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.
It's another national holiday in Japan today. If it's September, that means Respect-for-the-Aged Day（敬老の日）and I found out just last weekend that the holiday had been first formed in the immediate postwar era in Hyogo Prefecture.
As such, I was thinking of putting up a list of favourite karaoke tunes among the more elderly. Admittedly though, sexagenarians don't strike me as being quite that old but at least their choices were easy to track down on the blog, and of course, I'm not too far from that group of people, age-wise. So, I'll be divvying things up between the Top 3 karaoke songs for both men and women in their 60s according to the Nagoya-based Takeshi Vocal Studio, a karaoke training school.
NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）had their final broadcast before going on a multi-week hiatus during Golden Week. Now, the annual spate of holidays ranging from the last days of April into the first days of May doesn't begin for a few more days yet, but I figured that I can still provide a few of the songs that got into their "Uta no Tabi"（歌の旅...Song Vacation） theme segment yesterday along with throwing in one of my own choices.
As it stands right now, though, with the Japanese currency plummeting down to 155 yen to the dollar, perhaps there won't be as much tourism from Japan to overseas destinations this Golden Week although Americans, Canadians and other people will be more than happy to fly over to Japan for the next little while. Maybe that's why some of the songs from "Uta no Tabi" were most definitely domestic. In any case, here are the selections.
As a freshman at University of Toronto in the mid-1980s, I was required to take the introductory course on East Asian History which I believe was given the code of EAS 100Y. We had a colourful bunch of professors to teach us throughout the year on the respective histories of Japan, China and Korea with one fellow being affectionately called Gatling because he often spoke like how a certain gun rattled off its rounds. Another professor who was in charge of the Japanese segment even showed us the famous 1966 Yukio Mishima（三島由紀夫）film "Yukoku"（憂國...Patriotism） in full, and a lot of us were going "Oh, man, we're watching this after lunch?!".
Well, I did get my education but frankly retaining it was another matter, and I recall being an absolute bust in the final exam; was never good at those. Still, I remember that there were a few lectures on the teachings of Confucius of which I recall the virtue of filial piety, something that I am trying to practice now although not strictly on Confucian lines.
On that point, I was watching "Uta Con"（うたコン）last night and Rimi Natsukawa（夏川りみ）was one of the guests. Her contribution to the show was the gentle and calming Okinawan song "Tinsagu nu Hana" (The Balsam Flowers) which according to Wikipedia relates Ryukyuan values including some of those Confucian virtues. However, during the host-and-guest banter, Natsukawa merely mentioned about the significance of the titular balsam flowers and how they've been used as healing balm for burns and the like. Their pigment also stains fingernails like nail polish and it's from there that the unknown lyricist likens that action to one's own heart being stained by the teachings of one's own parents.
From the J-Wiki article on "Tinsagu nu Hana", the song had first made its appearance on NHK's "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）children's music program in 1966 (though I couldn't find that first example on YouTube), years before Okinawa was handed back over to Japan. Since then, it made enough of an impact on listeners that a number of other artists, such as singer-songwriter UA, have covered the song over the decades. As for Natsukawa, she first recorded "Tinsagu no Hana" on a mini album of covers of Okinawan songs called "Minami Kaze"（南風...South Wind） in March 2002 which reached No. 37 on Oricon. Her cover was arranged by Chuei Yoshikawa（吉川忠英）.
On Tuesday, I saw a couple of singers that I hadn't seen in quite a while on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）. There was singer Rimi Natsukawa（夏川りみ）known for "Nada Soso" (涙そうそう) and tenor Masafumi Akikawa（秋川雅史）who became famous for "Sen no Kaze ni Natte"（千の風になって）. The two of them along with Kazufumi Miyazawa（宮沢和史）of The BOOM sang a song of hope titled "Asu to Iu Hi ga" (The Day Known as Tomorrow), and considering that the last two entries tonight also involved songs of hope and optimism, I thought that I would finish things up tonight with this one.
The story behind "Asu to Iu Hi ga" started in 2006 when composer Satoshi Yagisawa（八木澤教司）and poet Sakurako Yamamoto（山本瓔子）created the song for an Osaka-based junior high school to perform at the 30th All Japan Chorus Education Study Group National Convention in Osaka itself. However, it took on special meaning in 2011 due to the Tohoku Earthquake on March 11th when the Fukushima Vocal Ensemble Competition that had been slated to be held on the following 19th was cancelled. One of the participating groups, Hachiken Junior High School, performed "Asu to Iu Hi ga" as a musical prayer for recovery.
Later that year, Natsukawa released a single version of "Asu to Iu Hi ga" on September 21st as this very gentle pop song backed by guitar, strings and piano. Depending on your feelings, you may want to have some tissue nearby.
On the same day, Akikawa also released his version of the song and my advice on Kleenex also holds here as well. His take has more of a classical orchestral arrangement. Not surprisingly, both him and Natsukawa appeared on the Kohaku Utagassen at the end of 2011 to perform a duet of "Asu to Iu Hi ga".
An officially recorded duet was a track on Akikawa's BESTcompilation released in February 2014.
From the back of my mind used to come a very tiny snippet of a song I had heard many years ago when the local Chinese channel was promoting albums of popular Mando-pop artistes at the time. I had no idea what it was called, but I liked what I heard and would always look forward to hearing that commercial. But, of course, as the years went by and the commercial disappeared from TV, I was left with only a vague snippet of that song. It was frustrating having this bit floating around in my head from time to time, and because I didn't fully know the melody, it'd get mixed up with other songs. This occurrance came and went until one fine Saturday afternoon in late 2014.
Natsukawa's version.
At that point in time, "BS Nippon no Uta" was still a fascinating program for me and I yearned to see someone I liked during its "Special Stage", so I was watching it frequently. Then it so happened that one afternoon the Special pairing was the late cool-guy composer Masaaki Hirao, whose name I had seen many times by then, and Rimi Natsukawa (夏川りみ), whom I was unfamiliar with. As per usual, a barrage of kayo was sung, but then came an all too familiar tune by Natsukawa. After at least 10 years since I heard that commercial, I finally knew what the song was called: "Nada Soso". Oh, it was sweet catharsis!
Moriyama's version.
With the island twang to the melody and Natsukawa's crystal clear and tender vocals, one would think that "Nada Soso" was made for this Okinawa native. However, when I looked this song up on Wikipedia, it turned out that it originated as a collaboration between folk singer Ryoko Moriyama (森山良子) and the band BEGIN in 1998. Apparently, Moriyama had requested BEGIN to come up with an Okinawa-themed score; they did and gave it its current title which means something on the line of "falling tears". Moriyama then built on this by writing lyrics that revolved around the memory of her late brother. This was then included in her album "TIME IS LONELY". However, "Nada Soso" wasn't within reach of the spotlight for quite some time as the album didn't do particularly well, and neither did BEGIN's self-cover on 23rd March 2000. It was only until Natsukawa decided to do her own rendition after hearing it at the 26th G8 Summit in Okinawa that very year.
BEGIN's version.
Exactly a year later in 2001, Natsukawa's version came out, along with a couple of other songs BEGIN had composed for her; it was only then did "Nada Soso" receive the acclaim it is now known for. Moriyama then re-released her rendition as a single that December, and in 2003, a special version with her, Natsukawa and BEGIN was released. Incredibly, "Nada Soso" stayed on the Oricon charts for a whopping 5 years, peaking at 8th place on the weeklies, and selling at least 1.2 million copies. Of course, it also came with TV tie-ups. In 2005, TBS created the "Nada Soso Project" for their 50th Anniversary which had 2 dramas, titled "Hiroshima Showa 20 nen 8 Gatsu Muika" (広島・昭和20年8月6日) and "Nada Soso Kono Ai ni Ikite" (涙そうそう この愛に生きて), with "Nada Soso" as their theme songs - the former with Natsukawa's version and the latter with Moriyama's. Furthermore, Natsukawa sang this tune 4 consecutive times on the Kohaku from 2002 (her first appearance) to 2005.
The mandarin version... Dang, that's a trip down memory lane.
Besides that mandarin version I had briefly mentioned earlier, which was apparently sung by Singaporean Mando-pop artiste Joi Chua and titled "Pei Wo Kan Ri Chu" (陪我看日出... Watch The Sunrise With Me... probably), "Nada Soso" has a whole baraage of renditions that spans multiple languages and instrumentals of various kinds. This is truly a global phenomenon! I'm quite curious as to what Moriyama thinks about its success.
I enjoy "Nada Soso" quite a lot as it's pretty nostalgic, however, this is probably the only song I listen to where I have to deliberately ignore the words, otherwise, well, the title will happen. While Moriyama's sweet yet heart-rending words have the memory of her brother imbued in them, I get reminded of my own grandpa.
Every so often I would wonder what it'd be like if he were still around and what would've been different. Well, a lot. For one, I'd most likely be in the States now because I'd force him to come along with me, and knowing him he'd be more than willing to do so. I suppose, in that respect, I'd be more spoiled too, haha! I also wonder what he would think of me now... The old enka bit will definitely be criticized (considering my current taste) but he'd still get me records or CDs, surely.
If there's any phrase from him as told by Mom that I am currently holding on to in this frustrating period in my life, it's "If you really want it, you must be willing to do anything to get it." (Or something like that.) Yes, I get it now. Well, I'm close to a month late for my annual tribute to him as I was trying to sort my life out (along with being lazy), but it's something that I want to keep doing.
"Shinayaka ni Utatte" (Sing Delicately) was Momoe Yamaguchi's（山口百恵）27th single released in September 1979, and for those who know about the singer's discography throughout the 1970s, the latter half of the decade had her singing some more muscular songs as a jaded take-no-prisoners woman who plays men like a Stradivarius a la "Imitation Gold". "Shinayaka ni Utatte" was indeed created by the husband-and-wife team of Ryudo Uzaki and Yoko Aki（宇崎竜童・阿木燿子）who had been behind those very songs.
And yet, "Shinayaka ni Utatte" was quite a different animal. It didn't have any of those urgent strings or wailing electric guitar, the song came across to me as being quite Hawaiian in feeling; more relaxing and rhythmical like a hula dance for a Don Ho ballad rather than speeding and screaming like a Ferrari being driven by a scorned woman. However, Aki's lyrics still related the story of lost love and the woman trying to get over the end of the romance. Perhaps it's rather indicative of the times that one of the lyrics describes the lass putting on a pair of roller skates and scooting down the road...maybe she'll hit a disco later that night to boogie.
I've gotta make a slight detour over here and talk about that adverb in the title shinayaka ni. I looked it up at jisho.org and I got definitions such as flexibly and elastically. But I wasn't sure whether either of those words would be appropriate as the translation. At the same time, though, there was the word delicately, which I still don't think is ultimately the best word but perhaps it is the best I can do for now.
Still, the Uzaki-Aki-Yamaguchi collaboration was another relative success although "Shinayaka ni Utatte" didn't hit the big heights like its tougher cousins. It peaked at No. 8 on Oricon and won a Gold Prize at the Japan Record Awards before finishing the year as the 55th-ranked single as it was also placed as a track on Momoe's 19th album"Harutsugedori"（春告鳥...Bush Warbler）which peaked at No. 5. The song also got Yamaguchi an invitation for her final of 6 straight appearances on the Kohaku Utagassen.
Not sure whether the song was meant to come out just before this particular earth-shattering announcement by Yamaguchi, but just several weeks after "Shinayaka ni Utatte" had been released, the singer announced her relationship with actor Tomokazu Miura（三浦友和）which probably broke a lot of hearts out there in the fandom. I could imagine that many of them took those lyrics and swallowed them repeatedly. Of course, the following year, Yamaguchi and Miura would marry and the former would retire for good.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
Here is Okinawan singer Rimi Natsukawa（夏川りみ）with her cover of "Shinayaka ni Utatte".
Whenever the name Rimi Natsukawa（夏川りみ）gets mentioned, most likely everyone will think of the throat-lumping "Namida Sousou"（涙そうそう）from over a decade ago. But honestly speaking, I became more attracted to her performance of this recent single titled "Niji no Kakera"(Pieces of a Rainbow) that came out in April 2014 as a limited edition single.
The song was written and composed by Kazuo Zaitsu（財津和夫）of the folk-pop band Tulip, and the reason that it got my attention was its seeming nature as two songs-in-one. There is the beginning part which has that guitar folk melody which automatically had me thinking of Tulip songs from decades past. But then it quickly morphs into a lusher ballad with strings and a synth-horn. And then there are the lyrics about someone who has feeling weighed down from all of the bad news on the media (and the news recently has been frankly horrifying) and searching for that friend who will make things better for at least a while. There will always be a need for that type of person as much as there will be a need for this sort of song.
The above is the short version of the song. I first heard "Niji no Kakera" through NHK's "Kayo Concert" last year, and just this past Tuesday, I saw Natsukawa perform it again with that intriguing melody, so I took that as my cue to write about it tonight. As for the Okinawan singer, she is the perfect guest on the NHK show since she covers folk, minyo and enka. Born in 1973 as Rimi Kaneku（兼久りみ）in Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture, Natsukawa fell in love with music from a very young age and decided to become a singer, entering and winning a singing contest at the age of 9. In 1986 as a junior high school freshman, she became the youngest champion at the 10th Nagasaki Kayo Festival and was subsequently scouted by a record company, after which she moved to Tokyo.
She made her professional debut under the stage name of Misato Hoshi（星美里）in 1989 but didn't gain much success and returned to Okinawa in the mid-90s. Then, she made a re-debut in 1999 under her current stage name of Rimi Natsukawa with "Yuubae ni Yurete"（夕映えにゆれて...Swayed by the Sunset Glow）. Of course, a couple of years later, she would have that breakthrough hit with "Namida Sousou".
As a bit of trivia, she's married to Masaaki Tamaki（玉木正昭）who is a percussionist with the summer band TUBE.
