Tomita Lab -- Futari no Amaterasu（二人の天照）

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Amaterasu is a name that I've been hearing since I began university in the mid-1980s. I've heard about her in lectures within my Japanese Studies major and read about her in books on religion and mythology in Japan. In Shintoism, she is known as the sun goddess and the mythical ancestor of the Imperial family.

But enough of the professorial lecture from me. This is "Futari no Amaterasu" (The Amaterasu of Two), the latest single by Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）that was released last month, and according to the good folks at the Otomo website, it's "...an urban pop song focusing on the inner workings of people whose days shift under the influence of the weather". Man, considering the weather that Toronto and Tokyo have been wrestling with over the past few days, I'm hoping that our collective inner workings are hanging on for dear life.

With vocals provided by Yo from the duo Natsudaidai (about whom I posted about back in 2024), it's a cute and blippy tune whose modern arrangement may actually hold an old-fashioned melodic vibe of optimistic American sitcom spunk theme tunes, along the lines of "That Girl" and "The Doris Day Show" from the 1960s. Not sure if Tomita Lab had meant it to be so, but that's how I'm taking it. Then as we approach the grand finale, things go all techno jazzy harmony. Maybe "Futari no Amaterasu" should be looking for a cute Japanese rom-com somewhere. While Tomita took care of the music, Sasuke Haraguchi（原口沙輔）provided the lyrics.

Natsudaidai -- Dusky Dolphin

Via Kirin 7739 at
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Now that we are on the cusp of Thanksgiving here in Canada and Sports Day in Japan, it might be difficult to think of the summer and the beach, but I'm sure that there are still some folks who want to head out to places like Shonan (as pictured above) to frolic one more before the weather gets really chilly.

Maybe the young fun ladies from the music duo Natsudaidai can help out in this matter. The video for their "Dusky Dolphin" has singer Yo and trackmaker Nanae spending a fine summer day out by the surf. That titular dolphin must be the best dancer on the water considering how Yo trips the light fantastic with her vocals while Nanae's music is having the funkiest time out there, even throwing in some of those Delphinidae squeaks.

Yo and Nanae started up Natsudaidai in 2023 and their music has been described on J-Wave as some girls' chill pop. "Dusky Dolphin" is included as one track on the duo's first EP "Seikaten"（青果店...Greengrocer） which was released in August this year. I read that it was produced by Tomita Lab（富田ラボ）although I think "Dusky Dolphin" also feels like Mondo Grosso music from twenty years ago.