "Hoshi Furu Machikado" (星降る街角）in 1977. However, they actually had a predecessor group going back a few years. The name was only slightly different in that the group was known as Toshi Ito and The Playsmen（トシ伊藤とザ・プレイズメン）. As for that final word which doesn't exist in English, I couldn't find any romaji form so I have put it in as "playsmen" under the wild assumption that it was inspired by "playboy".
Even so, according to one Japanese blog, Toshi Ito and The Playsmen may have also originated from an earlier band known as Takami Shoji to Novelty Hawaiians（高見昌児とノベルディ・ハワイアンズ...Shoji Takami and The Novelty Hawaiians） in the early 1960s. Regardless of where they ultimately came from, The Playsmen made their debut in 1967 with what seems to have been a double A-side known as "Kitaguni no Hito/Kimi wa Doko e"（北国の人・君はどこへ...The Man From The North Country/Where Have You Gone?）.
Listening to "Kimi wa Doko e", this Minoru Endo-penned（遠藤実）song sounds like a mix between Mood Kayo and a wistful and mournful ballad about a man wondering about the whereabouts of a lost love. From what I've read in the comments below the YouTube video, the main vocalist was Yuji Mori（森雄二）, who would later create another Mood Kayo band, Mori Yuji to Southern Cross（森雄二とサザンクロス）.
Looking through Yahoo Images, The Playsmen put out at least one more 45" titled "Niigata Blues"（新潟ブルース）. According to J-Wiki, which had virtually nothing about this group aside from the fact that it existed before Happy & Blue came into being in the 1970s, it did take on an intermediate name of Toshi Ito & Blue Candle（敏いとう＆ブルー・キャンドル）before finally settling on its most famous incarnation.
I don't think that it's everyday when a budding singer suddenly has a breakthrough hit with their debut single, and that was certainly the case with enka singer Midori Satsuki（五月みどり）. The Tokyo-born singer and tarento debuted at the end of 1958 with "Ozashiki Rock"（お座敷ロック...Tatami Room Rock） but it didn't spark all that much interest.
A few more singles and a few more years passed without any spike of success in her career. But in 1961, famed composer/arranger Minoru Endo（遠藤実）approached Satsuki and told her that he's made a song that was just perfect for her, according to a 2019 article in the weekly magazine "Shuukan Gendai"（週刊現代）via J-Wiki. Endo sang some part of the song for her which got a rise from the singer who then begged to be allowed to sing it.
The single was released in May of that year and it's titled "Ohima nara Kite ne" (Come If You Have Time). This song was actually sharing 45" single space with another singer's work...specifically, Ichiro Kanbe's（神戸一郎）"Seto no Koiuta"（瀬戸の恋唄...Seto Love Song）. While Endo composed this enka ballad, it was Jinichiro Kareno（枯野迅一郎）behind the lyrics involving a woman entreating a lover to come and visit her in person with the hint that perhaps he hasn't been over in quite a while. Perhaps the lady is a hostess at a nightclub although the arrangement and Satsuki's very historically traditional appearance could mean that the setting is perhaps centuries earlier.
Well, Endo delivered on what he had promised. "Ohima nara Kite ne" was the breakthrough song that Satsuki had been hoping for due to "...her adorably charming beauty paired with her fine vibrato" (translated from the J-Wiki article for the song). Approximately 18 months later, the singer would find herself performing the song on her first NHK Kohaku Utagassen appearance on New Year's Eve 1962, and it has become one of her trademark tunes.
I only discovered the news via Mixi in the morning but sadly, martial arts action star Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba（千葉真一）passed away earlier today at the age of 82 due to COVID-19.
Born Sadaho Maeda（前田禎穂）in 1948 in Fukuoka, when he was around 4 years old, his family moved to the city of Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture. To be honest, although I never saw any of his action flicks, the name of Sonny Chiba was well known to me just from reputation, and I think that I probably saw more of him on Japanese television as the occasional guest. I did see one performance of his on the big screen and the movie was Quentin Tarentino's"Kill Bill, Vol. 1" in which he played the master swordsmith Hanzo Hattori.
Years ago, Chiba had also starred in the 1968-1973 Japanese detective drama "Key Hunter"（キーハンター）with Tetsuro Tanba（丹波哲郎）and Yoko Nogiwa（野際陽子）. Just by chance, former contributor to "Kayo Kyoku Plus"JTM and I were talking about the show a few days ago. Interestingly enough, considering this cast who played characters with their own special sets of skills, Chiba had the relatively mundane role of being a former newspaper reporter recruited onto the team (although in a future opening credit scene, he was performing some acrobatic hand-to-hand combat). Incidentally, Chiba and Nogiwa had gotten married in 1973, leading to a 21-year marriage with Nogiwa herself passing away a few years ago at the age of 81.
As would be the case for any young kakkoii actor at the time, the recording booth would come beckoning for Chiba, and he indeed put out a little over 15 singles between 1963 and 1985. In 1966, the star released "Taiyo mo Waratteiru"(The Sun Is Also Smiling). Written by Masao Nakayama（中山正男）and composed by Minoru Endo（遠藤実）, Chiba has a light but still smoky voice for this song which kinda straddles the line between regular kayo and the bar territory-friendly Mood Kayo. Looking at the cover for the 45", he looks like he could be ambling among the tiny nomiya offering to sing his songs like a balladeer instead of flipping and smashing bad guys.
Condolences to Chiba's family, friends and fans on this news.
I found another disciple of legendary composer Minoru Endo（遠藤実）after writing up the article for Shuuji Kano's（叶修二）"Suteki na Yatsu"（素敵なやつ）back on Monday.
Akira Adachi（安達明）was born Haruo Osada/Nagata（長田晴夫）in Kita-Kyushu City in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1948 and after being taken under Endo's wing, he made his debut with "Shiokaze wo Matsu Shojo" (The Girl Waiting for the Sea Breeze) in May 1964. Endo composed the song with Rumi Matsuda and Osamu Yoshioka（松田ルミ・吉岡治）sharing lyric-writing duties. It's an old-fashioned love kayo pining for that titular girl on the shore.
What I think adds to its likeable folksiness is the mandolin and the oboe along with the orchestra trumpet while Adachi sings with a certain oaken quality in his voice (despite the fact that he was only 15 at the time). In a way, his voice reminds me a little of how a young Shinichi Mori（森進一）started out. Considering the video above with the cute innocent high school (Sayuri Yoshinaga, perhaps?), I had assumed that the song was so popular that a movie was made around it like so many other songs during the 50s and 60s, but apparently this was more of the uploader's imagination at play here since I couldn't find any evidence of a film titled "Shiokaze wo Matsu Shojo".
With this song and his follow-up, "Jogakusei"（女学生...Schoolgirls）, Adachi had a couple of big hits and he became an idol to a lot of the university co-ed set according to his J-Wiki article. However by 1967, the singer decided to retire from show business but even after leaving, he apparently was still making appearances in the Ginza drinking establishments and on TV. He passed away in May 2020 at the age of 62.
Starting off with colloquial Japanese here. The term yatsu（やつ）had always struck me as a rough word that was used to refer to men and boys. If I were to translate it, it would probably come out as "mate", "fellow", "guy" and the like. A sample sentence is "Kare wa ii yatsu"（彼はいいやつ...He's a good guy!）. But when I checked Jisho.org while thinking about this song here, I found out that yatsu could also be used with women and girls, although the site did also state that it would have to be in a very familiar or even derogatory sense. So, the point is taken; if I ever have to use it, I will still use it just for men.
But the usage of yatsu explains something in the lyrics for the January 1965 debut single of singer Shuuji Kano（叶修二）who came from Niigata Prefecture. Those lyrics were provided by Kaoru Mizuki（水木かおる）and at first, looking at the title and doing a first run through those words, I'd assumed that the story was being told from the woman's point of view since yatsu was being used as the lass was falling for the guy. However, I've realized that it's the opposite; it's the guy who's fallen head over heels with the lady and the yatsu is all for her. I guess in a way, the protagonist is saying something "Ah, she's a swell peach" or something old-fashioned like that.
As for the melody, I had also thought it was an enka tune but now I think that it's more of a jaunty ol' kayo the more I listen to it. It just seems too bouncy to be an enka and the sentiments of love here appear more on the level of puppy love rather than the deeper ideas of l'amour in a typical enka. Minoru Endo（遠藤実）was the one who composed "Suteki na Yatsu" (A Splendid Gal) under one of his pen names, Masanobu Tsugi or Tsugu（継正信）, and Kano was one of the many students who came under Endo's umbrella along with Akira Kobayashi（小林旭）, Masako Mori（森昌子）and Tetsuya Watari（渡哲也）.
Kano's career spanned from the 1960s into the 1970s and he even released his own version of the famous "Sekai no Kuni kara Konnichiwa" (世界の国からこんにちは), immortalized by Haruo Minami（三波春夫）. However, unfortunately, I couldn't find Kano's cover of it on YouTube. After a time, the singer returned to his native Niigata and up to 2013, he was participating in events within the prefecture. But he passed away at the age of 66 in early 2014 from an aneurysm although the news of his death wasn't announced until 2018.
Happy Monday! It's been a few decades but I've wondered what it must have been like for my parents and their Japanese friends when they attended that Toronto special concert featuring enka singer Masao Sen（千昌夫）and his then-wife Joan Shepherd. As I've said before, we simply didn't get any of the big kayo singers here in this city unless they had happened to be doing a gig in New York City (it's only a 1-hour flight from The Big Apple to The 6ix) the day before.
But Sen and his wife did show up and in the past, there have even been visits by Hiroshi Itsuki （五木ひろし）and Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）. Of course, the audience dressed up to the nines and maybe even the tens to show up for such geinokai royalty.
(guide vocal version)
The other day on NHK's"Songs of Japanese Spirit", Sen appeared to sing this jaunty and boisterous enka/kayo tune called "Jinsei ni Kanpai"(A Toast to Life). On first listening to it, I'd assumed that it was one of his older hits from, let's say the 1970s, along the lines of his trademark "Kitaguni no Haru"（北国の春）.
As it turns out, though, "Jinsei ni Kanpai" was actually released last August in 2019 as his 52nd single, but it was created by the same duo that came up with "Kitaguni no Haru" all the way back in 1977. Lyricist Haku Ide（いではく）and composer Minoru Endo（遠藤実）were responsible for Sen's encouragement to all to live that life full of vim and vigour while shedding all that nonsense about the aging process. Mind you, Endo passed away in 2008 (though Ide is still alive) so I'm wondering if "Jinsei ni Kanpai" was a song that was just languishing somewhere for years before it got its time at bat.
Methinks that this particular song must be quite the popular tune in the karaoke boxes for the senior set (or will be again once the pandemic ends), and while listening or singing it at home, Ide's lyrics may strike a pleasant chord for folks remaining safely sheltered. I'm sure that once the all-clear is given, all of us will be willing to give a toast to life.
Enka still never fails to throw me a melody that I realize that I haven't heard in ages, and yet it's still so familiar.
The Top 10 singles of 1979 included Judy Ongg's exotic kayo anthem of "Miserarete"（魅せられて）at No. 2, Sachiko Kobayashi's（小林幸子）enka comeback hit "Omoide Zake"（おもいで酒）and Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）immortal cover of "YMCA" under the title of "Young Man"（ヤングマン）at No. 7. However, the No. 1 single of the year was another enka song, "Yume Oi Zake"(Dream-Chasing Drinking) by Jiro Atsumi（渥美二郎）.
Noelle introduced Atsumi onto the blog through his 1983 hit "Busan Ko e Kaere"（釜山港へ帰れ）, a song that I heard quite often in karaoke, both during my university days here and also in the karaoke boxes of Gunma and Tokyo over the decades. But strangely enough, I don't think that I ever heard "Yume Oi Zake" all that often sung by friends or other amateur warblers for some reason.
And yet, that gentle melody by Minoru Endo（遠藤実）struck me as a most comforting enka presence although Eiichi Hoshino's（星野栄一）lyrics relate a fellow at his local watering hole drowning his sorrows in drink due to being dumped. I gather that from the arrangement by Michiyasu Tadano（只野通泰）, it's a most beautiful and Japanese way to suffer from romantic heartbreak, although one's liver may disagree vehemently. As for the meaning of the title, now that the protagonist with his head on the bar is no longer attached, he's free to follow his other dreams despite the possibility that they may seem much smaller now that the biggest one has flown the coop.
Released as Atsumi's 5th single in February 1978, "Yume Oi Zake" started off rather slowly in sales but the singer's dogged promotion throughout the nation over the next several months started to pay off although the single finished in 91st place at the end of the year. But going into 1979, sales really launched to the point that it finally hit its top spot of No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies, and Atsumi even won the Long-Seller Prize at the Japan Record Awards. By the end of 1979, it was the No. 1 single and as such, NHK invited him to sing at the Kohaku Utagassen that year for his lone appearance. Even at the end of 1980, "Yume Oi Zake" ranked in at No. 68. All in all, his most famous song sold approximately 2.8 million records.
As for Atsumi, he was born in 1952 in Tokyo's Adachi Ward and made his debut in 1975, initially under his real name of Toshio Atsumi（渥美敏夫）. Up until 2017, he has released 40 singles but only 1 original album. Noelle did mention that he had suffered from cancer in the late 1980s but he has since recovered fully.
Recently, I found this YouTube channel of kayo called abapon yamada which consists a lot of videos which contain 10 songs each by a certain famous songwriter. It's been quite interesting for taking a look for a variety of enka, Mood Kayo and pop tunes.
One such video is in tribute to the late composer Minoru Endo（遠藤実）, who I was surprised to find out had one of his compositions released as late as April 2008. This is "Kibou no Uta" (Song of Hope) as performed by enka singer Takeshi Kitayama（北山たけし）.
(cover version)
The lyrics by Takashi Taka（たかたかし）relate the story of a couple breaking up for whatever reason but with them deciding to take the high road and resolving to remember the fun times before parting for good. Think of it as the Japanese version of Rick and Ilsa's story in "Casablanca"...or perhaps it should be Kamakura. In any case, it's another example of the kayo trope of smiling through the tears through Endo's jaunty melody.
"Kibou no Uta" got as high as No. 28 on Oricon. This may have been one of Endo's final songs since in December 2008, he would pass away at the age of 76.
Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Along with having dinner for the whole family last weekend for my mother, I took my parents out for some breakfast in honour of the day. Kinda gloomy out there, though, unfortunately. It would seem that a warm spring may simply not be in the cards for us here this year.
Anyways, again in honour of Mother's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to put up the appropriate kayo, and what wouldn't be more appropriate than "Okaasan" (Mother) by 70s aidoruMasako Mori（森昌子）? In fact, I'm surprised that I hadn't put it up any time in the last 7 years of this blog.
Somewhat reminiscent of her big debut hit, "Sensei"（せんせい）from 1972, Mori gives a truly sweet and loving tribute to Mom in "Okaasan", her 10th single from September 1974, but with the accompaniment of some pretty bossy brass and percussion. Perhaps not surprising is that composer Minoru Endo（遠藤実）was behind both songs.
I couldn't lock down the proper way to say the lyricist's name so I will take a wild guess at Kaoru Kanzaka（神坂薫）; both first and family names have various ways of being pronounced. So if anyone can set me straight, please let me know. In any case, "Okaasan" reached No. 21 on Oricon and Mori was able to appear on the Kohaku Utagassen for the second straight year to perform it. "Sensei" had been her first ticket onto the NHK special the previous year.
Over 2 1/2 years ago, Noelle wrote about "Otsuki-San Konbanwa" (Good Evening, Mr. Moon) from 1957, a bittersweet telling of a man out in the small village who still pines for that woman who left long ago for the charms of the big city.
As was often the case back over half a century ago, singers and their people often made like a feeding frenzy around a potential hit to release their own versions in the same year, and such was the case with "Otsuki-San". I think Takeo Fujishima（藤島桓夫）won the sweepstakes in terms of how quickly the song was released, but Hachiro Kasuga（春日八郎）also gave his version in 1957.
In commenting on Noelle's article, I remarked that I did prefer Yoshio Tabata's（田端義夫）cover over the Fujishima original, but I have to say that Kasuga's take on "Otsuki-San" is pretty darn good as well. It's that extra layer of timbre with Kasuga that helps with the plaintive call to the moon. As was also cited in the original article, Mataichi Matsumura（松村又一）and Minoru Endo（遠藤実）were responsible for the creation of the song.
I don't think I had ever come across a song that would place the weed on such a high pedestal but I did find one.
Not that I was looking for a number that paid tribute to the botanical outcast in the first place. Actually I was searching around for a Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）song. I think we've managed to cover her biggest hits for the most part on the blog but Misora had a career that spanned from the late 1940s into the late 1980s so I figure that she must have had many many more jewels to be re-discovered.
And so I think I have found one right here. I never heard of it but her "Zassou no Uta" (Song of Weeds) is one of her mighty songs of pride along the same lines as "Yawara"（柔）and "Jinsei Ichiro"（人生一路）. Released in April 1976, Misora sings about all the trials and tribulations that she has gone through to reach her heights and that just like the unnamed plants that populate the roadsides of Japan, she has refused to be trampled down and has continued to stand proudly.
If I were to describe the arrangement of Minoru Endo's（遠藤実）melody, it would be grace and strength. And perhaps Kazue Kato's（加藤和枝）lyrics might be describing the life of Misora herself. It's still an enka tune but I could pick up some of those 1970s-style kayo drums and those strings provide an epic sheen on the proceedings.
According to her biography on J-Wiki, "Zassou no Uta" was her 272nd single!
Back in the postwar period, there were a lot of songs recorded and released about regular folks having to come into the big city or elsewhere away from their hometowns to find work. They may be working hard and saving up for their families but they truly miss their furusato. One big representative of that type of song is "Ahh, Ueno Eki"（ああ上野駅）from 1964 by Hachiro Izawa（井沢八郎）who sang about the young people flowing into Tokyo's Ueno Station from the various regions.
Another similarly-themed song came in a bit earlier. That would be "Souran Wataridori"(Souran Migratory Birds) from April 1961 by the Komadori Shimai（こまどり姉妹）, Eiko and Yoko Namiki（並木栄子・並木葉子）. I caught an episode of NHK's "Itsuki Sensei no Utau! SHOW Gakko"（五木先生の 歌う！SHOW学校...Itsuki-sensei's Singing Show School） on Tuesday..."Uta Con"（うたコン）has been on summer hiatus...in which the theme was Hokkaido songs, and "Souran Wataridori" was on the playlist.
The thing about "Souran Wataridori" is that the melody by Minoru Endo（遠藤実）and the the lyrics by Miyuki Ishimoto（石本美由起）are very familiar to me especially the chorus of "yaaren, souran, souran, souran"（ヤーレン、ソーラン、ソーラン、ソーラン）that the sisters chant out. Unlike "Aah, Ueno Eki" with its setting of a major station in the capital, I think "Souran Wataridori" is more likely set at one of the larger but regional port cities employing fishery workers who may have come south from Hokkaido or moved to one of the coastal cities in Japan's northernmost prefecture.
What I found out from jisho.org is that a souran bushi（ソーラン節）is a "traditional work song of Hokkaido herring fishery workers, performed by school students in modern choreographed interpretations". So, perhaps the workers didn't actually sing and bring in the fish in a rhythmic fashion but the teachers and kids interpreted their work that way.
In the first verse, though, there was a mention about someone plucking away at the shamisen so maybe the song wasn't just devoted to the migrant port workers but also to all those who left their hometowns (labourers, entertainers, etc.) to find work in the big cities. The Komadori Shimai themselves were born in Hokkaido and came to Tokyo to work as strolling musicians on the streets.
Being able to remember the song is probably not so surprising considering that it has probably been covered countless times since the 1960s. Above we have Toshimi Tagawa（田川寿美）and Natsuko Godai（伍代夏子）among othersproviding their version. The songwriters, by the way, also provided the Komadori Shimai with their first single, "Asakusa Shimai"（浅草姉妹）back in 1959.
For years, on our family forays of Japanese TV via videotape, one of the familiar figures on the kayo shows was the enka singer Mieko Makimura（牧村三枝子）. I haven't seen her in decades but on the videos of "Enka no Hanamichi"（演歌の花道）and any of the music shows that NHK put out, she was always out there. Of course back then, I wasn't into enka or Mood Kayo like I am now so it was just the name and the fact that she sang enka tunes that I remember.
So I decided to take a look at her discography on J-Wiki. And I found her 12th single, "Michizure"(Traveling Companion) from October 1978. The Hokkaido native made her debut in 1972 and several years later, she encountered this song that actor Tetsuya Watari（渡哲也）had released a few years earlier. She basically begged him directly for the chance to record it as a single and obviously her efforts bore fruit.
"Michizure" doesn't refer to traveling partners. It's actually a love proposal from man to woman so that they can become partners for life. It certainly hit a soft spot among listeners as it broke the Top 10 to peak at No. 8 and eventually become the 9th-ranked single for 1979. The ballad hung on for another year to finish at No. 62. Not surprisingly, it won a Japanese Record Award for being a long-seller and sold over a million records. The song is quite tenderhearted and I get images of a couple in traditional garb walking slowly over an arched vermilion bridge, and it is there that the man professes his love to his lady.
A few years in 1981, Makimura made her debut on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen with "Michizure". It would be her first of four consecutive appearances on the show.
Written by Kaoru Mizuki（水木かおる）and composed by Minoru Endo（遠藤実）, Watari had released the original "Michizure" in November 1975. His version has a pretty pleasant low and rolling delivery but his voice keeps things within a relatively narrow range compared to the delicateness that Makimura has. So perhaps it didn't quite make as much of an impression, peaking at just No. 55 on the charts. However, sales weren't too bad for him at all; his single was able to sell around 200,000 records.
Ironically enough, Makimura would make her 2nd appearance on the Kohaku in 1982 singing "Kuchinashi no Hana"（くちなしの花）, another Watari original.
Back in Sapporo last summer, one of the places we visited was the famous Nijo Market with the intention of having a spot of breakfast. That snapshot up there was the sign above the joint across the street where we had our crab - bought from the market - prepared. Not a fan of the crustacean, but I have to admit that that was one of the best crab I'd ever had. We had also bought a box of fresh sea urchin from a different store for a taste, and that was where I learnt that sea urchin could taste sweet and non-fishy. So it is true what they say about Hokkaido seafood.
Anyways, the name of the joint is "Kanikosen" (the words in blue) or Crab Cannery Boat, which is accurate for a restaurant boasting crab products, but what piqued my interest was recalling Hideo Murata (村田英雄) had a song of the same name.
"Kanikosen", the song, was put together by renown songwriters Minoru Endo (遠藤実) and Tetsuro Hoshino (星野哲郎). While a big chunk of enka revolves around hardened fishermen hoping to get a good haul of large fish, this is the first time I hear of one where the target is crab. Still equally as tough and hazardous though as seen in those "Deadliest Catch" commercials. In that sense, the gritty Muchi was perfect for a tune like this.
With some research, I believe Hoshino based the lyrics on "Kanikosen", the novel (circa 1933), which highlights the struggles of the crew and the horrid conditions they are subjected to aboard the crab fishing boat. To complement the plot, Endo's music is manly and foreboding thanks to the combination of high-pitched strings and deep horns. However, there's this one bit I found interesting - the clashing of cymbals and the flute whistling away after the first stanza. It's probably to represent the ship getting caught in a storm blowing across the northern sea, but it felt almost like something I'd hear in an old Disney movie... like when the evil queen was turning into the witch in "Snow White" or something like that.
"Kanikosen" was released early in Muchi's professional music career in 1959. The clip below has Eisaku Ohkawa's (大川栄策) rendition of "Kanikosen" during a "Nippon no Uta" episode from quite a while ago; that was where I had first learnt of this song.
While we're just getting set up here for the family to get together for Christmas today, Japan is already into the 26th so their Yuletide is done for another year. This will mean all that the Xmas gloss and glitter will be taken down lickety-split from the various department stores and all of the New Year's decorations will be going up just as quickly. I can pretty much guarantee that the place in the above photo, Kaminari-mon, the gate for Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa, will be totally crazy in the hours going from December 31st way into January 1st. When my anime buddy was in the Asakusa area once during New Year's, he had naively assumed that it wouldn't be too busy on the 1st since everyone got in their prayers around midnight. Uh...nope. Think about rush hour multiplied by a factor of 10. Anyone going there on that day, you have been duly warned.
Not that I'm saying that this song is a New Year's tune by any means but it's got that traditional Japanese brio which would make things quite festive, and as quiet as it is outside for the first few days of the New Year there (outside of shrines and temples, that is), inside is a whole lot of talking, eating, drinking and all-round carousing with family and friends.
This would be "Isshukan ni Touka Koi" (Come For 10 Days A Week) by singer/actress/tarento Midori Satsuki（五月みどり）. The title is a bit odd but since the lyrics by Koshu Kojima（小島胡秋）talk about a woman lusting for some guy at a bar, I gather that it is showing the depth of her desire that he show up as much as possible. And as for that lyricist's name, I had never heard of him before I first saw the song performed on an episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, so I'm not quite sure how that given name is pronounced considering that he doesn't have his own J-Wiki page and the kanji doesn't seem to compute on jisho.org. But feel free to correct me if you know the proper way to pronounce it.
Minoru Endo（遠藤実）is a far more familiar name to me as the composer behind the jaunty enka arrangement. Kojima's lyrics may talk about potential romance in a bar as would be the case in any bluesy Mood Kayo piece, but Endo has woven a melody that is much more suited for an old-fashioned town festival. And I think for a certain generation, this would be the sort of song that could be sung together after a goodly amount of beer/sake.
As for Midori Satsuki, she was born as Fusako Omodaka（面高フサ子）in 1939 in Tokyo, and made her debut in 1958 with "O-zashiki Rock"（お座敷ロック...Tatami Room Rock）. However, it seems like her breakthrough hit was in the early 1960s with "Chirimen Vibrato" (ちりめんビブラート...Silk Crepe Vibrato) which led to her first invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen in 1962. "Isshukan ni Touka Koi" was her next song to be performed on NHK's New Year's Eve special the following year, and according to the Tokyo-based Video Research Ltd., her performance set a record in terms of viewership ratings at apparently 85.3%! Nowadays, any producer of the Kohaku would kill simply for half of those ratings.
