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.
Listening to music all these decades and handling KKP for the past fourteen years, of course, I know all about those 45" singles and CD singles with their A/B sides and coupling songs. Sometimes though on a singer's J-Wiki discography, I encounter something called the kikaku single（企画シングル）or "planned single". I'm still not 100% on the meaning or purpose of these things, but from my experience, I can glean that they refer to special releases by a singer tackling a genre that's not usually in their wheelhouse.
And thus, we come to Yoshie Kashiwabara's（柏原芳恵）"Shiawase Ondo"(Happy Folk Song). I found this song just recently on YouTube and it took me a little longer than usual to track this down since "Shiawase Ondo" hadn't been included on Yoshie-chan'slong single list. It was placed on the...you guessed it...the kikaku single list and it even got its own entry on J-Wiki.
I guess it's because Kashiwabara was covering something that wasn't her usual aidoru stuff. Released early in her career, July 1982, "Shiawase Ondo" is all about the festival minyo, and the dead giveaway was the title's use of ondo which is often used for the traditional folk songs of Japan. She's got quite the adorably cute delivery of Masato Fujita's（藤田まさと）lyrics but the music is also notable not only for the old-style jaunty folk (vocal whoops included) but the fact that it sounds quite Okinawan and technopop at the same time. I started thinking that Yellow Magic Orchestra had been involved, and sure enough, one third of the group, Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, provided the melody which Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）then arranged into a spacey yet familiar tune that the kids would love to dance to.
For Yoshie fans, "Shiawase Ondo" must have been quite the rare thing to covet since this kikaku single hadn't gotten onto an original album for years until March 2004 when it was finally included on the aidoru's CD box set "Kashiwabara Yoshie Premium Box"（柏原芳恵 プレミアムBOX）. The single itself peaked at No. 70 on Oricon.
I never became a dedicated follower of "Lupin III"（ルパン三世）although the music associated with the various shows and movies has interested me over the years because some of it has had roots in jazz and City Pop. But I do have to say that next year will be the 60th anniversary since the original manga was first published in 1967.
Until today though, I hadn't even known of this "Lupin III" flick called "Lupin Tai Clone"（ルパンVS複製人間）which literally translates into "Lupin vs. The Clone" although the English title is"Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo" which got into theatres in December 1978. I have no idea what it's all about but I'm sure that it's got the usual Lupin hijinks with Fujiko, car chases and lots of derring-do.
What it also has is a rather interesting insert song called "Lupin Ondo" (The Lupin Song). I never thought I'd see the day that a Lupin song would be a 80/20 mix of traditional festival-friendly min'yo and some of that Lupin jazz created by composer Yuji Ohno（大野雄二）. With "Lupin III" creator Monkey Punch（モンキー・パンチ）and Daisaburo Nakayama（中山大三郎）providing the lyrics, the finishing touch was inviting the legendary Haruo Minami（三波春夫）coming into the recording booth to sing "Lupin Ondo".
I'd expected the characters to be involved in a typical Japanese festival as they danced to "Lupin Ondo", but I guess the producers went with a montage-style ending credit sequence while Minami was singing away.
As much as we Torontonians have been grumbling about how wintry this winter has been with a couple of major snowstorms hitting us in about as many weeks, I don't think we can really compare with certain northern areas of Japan this season. Watching NHK News this morning, Akita Prefecture for example has been walloped with metres of snow compared to the two-thirds of a metre that has collected on our sidewalks. And unfortunately, there have been some deaths due to the snow from elderly people falling off of roofs while trying to push off the heavy snow buildup. I'm hoping that both my area and much of the Tohoku area will see spring soon.
As such, I checked things online to see if I could find a go-touchi（ご当地）song regarding Akita Prefecture whether it be an enka, min'yo, Mood Kayo or just plain ol' kayo kyoku. I was able to find this min'yo titled "Chouja no Yama" that has connections with the prefecture although I couldn't track down either its year of origin or its songwriters.
However, this particular iteration of "Chouja no Yama" was sung by enka singer Kouhei Fukuda（福田こうへい）, who had started out in the min'yo genre. The song was a track on his May 2022 21st single "Furusato Dayori"（ふるさと便り...Messages from Home） which reached No. 15 on Oricon. It's quite the gentle traditional folk song but the title is intriguing since the word "chouja"（長者） can be translated into many English words of varying meaning. According to Jisho.org, it can mean: 1) millionaire, 2) one's superior; one's elder; one's senior, 3) virtuous and gentle person, 4) female owner of a whorehouse in a post town and 5) chief of a post town.
That's quite the myriad of responses. Personally, I'd like to think it can be translated as "The Mountain of the Virtuous" based on definition No. 3 but according to Kotobank, the first lyrics apparently refer to someone striking gold on a local mountain (so, "The Mountain of the Rich Man" perhaps) with the folks represented by the singers hoping to share in the bullion. However, Kotobank also mentions that it may have originated as a grass-cutting song through the farm work of the women in the area before it evolved into something to be sung for guests at the local onsen. If the song has a base in Akita Prefecture, it looks to be the Lake Tazawa area in Senboku City.
This YouTube video was posted about a dozen years ago by 28hb Seiichiro（28hb誠一郎）.
I was watching the Saturday night news on NHK and noticed a feature on anison Bon Odori（盆踊り...Bon Dance）. Yes, tis the season for vacations and summer festivals, and of course, almost all of these will include the traditional folk dance en masse. Apparently now though, fans of anime and anime theme songs can dance to those Bon Odori style.
Mind you, you might be looking at the above and wondering in some horror about how a mass of folks can dance that packed together during the notoriously torrid summer that Japan is enduring. Well for one thing, the above video was actually taken a few months ago when the temperatures were still reasonable and for another, not many people will turn down a Bon Odori opportunity especially when favourite songs are involved and in the above, the fans are dancing to stuff including "Kibun Jojo"（気分上々↑↑）, "MatsuKen Samba II"（マツケンサンバ II） and "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born".
Perhaps the reason behind anison Bon Odori is that over the decades, a number of anime may have spawned their own festival songs of summer. I've written about a couple of them at the very least. One is Mami Koyama & Columbia Yurikago Kai's（小山茉美・コロムビアゆりかご会）"Arale-chan Ondo"（アラレちゃん音頭）in "Dr. Slump"（Dr.スランプ）from 1981 and then even earlier, the venerable franchise "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）came up with "Doraemon Ondo"（ドラえもん音頭）in 1979 with the title character's longest-serving seiyuu Nobuyo Ohyama（大山のぶ代）singing that one just when she first started voicing the genius earless cat.
Well, Ohyama passed the baton over to seiyuu Wasabi Mizuta（水田わさび）in 2005 and evidently, she was assigned to sing her own traditional Doraemon-themedminyo titled "Odore...Dore...Dora...Doraemon Ondo" (Doraemon Traditional Folk Song Dance) which was written by Mike Sugiyama（マイクスギヤマ）and composed by Kan Sawada（沢田完）. For some reason, I keep seeing the 2007 version so we're going to go with that. As would be the case with any traditional folk song that demands group participation, it's plenty boisterous, grand and upbeat. I have to also admit that I liked the little shoulder shimmy that Doraemon does at the beginning there in the above video. Mizuta is also assisted by the Mori no Ki Children's Chorus（森の木児童合唱団）.
The video below was uploaded about a year ago and I have to give my respects to the folks in the character costumes as they performed at Roppongi Hills. As I remember, Tokyo was just as boiling hot back then as it is now. Hopefully, they received danger pay.
Yes, I agree that we are still several months away from those festive events of a Japanese summer. But it's gosh darn balmy here in Toronto at a mind-blowing 6 degrees Celsius, so you can forgive me at the torrid heights this day in late February.
Another nice thing is that NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた）is back on the Jme schedule after a few weeks away. At one point, I'd feared that it wasn't coming back to our streaming service due to lack of popularity, but happily it was back on Sunday evening.
Anyways, the first song up on the episode was "Tebyoushi Ondo"(The Clapping Song) which took me a while to track down the source year, but apparently it was 1964. The singer was no problem, though, since it was the beatific Haruo Minami（三波春夫）. Written by Hachiro Kadoi（門井八郎）and composed by Kazuo Harukawa（春川一夫）, it is as it is defined: an enjoyable festival song to be danced and clapped. For you folks in snowy climes ranging from Niigata Prefecture to Toronto, Ontario, just close your eyes and pretend that you are rhythmically marching in a circle and clapping your hands in the heat and humidity of a typical August natsu.
Yes, I do realize that Christmas ended two weeks ago today but I really couldn't let this one song go, especially I would have to wait another eleven months to activate this one.
To be honest, I only discovered this Xmas oddity a few days after December 25th. The late singer-songwriter Eiichi Ohtaki（大滝詠一）showed off his humourous side once more with "Christmas Ondo"(Christmas Folk Song). It was placed suitably as the penultimate track on his Xmas Day-release 1977 concept album"Niagara Calendar". Inspired by Julie London's 1956"Calendar Girl", Ohtaki's tracks follow along the theme of a calendar from New Year's to New Year's.
"Christmas Ondo" is a fun mélange of Xmas music and Japanese festival melody that includes excerpts from "Silent Night", "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bells". It makes me wonder whether some enterprising folks in Japan ever came up with a Christmas matsuri somewhere in the years since. One bit of trivia that I got from the J-Wiki article on "Niagara Calendar" was that Ohtaki had begged Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）to include and arrange a string section. Tats wasn't too keen on the necessity but Ohtaki insisted and somehow the deed got done.
Interestingly enough, Ohtaki got together with vocal group Chanels (before they became known as Rats and Star) at a Christmas Day 1979 concert and did their version of "Christmas Ondo". Methinks the guys had generous helpings of spiked egg nog to get them through it.
It's been a busy news day on NHK. There was the top segment of Nihon Hidankyo（日本被団協...The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations） winning the Nobel Peace Prize earlier today and then the latest news on the upcoming Lower House elections on the 27th.
However, in between those two features was the latest fuhou（訃報）for 2024. Actress, singer and seiyuu Nobuyo Ohyama（大山のぶ代）passed away on September 29th at the age of 90 from old age. Her career as an actress started all the way back in 1956 but her time as an anime voice actor began in 1965 which included a brief run in the beloved 1969 anime adaptation of the manga "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）as Katsuo Isono（磯野カツオ）, the title character's younger brother.
Of course, Ohyama's greatest claim to fame is her portrayal of the iconic earless future cat, Doraemon（ドラえもん）, from 1979 to 2005. There were two other seiyuu who had preceded her and then since Ohyama's departure, there have been a few more voice thespians who have taken on the role but I think a lot of people including myself will always think of Ohyama as the high and raspy voice of Doraemon as he proudly pulls out the latest weird gadget out of his pocket.
So in tribute, I wanted to put up a song from the franchise. With that voice that Ohyama came up with for the character, I figured that there just had to be a min'yo among all of the theme songs and insert songs that had been concocted over the decades for "Doraemon". And it didn't take long to track one down. "Doraemon Ondo"(Doraemon Traditional Folk Song) was released in 1979, just when the second anime iteration had made its premiere. It doesn't seem to be listed as an ending credit theme so I'm assuming that it was a special one-off for a summer festival episode.
Ohyama is joined by the chorus group Koorogi '73（こおろぎ'73）which had its run between 1979 and 1990 and contributed voices to tokusatsu series throughout the 1970s. The jaunty "Doraemon Ondo" was written by the creator of the original manga, Fujiko F Fujio（藤子・F・不二雄）, and composed/arranged by Shunsuke Kikuchi（菊池俊輔）.
My condolences to Ohyama's family, friends and all of those Doraemon fans out there.
So, I recently joined the fan club of an early Showa singer-songwriter from King Records who was known for jazz and created works for Hachiro Kasuga (春日八郎).
Yes, that's right, I joined the Hayashi Isao Shinobu Kai (林伊佐緒偲ぶ会).
Wait, what?
No, I did not glitch out. I really did join Isao Hayashi's (林伊佐緒) club, making it the third posthumous fan club I've joined in the span of four months. This is in addition to Hachi's and Bin Uehara's (上原敏)... Y'know, I feel like it wasn't too long ago when I was lamenting about how hard it was to find and join these shinobu kai (posthumous fan clubs). I certainly did not expect a membership speedrun.
To give a bit of context, I'd been offered the opportunity to enter the club from its chairman, Toru Yamane (山根徹), with whom I'd been interacting with from time to time on social media through a shared interest inAkira Matsudaira (松平晃). Thinking that it'd be a good experience, I quickly agreed to it. This would give me the chance to learn more about the long-lived artist and his illustrious career, and perhaps even see what Hachi was like through the perspective of the Hayashi fan club. Plus, it would give me the excuse to finally visit Yamaguchi prefecture for those Hayashi exhibitions.
Anyways, I wouldn't say I know next to nothing about Hayashi, considering his huge presence (both metaphorically and physically) in the kayo world, but I currently only know the following basics about Hayashi besides the fact that he was a composer behind Hachi's hits:
1. He is dubbed Japan's first singer-songwriter.
2. He was the Japan Singer Association's 4th chairman.
3. He dabbled in jazz-minyo.
With regards to 3, that was exactly how I got to know of him ages ago. I somehow came across his funky "Mamurogawa Boogie" (真室川ブギ) and marveled at the wild mixture of the cosmopolitan Western jazz and countryside Japanese minyo. The latter was never easy for me to stomach (even now), so Hayashi essentially added the sugar to make it go down. He was my first introduction to this combination way, way, way before I even registered the existence of Tadaharu Nakano (中野忠晴) and Ryoichi Hattori (服部良一). Joining the club gave me the impetus to re-open Hayashi's treasure trove of jazz-minyo that I'd unwittingly forgotten in favour of Mr. Nakano.
Hayashi had been mixing up the two genres since the prewar era, but only became more recognised for it in the postwar era, the aforementioned "Mamurogawa Boogie" being the primary example. Another one of this postwar creations I just dug up and took a keen liking too was "Konpira Swing."
"Konpira Swing" was released in January 1954. I think this was around when the postwar jazz and Kasagi Shizuko (笠置シヅ子)Boogie-Woogie craze was cooling off, but it didn't stop Hayashi from making this snazzy, dance-worthy number.
"Konpira Swing" was based on "Konpira Fune-fune," (金毘羅船々) a minyo native to Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku. This folk song originally centered around the town of Kotohira, known for the Konpira Daigongen (金毘羅大権現) deity. Besides the J-Wiki, I was reading up on the tune via this old Shikoku Shimbun project detailing 110 cultural "objects" of Kagawa. You can look it up here.
From my understanding, the Konpira Daigongen, which resides in the Kotohiragu temple on Mt. Zouzu, was quite the popular religious pilgrimage spot, and there were ferries that brought you to Kagawa from Osaka. The minyo was based on this ferry route, the boats literally called the Konpira Fune (Konpira Boat), which began service in 1744. The recognisable "shura-shu-shu-shu" bit is supposed to be onomatopoeia for the tail wind catching the boat sails and sending you straight to Kotohira. The Naka no Gori region mentioned in the lyric seems to point to the modern-day Kagawa Nakatado-gun district where temple is. On top of this, "Konpira Fune-fune" used in zashiki asobi, or private geisha entertainment, back in the Edo and Meiji periods and sung while playing little party games. It's still used today at the likes of festivals and cultural exchanges.
Re-working the lyrics to fit Hayashi's raucous arrangement was Yano Ryo (矢野亮). Yano kept to the source material in the first stanza, but immediately took a sharp left into humourous territory. This has Hayashi taking us on a whirlwind ride of randomness in his carefree, breezy style, from frying a variety of tempura to strolling the streets of modern 1950s Tokyo. Interestingly, I think the original folk song's signature "shura-shu-shu-shu" found application in the Yano's seemingly bizarre mix of situations. The tempura bubbling in the hot oil, the kite (bird of prey) swooping around eyeing the young tofu seller's aburaage, slurping up sake and whiskey on a magically empty wallet. These sound like they'd go "shura-shu-shu-shu" too, don't they?
One of the reasons why I like the fusion jazz kayo/minyo/zokuyo from the 1930s to the 1950s is the element of humour - the singers themselves sounding like they were having fun recording it too. "Konpira Swing," as I had just described, is a great example of that, I think.
( ﾟдﾟ)
Admittedly, even I didn’t expect to join Hayashi’s fan club because I didn’t consider myself a big enough fan of the musician. Those around me expressed surprise too because I rarely, if ever, bring him up in my kayo rambles. But, I think this will be a good experience and I look forward to getting to know Hayashi better.
Right, then. Time to dig around for some Hachi-Hayashi compositions.
Last night, for the first time in a long while, my family watched the venerable rakugo-ka variety series, NTV's "Shoten"（笑点...Laughing Points）, on Jme. And as it turned out, it was the penultimate episode (from earlier this spring) of one of the longest-serving Japanese comic storytellers, Kikuo Hayashiya（林家木久扇）in the bright yellow garb. He had been on the show since 1969 so it was basically a 55-year run for him. I'm hoping that he's enjoying his retirement.
Considering that "Shoten" has been around since 1966, change has been an inevitable part of the program including change in the comedians on the zabuton over the decades. That was also the case with the theme song for "Shoten". The current comical theme song penned by Hachidai Nakamura（中村八大） has been around for so long (since around Hayashiya's arrival on the show) that people can be forgiven if they thought that it has been the only theme.
But such was not the case. For the first several months of "Shoten", there was apparently no theme and I gather that the show went straight into the hijinks without any music, but then from January 1967, the first theme song made its appearance known as this jaunty and jazzy minyo-style song done to an orchestra. Known as "Shoten Ondo" (The Laughing Points Song), it was recorded by the original group of rakugo-ka known as the Shoten Group（笑点グループ）with the lead vocalist being the first host himself, Tatekawa Danshi VII（立川談志）. The lyrics were provided by Tatekawa with the melody composed by Naoshi Miyazaki（宮崎尚志）. "Shoten Ondo" would last for almost three years before the more familiar theme song replaced it in late 1969 with the departure of Tatekawa from "Shoten".
Over the past few days, I've been watching some of the Paris Olympics events including judo which truly had the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. In the last hour, I saw Yuto Horigome win his second Gold medal in Men's Street Skateboarding; I was chuckling somewhat at the CBC announcers who apparently decided to act more like standup comedians during that event. Meanwhile, one of them was mangling Horigome's name by continuing to call him "Yuto Origami". But unlike that popular paper craft, the Tokyo athlete didn't fold and won it all once again.
Anyways, to start off this July/August 2024 week of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've decided to bring folks to the AI Gallery with an Olympics theme in mind.
I have to admit that the photo of Mr. Calico and Kayo is cuter than it is hot-bloodedly passionate but the AI generator kept pushing me to adjust my request. Oh, well...enjoy Ohguro's classic which is definitely fiery.
Around Christmas last year, I noted a band known as Minyo Crusaders（民謡クルセイダーズ）that has been attempting to bring some more tabasco sauce into the traditional Japanese music dish known as min'yo for over a decade. Vocalist Freddie Tsukamoto（フレディ塚本）and his band oomphed up "Kaigara Bushi"（貝殻節）recently, for example.
Well, on a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, Minyo Crusaders showed up to reveal what they could do with another min'yo chestnut, "Tanko Bushi"(Coal Mine Melody). Now, an article on my own personal connection with the song was posted all the way back in 2017 so you can take a look at that through the link above. But over here, I've got Minyo Crusaders adding their own salsa or some brand of Latin and jazz into the proceedings for the original 1932 min'yo.
Coincidentally, the Crusaders' take on "Tanko Bushi" was recorded onto their first album which was also released in 2017, "Echoes of Japan". The song about coal mining probably could have gotten the miners off their duffs to swivel them; kinda interesting how the keyboards sound so fuzzy, though. But the horns come in loud and clear. With festival season in Japan happening now (weather permitting, especially this year), maybe the Crusaders will also be coming in loud and clear. Also, in the full version below, you can even hear a little tribute to an old Gershwin classic.
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.
When it comes to the more traditional Japanese music genres, the name Tsugaru（津軽）has had a deep position. In all aspects of talking about Aomori Prefecture at the northern end of the main island of Honshu, it's been used for geographical features, musical instruments and styles, historical clans and the like. Of course, it's popped up in songs such as Sayuri Ishikawa's（石川さゆり）"Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki"（津軽海峡・冬景色）and even commenterJim Laker recently noted a monument by the Tsugaru Strait with the lyrics of a song (possibly Ishikawa's hit).
I don't know much about the genre of min'yo aside from the facts that it represents the traditional folk songs in Japan going back centuries and that it's used at the many festivals which flourish often during the summer. However, I figure that I should get to know some more, including any from the historically and culturally rich aspects of Tsugaru. One that I did find was "Tsugaru Jonkara Bushi" (Tsugaru Jonkara Song) which depending on the area of Aomori can also be pronounced "Tsugaru Jongara Bushi".
From what I could find out about the history of the song, it may have originated as early as 1597 as a ballad based on one monk's futile and fatal attempts to stop the rampaging warlord Tamenobu Oura（大浦為信）, later to take on the surname Tsugaru to form the Tsugaru clan, as he consolidated power in what would become Aomori Prefecture.
Despite its origins, the lyrics of "Tsugaru Jonkara Bushi" have changed over the centuries so that the song basically just describes life in the region. Not only that, but certain sections of the melody can be improvised so that it has been compared as a form of jazz, and according to one site regarding the song, it's now expected that performers of "Tsugaru Jonkara Bushi" come up with their own original arrangements. The instrument itself, the Tsugaru-jamisen (which is also the name for the form of shamisen music from Tsugaru), apparently can lend itself to improvisation.
Above is Yoko Nagayama's（長山洋子）conventional version of the song while below is Takashi Hosokawa's（細川たかし）unique take with a good dollop of disco in the arrangement. In any case, if anyone can clarify or correct my description above on the history of the song, please let me know.
For all of you enka fans out there, yes, that is indeed singer Hiroshi Miyama（三山ひろし）having fun at last year's Yosakoi Festival in Kochi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. According to Kids Web Japan, the annual tradition began in 1954 following the creation of Yosakoi Naruko Odori (Yosakoi Naruko Dance) based on the minyo "Yosakoi Bushi"（よさこい節...Yosakoi Song）. The dancing is accompanied by a couple of clappers known as naruko.
In July 1965, enka singer Harumi Miyako（都はるみ）recorded her version of "Yosakoi Naruko Odori", which was originally written and composed by Eisaku Takemasa（武政英策）and arranged by Shosuke Ichikawa（市川昭介）.
Now, the reason that I'm writing about this minyo in the first place is that I just watched the first "Uta Con"（うたコン）this year with real live guests with one of them being pop and R&B singer-songwriter Yu Sakai（さかいゆう）. He managed to perform a very stylized and stylish rearrangement of "Yosakoi Naruko Odori" with hefty dollops of soul and jazz and electric guitar and a brass section hopping onboard. In fact, the above video had comments stating that they came over from watching the "Uta Con" broadcast to catch it once more.
Sakai's version is on his double-CD BEST album "Sakai Yu no Playlist ~ Shiro to Kuro"（さかいゆうのプレイリスト［白と黒］...Yu Sakai's Playlist: Black & White） from December 2023 to commemorate his 15th anniversary in the music industry. Another reason that I'm writing about this is that not too long ago, I'd also made note of another new twist on an old minyo "Kaigara Bushi"（貝殻節）by Minyo Crusaders.
Over the dozen years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in existence, we've been able to amass quite a few examples of minyo or the traditional folk songs of Japan. However, I have to admit that probably among the genres represented in Labels, minyo is probably one of the smallest in number of articles. Usually known for their usage at the many annual festivals across the country, there are minyo associations which have been trying to keep those songs alive and I know that there is a monthly show on NHK, hosted by former TOKIO leader Shigeru Joshima（城島茂）, which showcases minyo through many bands.
One such folk song that I've learned about recently is "Kaigara Bushi"(The Shell Song). As is often the case, when the minyo originated has been lost to antiquity but according to Wikipedia, it did come from Tottori Prefecture and was the work song for fishermen in the area as you can hear above.
Another way that people have been trying to spread the appeal of minyo further is through putting in other music elements into the genre. Maybe it would be like adding that spritz of vodka into orange juice to make a screwdriver. In this case, our bartender here is the group Minyo Crusaders（民謡クルセイダーズ）who have shaken jazz and Latin into minyo to create this new take on "Kaigara Bushi", and although I can imagine there may be people who feel that this reworking invalidates minyo, I feel that vocalist Freddie Tsukamoto（フレディ塚本）and his band have made a pretty refreshing cocktail here. In a way, it sounds like Orquesta de la Luz jumped into a summer festival's musical offerings. Perhaps hearing this version could have the new converts looking back at the originals.
Minyo Crusaders first formed in 2012 with their debut album, "Echoes of Japan" coming out in 2017. Their version of "Kaigara Bushi" can be found in their latest release, the album "Tour of Japan" which hit the shelves last month.
Ironically, for a fellow who has been writing about Japanese popular music almost daily for 11 1/2 years, concerts haven't been events that I have visited with any great frequency. Price may be one thing but there's also the observation that though I have been willing to entertain the shared experience of watching a movie, I don't seem to get the same level of enjoyment from the shared experience of seeing singers or bands performing their craft on stage or for that matter, sports teams fight it out for the win. Having said that, I slightly regret that I had missed out on Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子）joint concert with Skoop on Somebody at Toronto's Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre earlier in March, having only found out about it by that chance encounter with a poster weeks after it had already taken place. Them's the breaks, I guess.
Usually the Sunday-at-1:00 pm slot on TV Japan is held by NHK's "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）the long-running and popular amateur singing contest but for whatever reason, it wasn't shown today. Instead, it was replaced by another NHK show that has often appeared on the channel, "Minyo Damashii ~ Furusato no Uta"（民謡魂 ふるさとの歌...The Soul of Minyo: Songs of Home）. As the title indicates, the show which has TOKIO's former leader Shigeru Joushima（城島茂）as the co-host features the traditional folk genre of minyo from all over the nation via various talented singers and groups.
It just so happened that the aforementioned Yano appeared on the show with shamisen artist Hiromitsu Agatsuma（上妻宏光）under the duo name of Yano to Agatsuma（やのとあがつま...Yano & Agatsuma）. The theme of today's episode was the evolution of minyo into the 21st century, and the duo was one fine example showing off their small group performing their version of the Kumamoto Prefecture minyo"Otemoyan". Having made its original debut some time in the mid-1930s, it's been performed by countless other musicians over the decades according to the JASRAC database.
Via NHK's other show for the traditional music, "Uta Con"（うたコン）, I've known thatenka, Mood Kayo and just good old-fashioned kayo kyoku have been getting their brush-ups over the years. But Yano to Agatsuma illustrated their "Otemoyan" with some subtle technopop elements in their arrangement while the two main performers were at home on their own instruments (there are even English lyrics added). So, perhaps we now have some techno minyo. The song was part of the duo's debut album"Asteroid and Butterfly" that was released in March 2020.
The realization of the evolution and technology behind the new "Otemoyan" wasn't lost on anybody involved in the production. The music video even had a couple of robots in the roles of a happily married couple from many years ago. I also have to point out that Yano's long-famous vocal flexibility works well in the world of minyo.
Welcome to the weekend. Perhaps it's time for a bit of kawaii and since Japan is into its festival season, being torrid and yukata-friendly, I believe that this tune will definitely suffice.
80s aidoru Noriko Sakai（酒井法子）released a special single in July 1988 titled "Nori-P Ondo"(The Nori-P Folk Song), and it's about as cute as a button can be. It is quite special since it was only released on cassette tape, not on vinyl or CD. However, if you ever wanted to know what a traditional festival tune sounds like aidoru style, well, this is your lucky day.
Lyrics were provided by Hiromi Mori（森浩美）and the melody was by Koji Makaino（馬飼野康二）. Everything was all arranged by Jiro Takemura（竹村次郎）who had been responsible for some very big kayo kyoku hits including Tokiko Kato's（加藤登紀子）"Shiretoko Ryojou"（知床旅情）and Harumi Miyako's（都はるみ）"Kita no Yado Kara"（北の宿から）. The Tokyo-born arranger and composer passed away in January this year at the age of 89.
The whole thing about Japanese summer festivals brings to mind about the fact that though I was never a festival freak in my years in the nation (the heat and humidity were very discouraging), I did have my opportunities walking through a few of them including the Firefly Festival in Tsukiyono, Gunma Prefecture when I was assigned there on the JET Programme. I wonder if any of you regular KKP readers have experienced a natsu matsuri as well. If so, I'd be interested in hearing your stories.
There have been plenty of raucous kayo kyoku celebrating the fun of drinking with buddies but at the same time, there have also existed Japanese songs when one drinks alone in pain and sadness. Arguably, the most famous example could be Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）"Kanashii Sake"（悲しい酒）from 1966.
I made another discovery of the Japanese equivalent of crying in one's beer and that would be enka singer Michiya Mihashi's（三橋美智也）"Sake no Nigasa yo ~ Shin Souma Bushi" (The Bitterness of Drink ~ A New Souma Song). Recorded and released in January 1954, this was composed by Toshiro Yamaguchi（山口俊郎）and written by Tadashi Yamazaki（山崎正）. According to J-Wiki's article on Mihashi, "Sake no Nigasa yo" ranks in at No. 19 on his list of million-selling songs.
Judging from Mihashi's delivery and the arrangement of Yamaguchi's melody, I had assumed that it was based on min'yo which is traditional Japanese folk music. Certainly seeing that subtitle of "Shin Souma Bushi", especially with that last word, I did think my assumption was the correct one. It was indeed fortunate that J-Wiki even had an article for Shin Souma Bushi in which I found out that the music was min'yo originating from the Souma region in Fukushima Prefecture, north of Tokyo. Apparently this music was relatively new, having been developed some time following World War II based on some of the older min'yo. Shin Souma Bushi then became popular nationwide. The version below is the original 1954 recording.
I missed out on commemorating the traditionally observed Tanabata（七夕）holiday back on July 7th, but I'm making amends here regarding the celebration of the star-crossed lovers.
Tanabata is also one of the earliest festivals of the summer festival season in Japan and you can get more of a feeling of what it's all about by watching the above video by Japanagos. One of the traditions is to write a wish down onto a coloured strip of paper known as tanzaku（短冊）and tie it to a bamboo tree. If I'd had access to tanzaku, I would have written that I wished to visit Japan once more....or win the local Lotto Max.
I did have my days of tanzaku-writing when I was living in Japan but I never saw Tanabata as being a particularly solemn affair. In fact, I think it's quite the lively one with lots of summer colours being bandied about. Double in fact, enka legend Harumi Miyako（都はるみ）released a single in June 1970 titled "Tanabata Odori" (Tanabata Dance); I found the release date at Discogs rather than at J-Wiki where for some odd reason, the single has been omitted from her long discography.
Regardless, "Tanabata Odori", written by Miyuki Ishimoto（石本美由起）and composed by Shosuke Ichikawa（市川昭介）, is an enka tune done up as a particularly festive minyo number. Miyako is exhorting everyone to get off their duffs and dance; Tanabata isn't something to be merely seen or heard but to be experienced. I would say that any summer festival in Japan is something to be experienced with all of the gaiety generated from not only dancers and other active participants but also the attendees in their seasonal yukata and the yatai selling everything from yakisoba to candy apples. Just be aware of the heat and humidity, though.
If you like, you can take a look at this instructional video on how to perform a dance to Miyako's "Tanabata Odori" provided the Hiratsuka City Tourist Association.
To be honest, I'm doing this on the fly since I'm not too knowledgeable on this topic, but I did want to acknowledge on the blog that earlier today UNESCO recognized a group of 41 folk dances from 24 of Japan's 47 prefectures known collectively as Furyu Odori as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. Many congratulations to all of those prefectures.
At first, I considered putting up some of the minyo and enka tunes that involved folk dancing but then I thought that wouldn't be too sporting because none of them are part of those 41 dances that have been listed. So instead, what I will do is give a very small sample of those dances that were selected along with their home prefectures. The origin years apparently go way back so I'll just settle for the default year of 2022 just to acknowledge when they were given the UNESCO status.
If anyone has actually witnessed or even performed any of the dances, please let us know!
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