Masako Mori -- Tachimachi Misaki（立待岬）

by Benlisquare via Wikimedia Commons

I heard this one several weeks ago on an episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）and it was my first time with it. Not only that, I hadn't heard a Masako Mori（森昌子）song in quite a while, so I just had to add it to the KKP collection.

"Tachimachi Misaki" (Cape Tachimachi) is Mori's 39th single from August 1982 and it's a go-touchi song of the titular geological formation found just southeast of Mount Hakodate in Hokkaido (officially, it represents the city of Hakodate). As soon as I also read in its J-Wikipedia article that it juts out into the Tsugaru Strait, I realized right there and then that this would be an enka/kayo kyoku regarding lost love. After all, the Tsugaru Strait seems to be the go-to spot for sighing over heartbreak as in perhaps what is the most famous example, Sayuri Ishikawa's（石川さゆり）"Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki"（津軽海峡・冬景色）.

Written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）, composed by Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）and arranged by Shunichi Makaino（馬飼野俊一）, "Tachimachi Misaki" has certainly got the dramatic brio as Mori pines for that one that got away (the wailing chorus helps). But then again, something as dramatic as this cape should get something equivalent. And it was lauded for it as the song reached No. 36 on Oricon and won the Grand Prize at the Masao Koga Memorial Music Awards for that year. Plus, it would serve as Mori's invitation for her 10th consecutive appearance at NHK's Kohaku Utagassen.

Naomi Chiaki -- Fuyudonari（冬隣）

 

Well, it wasn't quite Snowmageddon, thankfully, but there was still enough snow falling yesterday and today to snarl up a lot of traffic. So, a lot earlier than usual in Toronto these days, we got our first major snowfall of the season. Does that mean a White Christmas? Not at all...after all, this is the city whose weather is predictably unpredictable.

I gather then that it was kismet that I encountered this song by the luminous Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）last night on the latest episode of NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）. It took a bit of doing but I believe I was able to track down the year of this ballad as 1988. "Fuyudonari" is a fair mouthful which literally translates as "Next to Winter" while Jisho.org gave me the definition of "late autumn that makes it seem like winter is coming". I will be happy to go with "Snowy Late Autumn" for conciseness.

Regardless, "Fuyudonari", which was written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Masato Sugimoto（杉本眞人）, has some melodic connections with Chiaki's most recognized hit, "Kassai"（喝采）. I would say that it approaches enka through a pop ballad filter, as if David Foster had opted to give his skills a try on a traditional Japanese song. Under the circumstances, I'd be happy to apply New Adult Music here.

Yuiko Kinoshita -- Hokasarete（放されて）

 

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I was watching "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新・BS日本のうた...Songs of Japanese Spirit） on Jme which was celebrating Sachiko Kobayashi's（小林幸子）60th anniversary in the recording industry. I also stated that I had come across some intriguing and attractive kayo kyoku for the first time.

One of those songs is "Hokasarete" (Being Let Go), a melancholy ballad about the aftermath of a romantic relationship in which at least one of the now ex-lovers didn't want to end. Written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, this was the 1984 debut single for Yuiko Kinoshita（木下結子）, who I hadn't heard of before. It took a bit of doing but I found some information on her at the Holiday Japan website. A native of Osaka, she had been working in a company and doing some commercial jingle recording on the side following high school for a couple of years before it was time to go behind the microphone in the recording booth.

"Hokasarete" is one of those 80s tunes that aren't easy to peg into one genre hole which makes it all the more interesting to me. It's got the Kansai dialect bluesiness, pop and some rock guitar in there so I also threw in the New Adult Music into Labels. Plus, the arrangement also reminds me of a far more famous ballad "Love is Over" originally by Feifei Ouyang（欧陽菲菲）right down to certain string sequences. In fact, I could easily imagine Ouyang or Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）covering "Hokasarete" in terms of the melody and the lyrics. I was struck by one line, though, where Kinoshita sings "Watashi wa yappari enka desu"（私わやっぱり演歌です...I'm an enka ballad after all）. Of all the genre names that I've included, enka is definitely not one of them but I'm gathering that the protagonist in the song is comparing herself to a typical sad traditional ballad considering her current plight.

Shoji Koganezawa -- Omae Sagashite（おまえさがして）

 

Well, this one caught me by surprise. I was just watching the first "Uta Con"（うたコン）episode of the year which was the usual clip show as a review of the past year. I had wondered whether last year's Kohaku Utagassen would be doing a tribute to all of those singers and musicians that had been lost in 2023 but instead, "Uta Con" opted to do their own special segment to end the episode for people such as Shinji Tanimura（谷村新司）and Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）.

However, one whose departure from this mortal coil that I hadn't been aware about until tonight was enka singer Shoji Koganezawa（小金沢昇司）. I hadn't come across any notice on the news regarding his death online or on TV but I did find the above TV Asahi announcement just now that had been posted a week ago. The native of Kanagawa Prefecture died on January 11th 2024 at the age of 65 from respiratory failure.

Probably his most famous hit was his "Arigato...Kansha"（ありがとう…感謝）from 2003 but I already posted about that one back in 2017. So I've decided to go to his beginnings and write on his debut single "Omae Sagashite" (Looking For You) which was released in August 1988. Sung tenderly by Koganezawa, the lyrics by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）are actually a mix of anger and relief and reassurance from a lover who had been searching for his significant other for two years. Finally tracking her down, he gives her a solid chew out for running away from him but at the same time, promises his continued love for her. Seiichi Sakurada（桜田誠一）was responsible for the boisterous music. I wonder if a lot of Koganezawa's friends and fellow singers are feeling the same way about their colleague leaving them so early.

My condolences go to Koganezawa's family, friends and fans.

Fuyumi Sakamoto -- Saikai Sakaba（再会酒場）

 

First off, let's point out this seasonal fact: Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Toronto currently in Eastern Daylight Time. Last Tuesday night, TV Japan was going to broadcast NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン） as usual, but then on Wednesday morning over in East Asia, North Korea decided to lob over a missile or a satellite which pretty much stopped all normal programming for several hours due to live reporting on the situation. Therefore, the taped-delay "Uta Con" was cancelled last week. C'est dommage!

However, the compensation is that we get "Uta Con" two nights in a row this week. Last night, we actually got a rare Monday TV Japan broadcast of "Uta Con" and tonight we get the usual show (expanded for some reason).

The theme for the show broadcast last night was the annual tribute to the late Queen of Kayo Kyoku, Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）, and so everyone did their covers of her songs. But as usual, we did get some new stuff from the guests, one of whom was enka singer Fuyumi Sakamoto（坂本冬美）and her 53rd and most recent single as of this writing, "Saikai Sakaba" (Reunion Bar) which was just released early last month.

"Saikai Sakaba" was written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）as a heartfelt enka about folks meeting up once more in their beloved watering holes after the years of the pandemic. Now that Japan has basically lifted virtually every COVID restriction, folks are free to meet up in the various commercial establishments once more although my friends have been informing me that half of the folks they see out on the streets of Tokyo have still been keeping their masks on. And yet, I'm sure that there have been some hearty reunions in restaurants and izakaya.

Tokuhisa's melody is one of joy and warmth while Yoshida's lyrics express the return of the camaraderie and excitement in the favourite bar, including a final hearty toast from Sakamoto. I'm sure that the libations and snacks have been flowing very rapidly. I can understand that sentiment since meeting up with some friends earlier in February for dinner for the first time in three years. Even earlier, my family got to have a special breakfast in our old neighbourhood diner after such a long period away. I also have to mention that it's the first time to have Sakamoto back on the byline in over three years as well.

Yukari Ito -- Sasurai（さすらい）

 

Personally speaking, I can't say that I am a particularly good traveler. I never developed the wanderlust or the smarts or the financial supply to head on out to a different country to explore, so I do have the admiration for those (and they include some of my friends) who have taken that jet, ship or car to take the risk to go around that unknown country, meet new people and learn new things.

Kayo kyoku has plenty of examples where such folks have gone onto new pastures within and outside of Japan, but usually not on a mission of learning but one of forgetting, namely that romance that has dried up like autumn leaves in late November. The one example that comes immediately to mind is enka veteran Sayuri Ishikawa's（石川さゆり）trademark "Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki" （津軽海峡・冬景色）.

I found another example, and this time, it's a sad straight kayo titled "Sasurai" elegantly sung by Yukari Ito（伊東ゆかり）. According to Jisho.org, the term means "wandering alone in a strange country", and the lyrics by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）clearly illustrates this as the protagonist walks around in a new town with no people she knows as she searches for someone to unload her story to. Perhaps that town might be located way out on the other side of Japan, but the melancholy melody by Shosuke Ichikawa（市川昭介）under his pseudonym of Akira Nishi（西あきら）indicates that the man or woman may have gone as far afield as France or Spain (mind you, the last minute of the song gets overlaid with some boppy 70s kayo percussion). 

"Sasurai" was released as Ito's 21st single in October 1970...perfect timing in kayo terms since that is when the romance falls as much as those autumn leaves. In a way, although I think that Ito delivers this wonderfully, this is also a song that could fit the discographies of either Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）or Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）in her diva period.

Hibari Misora -- Uta wa Waga Inochi（歌は我が命）

 

Ah, before we go any further...

Me too, Mio, me too! 

Indeed, Happy New Year to everyone. 新年あけましておめでとうございます。Hope everyone has been having a safe and pleasant beginning to 2022, the only year this century that has three "2"s. and if all goes well, the final year of the pandemic. I was wondering how I would start this year on the blog, and I've decided to go with one of the best.

Having watched the majority of yesterday's 72nd Kohaku Utagassen, I did get to see enka singer (or maybe it might be now more accurate to say general kayo singer) Kiyoshi Hikawa（氷川きよし）perform a cover of Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）"Uta wa Waga Inochi" (The Song is My Life). Over the last few years, Hikawa has gone into visual-kei, pop and emotion-drenched ballads along with his enka, so for him to belt out "Uta wa Waga Inochi" is right up his alley. Although I don't think that he's ever released it as a cover single, I'm fairly confident that it may be in one of his compilation albums.

The thing is though that I don't think Misora had ever released it as a single either according to what I couldn't find in her J-Wiki singles discography or even her own website's list. It took me some doing at the latter but I think that I could trace the origin year of "Uta wa Waga Inochi" to a 1976 compilation album.

I'm quite surprised that "Uta wa Waga Inochi" may not have been released as a single because I think that the song is one of those quintessential Misora numbers that starts off quietly but then rises into an epic declaration by the end. Composed by Katsuo Inoue（井上かつお）, the legendary Queen of Kayo Kyoku has sung it on different occasions as a jazz ballad or even something close to chanson with a bit of that talking/singing style. The lyrics by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）provide Misora a reason to explain to her many listeners about why she's chosen her way of life in a manner that sounds like Frank Sinatra's take on "My Way". As much as that karaoke chestnut is tied to the hip of The Chairman of the Board, "Uta wa Waga Inochi" is also very much a part of Misora.

Yukino Ichikawa -- Hizakura（秘桜）

 

Happy Labour Day! Obviously no work today and no particular need to get any supplies. So I get to do some more stuff on the blog.

I may have mentioned this NHK kayo program in a past article, but for the last little while, there has been "Hayauta"（はやウタ）which translates as "Early Songs", and the reason is that "Hayauta" has been televised at the eye-blearing time of 4:30 am on Sunday mornings! Now of course, with the advent of technology such as DVRs or even ancient stuff such as VCRs with the timer function, die-hard enka/Mood Kayo fans don't have to fret about waking up in the wee hours (way before pancake time) to catch something like "Hayauta". However, why anyone at the national broadcaster would program a kayo show in this slot is still rather mind-boggling. Perhaps they might be going along with the theory that older people tend to wake up a lot earlier.

Lucky for us guys on TV Japan, we were able to catch the latest broadcast of "Hayauta" at the far more amenable time of 1 o'clock PM yesterday, and it was definitely nice to catch a kayo show again after all of the hoopla surrounding the Olympics for a month. And one of the acts that I was able to catch was enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）with her recent single "Hizakura" released in March this year.

I've read that hizakura（日桜）refers to the cherry blossoms seen in the daytime, so this song title with the kanji for "secret"（秘）instead of the one for "day"（日）fronting the kanji in the title may be a Japanese pun. Looking through the lyrics by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）, the veteran songwriter who contributed the words for Naomi Chiaki's（ちあきなおみ）"Kassai"（喝采）all the way back in 1972, perhaps "Hizakura" here could mean "Secret Among the Cherry Blossoms" hinting at a tryst that has to inevitably come to its natural end.

Mind you, for something that lyrically feels very sub-rosa, the music by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, who has often worked with current kayo group Junretsu（純烈）, packs a lot of brio with those dramatic strings and the electric guitar punch. Yet, Ichikawa's elegant delivery does float above the melodic sturm und drang. "Hizakura" peaked at No. 11 on Oricon. My compliments also go to the set designer and fashion designer for the official music video.

Yukino Ichikawa -- Nagori Uta（なごり歌）

 

Enka singer Yukino Ichikawa（市川由紀乃）has been on the Kohaku Utagassen twice in the 2010s but unfortunately will not be showing up on tomorrow's 71st edition.

However, I have to say that I've been enjoying her 31st single from April 2020, "Nagori Uta", which could mean "Parting Song" or "Traces of a Song" (probably the former). I think it's just the way that the song flows with those strings and the oboe. I mean, I realize that strings and oboe (or is it a soprano sax?) have often accompanied an enka tune but the arrangement here just does it for me and I'll leave it at that.

Composed by Kohei Miyuki（幸耕平）, who has been a go-to composer for the group Junretsu（純烈）, and written by veteran Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）, who provided the lyrics to the wonderful "Kassai"（喝采）by Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）all the way back in 1972, Ichikawa sings about a woman who has fallen for the charms of a certain song and the person who sings it knowing that the latter is most likely unattainable. Maybe the singer is an old friend from college.

In any case, this was another pretty good hit for Ichikawa as it peaked at No. 11 on Oricon.

Fuyumi Sakamoto -- Ore de Ii no ka（俺でいいのか）

I don't quite remember when I started enjoying enka and Mood Kayo. I mean, it's been something that I have been listening to for my entire life when my parents played the old LPs on the stereo but I always considered that brand of kayo kyoku the stuff that my parents liked and I just had to hear it. Pretty sure that it wasn't during that 1981 trip to Japan or even exposure to "Sounds of Japan" on the radio since enka tunes were the main songs on most of the broadcasts (which I didn't listen to) while the pop stuff that I fell for (which I did) made their presence known perhaps once a month. Still, listening to Takashi Hosokawa's（細川たかし）"Kita Sakaba"（北酒場）on "Sounds of Japan" opened the door a bit for me.

Most likely, it started to a small extent during my 1981-1991 JET Programme stint when karaoke almost became a job-related obligation and then things started further expanding during my far longer stint between 1994 and 2011. Of course, watching "Uta Kon"（うたコン）and its predecessor "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）on NHK and doing this blog over this decade has further strengthened my amity toward these older genres. The music for enka and Mood Kayo with its noble koto, violins and Latin brass among other instruments has also proven to be a tonic of sorts whenever I feel that I've gotten a little too much of the J-Pop stuff, even my favourite genre of City Pop. Maybe the bouncy bass has its limits within me.

In any case, I was watching a recent episode of "Uta Con" when enka veteran Fuyumi Sakamoto（坂本冬美）appeared near the end to perform her 48th and latest single, "Ore de Ii no ka" (Will I Do?) which just came out late last month in August. For some reason, I was struck by this one although I have heard my fair share of enka on this show and elsewhere.

My father remarked during the performance that this was a refreshing change since I believe that Sakamoto had perhaps gone for a more modern enka approach in recent years with a truly rock guitar and arrangement. And I think that's what struck me positively about "Ore de Ii no ka" which is a story of a lifelong love between two soulmates, represented by Ou Yoshida's（吉田旺）lyrics. Koji Tokuhisa's（徳久広司）music with Toshiaki Maeda's（前田俊明）arrangement doesn't seem to have that contemporary enka feeling to it; there is something more old-fashioned as if "Ore de Ii no ka" had been composed back in the 20th century. The song peaked at No. 36 on Oricon.

Tomoko Hori -- Seaside Hotel 805（シーサイドホテル８０５）

I've stayed at a few seaside hotels...well, more like bayside hotels but the water was still salty. One establishment was the Portopia Hotel in Kobe. The JET Renewers' Conference was held there in 1990 and all of us JETs who were planning to go onto another year of teaching were obliged to go there. It was a pretty luxurious place in a city that I thought resembled more like a metropolis in California than Tokyo. Mind you, within half a decade, the largest city in Japan would undertake a major urban project which begat Odaiba.

I actually bookmarked this song several months ago but have decided to put it up tonight. As much as there are a lot of City Pop songs that have been unearthed over the years and are still yet to be discovered by me, there are also a lot of aidoru tunes in the 1970s and 1980s that have remained unknown, and churlishly speaking, perhaps some of them should be left unknown. But that is of course a matter of personal opinion.

However, I did pick Tomoko Hori's（堀智子）"Seaside Hotel 805"（シーサイドホテル８０５）because I had never heard of this 70s aidoru and the song itself had that nostalgic hippy-skippy melody that screamed bell-bottomed pants and big hair. I could find barely anything about Hori but this page shows the 6 singles that she released in the mid-70s including this debut single which came out in August 1975. The cover of her made me think that she was auditioning for the main role in a live-action version of "Cutey Honey".

Written by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Koichi Morita（森田公一）, "Seaside Hotel 805" not only feels like a happy 70s kayo with that loopy electric guitar and strings but there is a 1950s/1960s sax in there and the overall music has me thinking girls dancing in their go-go boots from the previous decade. No idea how Hori's aidoru career went but I'm glad that I could find some of these tunes that perhaps even many Japanese of a certain age (namely mine) had forgotten or not even known about.

Hiroshi Uchiyamada & The Cool Five -- Minato Monogatari (みなと物語)

The harbour....one of those popular sites for a Mood Kayo tune. And yet, on hearing this perhaps relatively obscure tune by Hiroshi Uchiyamada & The Cool Five（内山田洋とクール・ファイブ）, "Minato Monogatari" (Harbour Story), I cannot say that this is pure Mood Kayo.

Oh, it starts out with the The Cool Five and their backup voices sure enough but the melody by Etsuro Miyamoto（宮本悦朗）has that major chord which kinda makes "Minato Monogatari" sound like as if it were meant for daytime listening, perhaps even as a theme for a comical TV show. And then there's vocalist Kiyoshi Maekawa（前川清）who kinda startled me when I first heard the song since his voice went way low at first before returning to its usual level as he sang about pining for love through Ou Yoshida's（吉田旺）lyrics.

Along with the atypical daytime feeling of this Cool Five song, that Mood Kayo gets mixed in with some lovely soothing strings which swoop in down on Maekawa seemingly to reassure him. I'm also convinced that this arrangement would have been ideal for Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵）. Plus, there is also a small interlude when the Cool Five even scat a bit classical before getting back to the Mood Kayo of it all. All in all, it's an interesting and calming song for this group.

"Minato Monogatari" didn't come out as a single but as a track on the group's 1977 album "Uchiyamada Hiroshi & Cool Five -- Dai Jusshuu"（内山田洋とクール・ファイブ 第10集...H. Uchiyamada & Cool Five, Volume 10）. It goes to show what I've always said about music here. Enjoying the hits is splendid but there are always some hidden gems to be had going into some of these original albums' non-single tracks.

Naomi Chiaki -- Yakan Hiko （夜間飛行）

Saw NHK's "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）tonight which had the theme of Dream Duets. However with guests Kalafina and Nana Mizuki（水樹奈々）, I kinda wondered if there were a major injection of the anime genre in there as well.

However for this article, I wanted to refer back to the episode from a week ago. Plus, after serving the "Kayo Kyoku Plus" equivalent of a sugary gumdrop of an article earlier this afternoon, I think I needed to provide something quite a bit more shibui on the order of some grilled sanma and a bowl of heaping white rice. So, allow me to offer Naomi Chiaki's（ちあきなおみ）"Yakan Hiko"（Night Flight） from June 1973.

Singer Sachiko Shiina（椎名佐千子）performed the song last week and I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to look it up afterwards. Y'know, I wasn't surprised that it had originally been performed by Naomi Chiaki; it has that languid and wistful melody with the wonderfully piercing trumpet by Taiji Nakamura（中村泰士）. And the lyrics by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）bespeak of a woman leaving a love affair in The City of Lights with a mix of happiness and sadness. It has that "two ships passing in the night" sort of feeling. "Yakan Hiko" even contains an in-flight announcement.

Taiji Nakamura's（中村泰士）music is pretty interesting. It starts with what I would call a twinkly flourish of strings (yes, I did say twinkly) that I had never heard in any kayo kyoku before, but then that familiar trumpet comes in. The first number of seconds when Chiaki starts singing makes it sound as if "Yakan Hiko" will be a triumphant march toward the airport although she sings about being on the edge of tears. Then, the beat suddenly slows down to a more leisurely pace which takes up most of the song as Chiaki talks of her parting of such sweet sorrow. It's as if the entire ballad reflects the woman keeping up that brave face as she heads for Departures while she's actually feeling very melancholy inside. The melodic path is a bit unusual but Chiaki's smoky vocals are very reassuring for me.

Also my opinion is that "Yakan Hiko" doesn't quite fit the genre of Mood Kayo but according to the J-Wiki article on the song, when it was released, it was considered to be an example of Dramatic Kayo. Now, I'm not sure whether a whole swath of songs in the early 70s fell into this sub-genre but a couple of other Chiaki tunes, "Kassai"（喝采）and "Gekijo"（劇場...The Stage） were included. And both of them were also created by the duo of Yoshida and Nakamura.

Her 15th single managed to make it as high as No. 15 on Oricon and Chiaki received another invitation to come aboard the Kohaku Utagassen of 1973.

Naomi Chiaki -- Ame ni Nureta Bojou （雨に濡れた慕情）

I came across Naomi Chiaki's（ちあきなおみ）debut song by accident tonight as I was watching NHK's "Kayo Concert". "Ame ni Nureta Bojou"(A Rain-Soaked Yearning) was a surprisingly deeply bluesy beginning to the 21-year-old Chiaki's career, but then again, before breaking into the limelight, she had been performing on US army bases, jazz cafes and cabaret clubs, so a lot of that maturity that went into her debut song was well-earned. "Ame ni Nureta Bojou" was released in June 1969; it was written by Oh Yoshida（吉田旺）and composed by Jun Suzuki（鈴木淳）. Yoshida would also later write Chiaki's trademark song, "Kassai"（喝采）, in 1972.

Naomi Chiaki -- Kassai （喝采）

This is a wistfully proud elegy. The September 1972 single "Kassai" (Ovation) is sung by smoky-voiced Naomi Chiaki (ちあきなおみ）. The lyrics by Ou Yoshida（吉田旺）and melody by Taiji Nakamura（中村泰士）tell of a tribute to a dearly departed loved one but Chiaki imbues the song with pride and gratitude at having met this man.

This is Chiaki's most representative song in her long career which began in 1969. She was comfortable in both enka and pop, although "Kassai" would be considered a kayo kyoku pop song. It was a hit right from its release, having started from No. 7 on the charts and then reaching its peak of No. 2 the following week. It also earned a Japan Record Award along with sales of 3 million records.

Chiaki also became a TV personality and appeared in commercials. In 1992, though, with the death of her actor husband, she completely retired from show business.