STUTS & Taeko Ohnuki -- Ohayou（おはよう）

 

Recently, the NHK morning information show "Asaichi"（あさイチ）has been getting cancelled or truncated. That's not a real surprise since there are a couple of phases during the year when this happens but this year, it's a bit more prevalent right now because of a national track-and-field meet, the World Cup and televised government deliberations. We were a bit luckier yesterday though since we did get the full one-hour-and-forty minutes.

Well, I figure that we'll have only a couple of more weeks of this before things get back to normal. The good news is that the theme song for "Asaichi" finally has a full version out on YouTube. A few months ago, when the new theme "Ohayou" (Good Morning) started each show, I couldn't find it on the platform although in my exertions, I was able to find a past collaboration by trackmaker/producer STUTS and legendary singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）from 2024.

Still, it's nice to find "Ohayou" at last which apparently hit YouTube a little over a month ago. It's a nice breakfast plate of musical nostalgia via fluegelhorn and electric piano. Those two instruments give the song a sunny 70s feeling...in a way, it feels rather Carpenteresque, and it's a friendly way to start off "Asaichi". Maybe it can even get folks up-and-at-'em all on its own.

STUTS & Taeko Ohnuki -- Ii Yu da na（いい湯だな）

 

It won't officially be so until December this year, but Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）will be celebrating an anniversary in 2026 in that it will be 50 years since her first solo album "Grey Skies" was put onto record store shelves. Also, she may be aware that one of her idols, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Junos (Canada's version of the Grammys) last night directly from Prime Minister Mark Carney last night.

NHK's "Asaichi"（あさイチ）morning information show did what a lot of Japanese TV shows do at the end of March and the beginning of April, and that is to give things a refresh by swapping out hosts or reporters or changing the set. Two of those were done yesterday; although the hosts remained the same, the regular onsite reporters had a bit of a change and the set was given a redux of sorts. 

As well, the theme song for "Asaichi", TENDRE's "Switch", was retired after a few years and it's now been replaced by "Ohayou"（おはよう...Morning!）which is a collaboration between Ohnuki and trackmaker/producer STUTS. The only thing is that I can't find any evidence of this song on YouTube as of yet. Ah, well. However, I found out that this wasn't the only time that Ohnuki and STUTS have worked together. Apparently, a couple of years ago, the two came up with their own cover version of the kayo chestnut "Ii Yu da na" (Wonderful Bath, Ain't It?), the ode to the onsen that had been recorded all the way back by vocal group Duke Aces（デューク・エイセス）in 1966 and then popularized several years later by the comedy group The Drifters（ザ・ドリフターズ）as the ending theme for their long-running variety show "8-ji Da Yo! Zen'in Shuugo!"（8時だよ！全員集合...It's 8 O'Clock! Everyone Assemble!) .

Although hot springs are warm to hot, Ohnuki and STUTS' "Ii Yu da na" is a pretty chill take with some jazzy samples thrown in. All those samples can get a bit noisy but at least the underlying MPC thrumming accentuates the feelings of relaxation that actor Sosuke Ikematsu（池松壮亮）while lounging around in the onsen. Of course, Ohnuki and her calming voice provide veteran reassurance that it's OK to let the stresses of life melt away once in a while.

The Nagoya-born STUTS has been plying his trade since 2008. Several years later, he moved to New York City and did some busking with his MPC.