Ryuichi Sakamoto featuring Sister M -- The Other Side of Love

One of the many topics that my friend and I briefly touched upon during dessert at Amausaan yesterday was Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）...notably what he's been up to recently. We went over his Oscar win along with David Byrne and Cong Siu for "The Last Emperor" soundtrack back in 1987, the fact that his "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is as much of a perennial Xmas song in Japan as Tatsuro Yamashita's（山下達郎）"Christmas Eve", and of course his work as one-third of Yellow Magic Orchestra. I actually checked his website and aside from a supposed update regarding his "Essentials" album, there wasn't any action there. I'm indeed hoping that the throat cancer scare in 2015 has been totally quashed by now.

Although I didn't go blazing into the record stores to ravenously search for his material when I was living in Japan, I think the 1990s were a time when Sakamoto shed at least most of his ties to technopop and veered into a more New Age direction. The two songs that I've remembered him for during that decade were the piano instrumental "energy flow" from 1999 and one that came earlier "The Other Side of Love".

Unlike "energy flow", "The Other Side of Love", which was released in January 1997, did have vocals from Sister M. However, this wasn't a lateral relation of Sakamoto but still someone very close to him. Namely, Sister M was Miu Sakamoto（坂本美雨）, daughter of Ryuichi and singer-songwriter Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）. She's already been covered by nikala through her article "Tetsudoin" (鉄道員)/Child of Snow.

Worthy of introspective silence and relaxed breathing, "The Other Side of Love" was Sister M's debut single, and like the later "energy flow", it was one of those songs and music videos that seemed to have a long-term residency on the TV rankings shows. It's a languid song but it's not something that would be heard passively in a neighbourhood cafe...I think the powerful piano from pere Sakamoto and the clear vocals of Miu, who was only 16 years old when this was recorded, demand something more active from listeners' ears.

"The Other Side of Love" peaked at No. 6 on Oricon. It was also used as the theme song for the NTV drama "Stalker -- Nigekirenu Ai"（ストーカー 逃げきれぬ愛...Inescapable Love）.

Miu Sakamoto -- Tetsudoin (鉄道員)/Child of Snow

Ah yes, this is the daughter of Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本龍一) and Akiko Yano (矢野顕子), and she’s been recording music since 1997. As one might expect from children of iconic figures, she doesn’t quite fit the shoes of her parents, but I decided to evaluate Miu Sakamoto (坂本美雨) on her own merits and concluded that she’s wonderful artist. Classy, eclectic, and talented singer. (And a massive feline enthusiast.) I’ve been following her releases since discovering her in 2008.

“Tetsudoin” (鉄道員…Railroad Man) was her first solo single from May 1999, although she had already released a mini-album and a collaborative single with her father prior to that. I first heard it as its other incarnation, “Child of Snow” (see below), but later encountered it as a theme song of a drama film by Yasuo Furuhata (降旗康男), “Poppoya” (鉄道員). It’s a quiet poignant piece about an elderly stationmaster Otomatsu Sato (佐藤乙松), played by Ken Takakura (高倉健), who works at a rail station in a dying village in Hokkaido and is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. These memories become stronger as he persistently holds on to his position despite the forthcoming closure of the station, and he imagines his daughter an the different stages of her potential life visiting and talking to him. An earnest tearjerker from what I remember. So when Miu’s song comes over the credits with scenes of a lonely locomotive passing through snow-covered forests of Hokkaido, one is left completely spellbound by the sad beauty witnessed. Ryuichi Sakamoto’s gorgeous melody and Miu’s heavenly vocals compliment one another as pure bliss. Tamio Okuda (奥田民生) of Unicorn fame provided the lyrics.

In September 1999, Miu re-released “Tetsudoin” with English lyrics under the title “Child of Snow”, which became part of her first studio album “Dawn Pink”. The individual behind the lyrics here has decided to hide under the cryptic pseudonym jcts. The words are just as poetic as the music and I can definitely relate them to “Poppoya”, but I also keep wondering if they contain some spiritual undertones. It also personally reminds me of the Russian tale “The Snow Maiden”, which was recently adapted into a novel by Eowyn Ivey called “The Snow Child”. This was the first version of the song that I’ve heard and was impressed with Miu’s English pronunciation (not perfect, but good), and it turns out that she has spent a part of her life in New York City and attended high school there.

The single peaked at No.49 on Oricon weeklies despite the success of the film, while "Dawn Pink" fared a bit better at No.28 position.

Just a little note about the reading of the title. 鉄道員 can be read as both “poppoya” and “tetsudoin”. The producers of the film went with the former pronunciation, while those of the song chose the latter, according to the single cover here.

Source: last.fm