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.
I only found the video yesterday and it strikes me as being a mixture of a Japanese teen model convention, "The Prisoner" and "The Stepford Wives"...maybe even the current version of "Westworld" with all of the clones. Still, having stated that, I wouldn't mind living in the neighbourhood since it seems to be a very peaceful and pleasant place.
But the video belongs to the song "ringo" (yes, Japanese for "apples") which is a track on a Motohiro Hata（秦基博）album filled with duets. "HATA EXPO -The Collaboration Album-" came out a few days ago on the 20th and the first track is indeed "ringo" which has Hata working and performing with the lead singer of the band Spitz, Masamune Kusano（草野マサムネ）. It's a fun and happy pop/rock tune about finally getting out of the shell and enjoying life once more. Hearing the familiar vocals of Kusano brought back some nostalgia from my old 1990s. Hata was responsible for words and music with Kusano also helping out on the lyrics.
Although Torontonians learn never to say never when it comes to seasonal events such as snow, and yes, snow has fallen here in May, I think that we can all finally breathe some relief and perhaps do things such as change our snow tires back to summer ones. If you are Torontonian and you read this article, knock on wood firmly...just to be on the safe side.😉
Now, this is a song that I heard a few months ago on the "Weather Music" segment of "Weathernews Live" when snow was still all too real a thing in my neck of the woods. "Nagori Yuki" (Winter's-End Snow) has been a favourite of mine when I first heard it by 70s aidoru Ikue Sakakibara（榊原郁恵）on the 1982 edition of the Kohaku Utagassen and then heard the most famous 1975 cover version by folk singer Iruka（イルカ）. The original version was by folk band Kaguyahime（かぐや姫）and placed on their 1974 4th album, "Sankai Tate no Uta"（三階建ての詩...Three-Floor Poem).
The "Weather Music" segment had singer-songwriter Motohiro Hata（秦基博）perform his own take on "Nagori Yuki" and it still retains that wistful and woodsy flavour of the 1970s versions. There is nothing over-the-top here...it's Hata and his guitar for the most part, and that is all that is needed to send the emotion out to people. Hata's version was a track on an extra CD that was only available in the first pressings of his October 2010 3rd album"Documentary" which hit No. 3 on Oricon.
In the past decade since coming back to Toronto for good, I've only had my beloved milk tea just a smattering of times. But when I was living in Ichikawa and working in Tokyo and environs, the drink was definitely a much more frequent libation, especially in the torrid summers. Even when I took my most recent trip to Japan in late 2017, the very first dinner that I had in my hotel was, as you can see above, karaage bento with a carton of milk tea. Nope...far from healthy but I have no regrets.
Coincidentally, for the first time in a few years, I have an UA single called "Milk Tea" which was her 9th release in March 1998. From listening to her cool and eclectic music, seeing her fairly serious demeanor, and noting her relatively sparse appearances on television, I had (perhaps unfairly) pegged Ms. Kaori Shima（嶋香織）as one of the more unapproachable singers alongside other acts such as Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）and the early version of Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）. Not that I ever had any opportunity to meet UA, but if the chance had presented itself, I probably would have been sweating bullets and handing out my autograph book at arm's length.
Now I remember watching this particular video for "Milk Tea" with UA in the red hoodie in the sparse household set while I guess her buddies are teasing the heck out of her during the song. Without all that makeup and seeing her actually getting all giddy and giggly on camera had me changing my mind about her so-called unapproachability. She was already in her mid-20s when "Milk Tea" came out, but she appeared more like an awkward and shy teenager in the video.
As for the song itself which was written by UA and composed by Hirofumi Asamoto（朝本浩文）, it's a laidback alt-pop number with the twangy guitar and the singer's measured and sultry vocals. There is another instrument mewling away like an impatient kitten. To be honest, it's not my favourite UA single since I actually go more for her R&B material like "Rhythm"（リズム）from earlier in her career. "Milk Tea" reached No. 21 on Oricon and is also on her 2nd album"Ametora"（アメトラ）from April 1998. That peaked at No. 2 and became the 57th-ranked album of the year, going Platinum with a little over 400,000 copies sold.
Singer-songwriter Motohiro Hata（秦基博）provided a pensive and unplugged cover of "Milk Tea" as the coupling song for his September 2007 3rd single"Aoi Chou"（青い蝶...Blue Butterfly）. That single peaked at No. 22.
Hope you all have had a good weekend. I was able to meet up with a couple of friends yesterday for coffee and danish for the first time in almost a year. Then, today I got to do a podcast with Van Paugam (which should be coming out sometime next weekend, I believe) on the themes of Miki Matsubara（松原みき）and City Pop in general. Some good fun today and he confided that he enjoys a good flute in a song.
And I have to say that I also enjoy a good flute as well. I guess it might be due to its frequent usage in bossa nova songs, and as you may already know, I do like that genre. There's something about its inclusion that provides some comfort and mellowness...a breath of fresh air, in a way.
Before I start making jokes about Ron Burgundy and his jazz flute, though, I will move things onto singer-songwriter Motohiro Hata's（秦基博）24th single, "Nakiwarai no Episode" (Episodes of Tears and Laughter) which was released in January 2021. I've heard the song before a few times including during his appearance on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）some weeks ago, and it's a comforting winner because of that flute, and for that matter, there's even a bassoon in the music video!
This contemporary pop song was used as the theme for an NHK morning serial drama broadcast between November 2020 and May this year titled "Ochoyan"（おちょやん）whose main character goes through the rigors of the acting world between 1920 and 1970. According to the J-Wiki article for the song, Hata had read through the script to give him some insights before creating "Nakiwarai no Episode".
It peaked at No. 17 on Oricon and was included in his second BEST compilation, "evergreen2" which was released in March 2021. That album hit No. 11. If you're interested, you can also take a gander at another song of his that was also used as a theme song, "Himawari no Yakusoku"（ひまわりの約束）.
One of my recent acquisitions that I managed to get my hands despite the rotating strikes at Canada Post. I was definitely looking forward to hearing this BEST work by songsmith Keiichi Tomita（冨田恵一）, aka Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）. A number of songs that have been crafted by him on this March 2011 compilation have already been given their own individual due, but there are still plenty of tracks that have yet to be covered.
1. Tomita Lab feat. Maaya Sakamoto -- April Fool 2. Yumi Matsutoya -- Kaede（楓） 3. Ken Hirai -- Ring 4. Mika Nakashima -- WILL 5. Tomita Lab -- here it comes 6. m-flo loves Crystal Kay -- REEWIND! (Tomita Lab. Remix) 7. Tomita Lab feat. Hanaregumi -- Nemuri no Mori （眠りの森） 8. Tomita Lab feat. CHEMISTRY -- Zutto Yomikake no Natsu （ずっと読みかけの夏） 9. Tomita Lab -- high noon 10. Fantastic Plastic Machine -- Why Not? (Tomita Lab. Remix) 11. AI -- ONE 12. Youmou & Ohana -- falling 13. Tomita Lab -- color them green 14. RIP SLYME -- Mata Au Hi made 2010 ~ Tomita Ryu（マタ逢ウ日マデ2010～冨田流～） 15. Kirinji -- Aliens （エイリアンズ） 16. Tomita Lab feat. Motohiro Hata -- Parallel（パラレル）
Unfortunately, I couldn't find Yumi Matsutoya's（松任谷由美）contribution to the album so we're gonna start off with Ken Hirai's（平井堅）"Ring". His 17th single from November 2002, it was written and composed by the singer with Tomita handling the arrangement, and yep, the Tomita touch of groovy and soulful strings is in there along with some gospel. As you can see from above, "Ring" was the theme song for the NTV drama "Psycho Doctor"（サイコドクター）about a dedicated psychiatrist played by Yutaka Takenouchi（竹野内豊）and looking at that perpetually hangdog expression on his face, I kinda wonder if he needed help.
Hirai had another hit with "Ring" as it went to the top of the charts, going Platinum and becoming the 39th-ranked single of 2003.
m-flo teams up with Crystal Kay for its 14th single, "REEWIND!" and then puts it through the Tomita filter. So we've got the Tomita groove mixed in with the fast-paced tumble-dry style of m-flo. The original single came out in June 2003 and got as high as No. 9, and it's also a track on the group's 3rd album"Astromantic" from May 2004. That album went up to No. 2 and became the 42nd-ranked album of the year.
I had never heard of the acoustic duo Youmou & Ohana（羊毛とおはな）but I'm happy to make their acquaintance through their "falling" which was on their 2nd album"Konnichiwa"（こんにちは。...Hello.）from January 2008. Tomita arranged and produced both song and album, and it looks like he let Kazunori "Youmou" Ichikawa（市川和則）and Hana "Ohana" Chiba（千葉はな）fully show their own sound which I'm happy about. "falling" was originally written and composed by Corinne Bailey Rae, et al with Chiba providing the Japanese lyrics. Sadly, Chiba passed away in 2015 at the age of 36.
Welcome aboard, RIP SLYME! Tomita gave his own layer of glam to the hip-hop group's "Mata Au Hi Made 2010 ~ Tomita Ryu" (Until We Meet Again 2010 ~ Tomita Style) as its 17th single. The original version of "Mata Au Hi Made" was RIP SLYME's final single in November 2000 (lyrics by the band and music by Fantastic Plastic Machine/DJ Fumiya) as an indies unit before making their major debut the following year. The Tomita-arranged version of the song came out in June 2010, and though I'm not a hip-hop fan per se, this one is pretty fun. Plus, I do like the video for a few reasons which include the fact that it reminds me of the trailer for the 50th anniversary special for "Doctor Who". The 2010 version hit No. 10 on Oricon. I will have to take a look at the original version later on.
My final song is Tomita's 6th single"Parallel"(September 2009) featuring singer-songwriter Motohiro Hata（秦基博）, and it seems to make for a fine "good night" song to finish up the proceedings. Tomita composed the song with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）providing lyrics, and hearing Hata, he and the song remind me of some of the soulful contributions by Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）and Sing Like Talking. "Parallel" hit No. 11 which makes it Tomita's most successful single to date.
Along with Matsutoya's track, I couldn't find AI's"ONE", but otherwise, including the songs that I had already covered in past articles, I believe that I've provided everything from this BEST compilation by Tomita. Looking at his list of songs that he's had a hand in providing to other artists on J-Wiki, I think, though, there are still many gems to be unearthed, and certainly, I won't be stopping at this album when it comes to him. Incidentally, "〜beautiful songs to remember〜" peaked at No. 77.
Nope, those are tulips above...couldn't find any pictures of sunflowers that would have been able to show up as thumbnails when I published this one.
One of the highlights of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）tonight was hearing this ballad by singer-songwriter Motohiro Hata（秦基博）. I had never heard of this fellow from Miyazaki Prefecture until tonight but when he performed his "Himawari no Yakusoku" (Sunflower Promise), I was instantly entranced by both the melody and lyrics devoted to love and friendship. The last several years seem to have seen its fill of male pop singers with these high soulful voices but this particular singer and song simply kinda struck me from the get-go.
"Himawari no Yakusoku" is actually Hata's 17th single since his major debut in 2006. Released in December 2014 as the theme song for one of the "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）movies done up as a 3D CG feature released back in the summer of that year, it managed to peak at No. 10 and break through the million-seller barrier.
