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 been a while since I've done a Creator article and the name Kisaburo Suzuki had been spinning around in my head for a while, so I've decided to pay tribute here. He's one of those prolific musician-songwriters that has created so many songs for so many singers that he's at the level of the question "He wrote THAT?!".
According to his J-Wiki profile, Suzuki（鈴木喜三郎）was born in the city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture in 1952. At the age of 15, he started learning the guitar and ukulele from his older brother and began becoming inspired by the works of the legendary B.B. King. In 1972, he made his way down to Tokyo and from the following year, he backed up a lot of singers including Masatoshi Nakamura（中村雅俊）, Akira Fuse（布施明）and Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）. A few years later in 1977 following an encounter with lyricist Osami Okamoto（岡本おさみ）, he set about to become a composer. Then in 1980, Suzuki would pick up his first award for providing Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）with "Sakaba de DABADA"（酒場でDABADA）.
With the probable exceptions of enka and Mood Kayo, Suzuki has covered all of the genres in Japanese music including anison and aidoru tunes. When I finally started paying attention to the songwriters in the industry, my impression of Suzuki was that he was quite the master at coming up with pop melodies in the 1980s which combined shimmering orchestra strings and wailing electric guitar. Mariko Takahashi's（高橋真梨子）"See You Again...Kaze ni Kuchitsukete"（SEE YOU AGAIN ・・・風にくちづけて...Kiss The Wind） was one of the first examples of this that I had ever heard and it was the first composition by Suzuki that I ever came across. However, there was one notable exception to the tradition of strings and guitar, and that was for one of Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）biggest hits, "Desire". Anyways, the following is just a mere sample of what he has created.
Uh...nope. Not quite the Japanese vitamin drinks I was hoping for when I brought my request to the almighty Bing just now, but it'll do.
From NHK
In any case, I had heard that the once-booming industry of Japanese vitamin drinks has now noticeably shrunk and fallen on tough times. And please correct if I got the message wrong, but I also caught wind that the famous vitamin drink Regain has been discontinued. That's pretty big news. Mind you, during my years in Japan and no matter how tired I got, I never became a regular purveyor of vitamin drinks of any kind aside from the odd Regain or Oronamin C.
Still, it's a shame to hear that the familiar bumblebee colours of Regain will no longer be seen again. Its commercial blitzes were a wonder to see, and one ad became so famous that it even made CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" to show how industrious Japanese workers were. I will now show three of the commercials and songs and artists that were part of the Regain media machine along with the catchphrases that accompanied them at the time.
Tamatta tsukare ni.（たまった疲れに。...For your built-up fatigue.）
The commercial was actually for the Regain tablets but the healing arrangement of the Professor's"energy flow" in itself was probably effective for the ears and mind and soul for the exhausted masses of corporate Japan. It's almost as if Sakamoto（坂本龍一） were playing just for you by the side of your futon.
Zenryoku de iku. Regain de iku.（全力で行く。リゲインで行く...Go with all your strength. Go with Regain.）
Honestly, I hadn't known that Motoki's（本木雅弘） cover of "Higashi e Nishi e" was part of the Regain experience. Actually, I knew that song more for the former member of Shibugakitai's（シブがき隊） notorious performance on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen. It may have been December 31st but the network's switchboard was most likely lit up like a Christmas tree and not merrily so.
Ni-juu-yo-jikan tatakaemasu ka?（24時間、戦えますか。...Can you battle it out for 24 hours?）
But for me, Regain will always be represented by Tokito's（時任三郎）character of Saburota Ushiwakamaru（牛若丸三郎太）singing the ultimate challenge song to all those in the company trenches attempting to make that sale or seal that deal. In contrast to Sakamoto's comfortable warm blanket approach, the original big theme for the drink is the call to arms to business battle, fueled by all those vitamins and minerals (and maybe caffeine?) like a chemical arsenal for body and mind.
"Happy Days Are Here Again" is an American standard that's been around since it first made its appearance in 1929 according to Wikipedia. Lots of interpretations have been done of it in its first century but the one that I've been most familiar with is the one by the Norman Luboff Choir that was a track on my parents' copy of "50 Years Of Hits In Stereo", the 5-LP set that we got with our RCA stereo. It's about as happy a version as I've ever heard from the Normal Luboff Choir which I usually associate with some of the more melancholy takes of standards. But here, the original by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen is given that 60s mambo-tinged martini-friendly lounge music touch which probably cheered up a lot of listeners (the vodka helped out, too, obviously).🍸
Well, as I've noted in the byline, I've watched the NHK coverage and read the "Japan Times" article "Japan's Nikkei index surpasses 40,000 points for first time", and the media has suddenly grabbed that old footage of the Bubble Boom era of the late 1980s in the nation. To be specific, the index closed today at 40,109.23 points. Is it time to be saying that happy days are here again in Japan? Hmmm...I'm sure stockholders are pretty buoyant along with exporting companies, and certainly depending on the country, tourists will be making their reservations for Japan. Not sure though about importers, Japanese tourists or even those supposed to be going to international conferences from Japan this year.
Mentioning that the mass media has started excavating the scenes of the bubbly times, I'm always going to be thinking about the famous Juliana's in Tokyo with all of those bodicon dancers and their plume fans. Supposedly, this new meteoric rise in the Nikkei is based on something far more stable than was the case in the late 1980s but...tongue-in-cheek...I keep wondering about gold flakes scattered on virtually every dish and million-dollar golf club entry fees once more.
The Nikkei record at the peak of the Bubble Era happened on December 29th 1989 with a close of 38,915.87 points. So I was left thinking about the music that was hot at the time, and strangely enough, I was actually in the nation back on that day...most likely, I was either in Osaka or Wakayama Prefecture with the relatives for the New Year's holidays. I couldn't find anything for that day exactly but I did find something for January 1st 1990 at this site. Therefore as such, here are just a few of the songs from the Top 10 on that auspicious day along with their rankings.
Y'know...we've gotten used to actress/singer Ryoko Shinohara（篠原涼子）stressing more of that first part of her job description over the past several years to the extent that perhaps it might be surprising to know that Shinohara did start out as an aidoru and sketch comedienne in the early 1990s. And yet, earlier this year, folks in Japan got a reminder of her less heavy material when she began to sing and dance in this series of McDonalds commercials which emphasized the good ol' days of show tunes, especially with Charlie Chaplin's"Smile".
Commenter James Noah sent me a message asking about all those commercial tie-ups which was a good question since in Japan, those popular pop songs and famous brands have frequently synergized as a win-win for all involved. James' favourite ad is the one for Gekkeikan sake with a very clean Hiroyuki Sanada（真田広之）, who has seemed to be appearing in Hollywood movies looking all scruffy for some reason, walking to the strains of Anzen Chitai's（安全地帯）"Ano Koro e"（あの頃へ）. It's all about that beauteous mood and mood has always been a thing in Japanese commercials. In fact, it once took me a whole minute watching an idyllic scene in Switzerland with a happy family to figure out that the commercial was selling life insurance. You just never know...Clara could have fallen out of her wheelchair to her death off that cliff. Was she in good hands with Allstate?
Anyways, that did get me thinking about what some of my favourite Japanese commercial tie-ups have been over the decade.
1. Tatsuro Yamashita -- Christmas Eve (1983) and Japan Railways
Now, the song itself first saw the light of day in 1983 but things really didn't get cooking for Tats in the Xmas department until half a decade later in 1988 when Japan Railways used "Christmas Eve" for their Christmas campaign. After those first commercials involving couples on the platforms and in the stations had aired, any romantic meetups in a train depot will most likely have this song planted in everyone's heads. Ironically for the fellow who's been hailed as the summer song guy and one of the pillars of City Pop, "Christmas Eve" may be Yamashita's（山下達郎）most famous song for the public at large.
2. Saburo Tokito -- Yuuki no Shirushi (1989) and Regain Vitamin Drink
I've had my fair share of vitamin drinks when I was living in Japan although I don't personally think that I worked anywhere near as hard as some of those businessmen that I had taught regularly. To me, they all tasted like some tangy-sweet water. I may have even coughed up the yen to guzzle down a Regain. But when the first commercials of the ultra-Japanese businessman played by actor/folk-rock singer Saburo Tokito（時任三郎）hit the air with the proud march "Yuuki no Shirushi"（勇気のしるし）, it had folks laughing and throwing out their chests in pride to see if anyone could work those 24 hours with a ton of Regain in them. I had just arrived in Japan when the Regain boom began and I believe that the commercial was of such fame that it even reached Anderson Cooper at CNN.
Ah, while I'm at it...one of my businessman students taught me one way to get rid of a cold lickety-split because of course, businessmen can't be allowed to take a day off. As soon as you get home, take a hot shower, drink down two bottles of vitamin drink and then wrap yourself up in as many blankets as you can in bed. Basically, you're to sweat your cold to death at the sacrifice of some very smelly blankets the next day.
As I have already mentioned in the original article for B'z's"Bad Communication", this was the song that usually woke up in the mornings when I was living in Gunma Prefecture. I believe that it was the morning business show on TV Tokyo or TV Asahi and the commercial was of Rie Miyazawa（宮沢りえ）touting the charms of Fujitsu's FM TOWNS computer which sounds more like a local radio station. "Bad Communication" was the jingle and it was the most dynamic one that I had ever heard thus far. Alarm clocks should be as effective.
4. Carl Anderson -- Pieces of a Heart (1990) and Parliament Cigarettes
Parliament had a long reputation for putting out some very urban and urbane commercials for their death sticks, and although I've never smoked a cigarette in my life thankfully, watching the Parliament ads even had me thinking "I really need that lifestyle...NOW!". Of course, some of those urban contemporary songs by folks like Bobby Caldwell and Boz Scaggs came in handy to add that touch of class. But the one that really hit the heart was "Pieces of a Heart" by Carl Anderson. I believe that the ad came out during episodes of "Music Fair" on Fuji-TV late on Sunday night, and it was definitely something when I always looked forward to watching that one minute and change of the good life in Manhattan or San Francisco.
Are there any Japanese commercials and their tie-up songs that you've cherished over the ages? Let us know.
When I first introduced actor/singer Saburo Tokito（時任三郎）onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus" all the way back in May 2012, it was to write about his "Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai" (川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）, a beautiful ballad that I heard on "Sounds of Japan" in 1982 among all of the pops and hisses of a poorly-received CHIN-FM broadcast that night. Even through all the static, that elegant piano intro, the crying guitar solo and Tokito's rock balladeer vocals have stayed with me all those years so I have been grateful to YouTube for providing the song with tons of clarity.
"Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai" was a track on his 1981 debut album"Tooku de Boogie ga Kikoeru" (遠くでBoogieが聴こえる....I Can Hear a Boogie Far Away), but the album first starts off with "Motto Tsuyoi Gin wo Kure" (Will You Get Me Some Stronger Gin?). It's a cool and pensive song that brings feelings of Ian Thomas or Santana through the urban cowboy melody by Yuusuke Nakamura（中村裕介）. But instead of a steed, the cowboy here is probably manning a sports car as he helps a young lady through the blues according to the lyrics by Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）.
From the title, the cowboy thinks that some good talk and some of that clear libation will help the lass through the worst of her depression. It's a Yokohama-based song from Ohtsu's lyrics and Bay Route 6 seems to be the ideal path for that possibly romantic ride. Not sure where this highway is on a map of Yokohama, but for City Pop fans, maybe this could be another target area to ride in that rental car.😎
Getting into the 1990s, this is actually more of a Reminiscings of Young Adulthood article rather than a Reminiscings of Youth since I recall that entering 1990, I was some months into my 2-year stint as an English teacher on the JET Programme. But I'm as fine with a ROYA article as I am with a ROY one.
Growing up (and out), I came to realize that there are some songs which took over the pop culture zeitgeist for several months to a year. I think it was in 1976 that disco anthem "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy was pretty much everywhere whether I wanted to hear it or not. Then several years later, it was the big tracks from Michael Jackson's 1982"Thriller" album such as "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" that got everyone's attention for a long time.
In 1990, if memory serves, I think it was MC Hammer's"U Can't Touch This" that stormed the castle of pop music. Looking at the Wikipedia article for the single, I was surprised that it came out so early in January since I had always thought of it was a mid-summer sort of tune. But no matter the time of the year, it was a huge hit.
As I said off the top, I was already living in Japan at the time so perhaps it took a while longer for the fame of "U Can't Touch This" to alight onto those Pacific shores, but when it did, the song got popular in the country, too. In fact, I remember watching the popular Thursday-night variety show starring zany comedy duo The Tunnels who did a parody of the music video (and just to warn you in advance, the guys did use makeup). MC Hammer himself even showed up to ham it up with Taka and Nori.
I have even seen "U Can't Touch This" make its way into anime.
I did end up buying the CD single of the song at some music store...perhaps it was Tokyo, Maebashi or even the city of Numata which was next to my residence in Tsukiyono-machi. It's hidden somewhere in the stacks of singles that I still have. However, I didn't end up buying those baggy pants or suddenly getting into a dance craze because of MC Hammer. Things were pretty conservative in my old town.
The thing is, when I first heard the song, I thought it sounded quite familiar. And I'm pretty sure that veteran funkster Rick James thought it sounded quite familiar, too, since "U Can't Touch This" took a riff from James' 1981 "Super Freak" (which is also on a 1980s compilation album that I own). Apparently, he wasn't too thrilled and it took some litigation to get both parties happy again.
One sign that an entertainer has truly made it big? He makes a commercial in Japan, and that was the case for MC Hammer.
Now, when "U Can't Touch This" was first released in freezing January 1990, there were of course a number of J-Pop songs that made it into the Top 10 that month. I will give you No. 1, No. 4 and No. 6.
Earlier this month, I wrote a tribute for Daryl Dragon, The Captain from Captain & Tennille because of his passing on January 2nd. Sad to say, I have to say that 80s R&B singer James Ingram has also died today at the age of 66. I found out about the news earlier on Twitter. This hurts even more since the Ohio-born singer recorded a lot of numbers that became part of the music book of my memories and partially led to my love of the Japanese urban contemporary scene.
Ingram has already become part of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" since I wrote about his duet with Linda Ronstadt, "Somewhere Out There" which was later covered by Akiko Kobayashi（小林明子）under the title "Kokoro no Honoo"（こころの炎）. Strangely enough, the impetus for me to write about it was that composer James Horner had passed away.
I have Ingram's BEST compilation and also Quincy Jones' "The Dude", the amazing 1981 album that included the wonderful "Ai no Corrida", the opening track. However, Ingram was also responsible for another track "Just Once", his debut single recorded in August 1981. He had so many amazing songs but for me, "Just Once" is perhaps his theme song and a ballad that will always remind how much I love the 1980s R&B. On the US Billboard 100, it peaked at No. 17 but made it up to No. 7 on the Adult Contemporary charts.
Then in 1983, he and Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers did a duet for the single "Yah Mo B There", one of the cooler songs in the genre during those 80s. The intro still can give me a shiver up the spine. Ingram gave some wonderful balladry but I really loved the kakkoii factor for "Yah Mo B There". That went up to No. 19. Still remember the music video which got plenty of exposure on the music video shows.
As I did for "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille, I will continue the mandate of the blog and provide three songs that actually debuted in August 1981, the same month for Ingram's debut "Just Once".
Along with all of the Xmas/New Year's festivities and the announcement of the Kohaku Utagassen lineup, another pop cultural sign that the year is nigh is the presentation of "Shingo/Ryukogo Taisho"（新語・流行語大賞）or The New Words & Trendy Words Awards. Man, do the Japanese love their buzzwords and catchphrases! Among the words lauded in 2018 at the 35th edition were "So da ne~!"（そだねー...Yup!/Ya got that right!）by a women's curling team and "e-Sports".
Well, I kinda figured one thing. I know that there were quite a few songs associated with these various popular words of their year so I just considered scrolling through the official website for the awards and seeing what I could find. Of course, with the Heisei Era finishing up at the end of April, I decided to keep my focus from 1989 onwards for the most part so here are 9 songs attached with some of those Heisei trendy words and 1 that I decided to throw in for nostalgia's sake.
Considering that the Japanese have loved their trendy turns of phrase for years, I was a bit surprised that the awards only started up in 1984. I'm sure that the original producers must have knocked themselves upside the head and proclaimed "Why didn't we think of this sooner?" In any case, one of the first winners of the award (and this is the lone Showa Era nostalgic entry) was "Oshin-drome"（オシンドローム...Oshin Syndrome） to commemorate the massive international popularity of this NHK morning serial "Oshin"（おしん） (1983) about a woman who had grown up through unimaginably harsh circumstances to own her chain of successful stores.
Not being a serial drama fan, I was always in my room studying but I could hear my parents sniffling away as they watched another tear-drenched episode on their rental VHS tapes. And each episode would being with that wistful instrumental theme song by Koichi Sakata（坂田晃一）. I heard that "Oshin" became a huge hit even in Southeast Asia, and I even saw then-President Ronald Reagan give an address to Japan, making reference to the show although he pronounced the title as "ocean".
Yup, in the first (not-whole) year of Heisei, just as the first cracks were appearing in that Big Shiny Bubble, this commercial jingle for the Regain vitamin drink exhorted the masses to work their asses...off under the slogan "24-ji kan tatakae masu ka?"（24時間タタカエマスカ...Can you battle it out for 24 hours?）. It didn't stop the Bubble from bursting but "Yuuki no Shirushi"（勇気のしるし）was a huge success and probably got actor Saburo Tokito（時任三郎）his first hit as a singer. It even got attention from CNN.
"Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）the anime and manga by the late Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ） became a thing in this year, and even the famous ending theme (now the opening theme) by B.B. Queens ended up as the No. 1 single of the year on Oricon and in the karaoke rooms. Watching the show on Sunday nights, the anime has become as indispensable as "Sazae-chan"（サザエちゃん）on the Fuji-TV schedule.
Aye...who could remember that fateful scene of Tetsuya Takeda's（武田鉄矢）nebbishy character foolishly stepping in front of a truck and screaming at Atsuko Asano（浅野温子）, "Boku wa shinimashehhhhn!"（僕は死にましぇ～ん...I'M NOT GONNA DIIIIIE!）in 1991's "Hyaku-ikkai-me no Propose"（１０１回目のプロポーズ...The 101st Proposal） just to show how much he will not end up disappearing from her life? That proclamation got the prize that year although I rather wonder when Takeda showed up to get his prize whether he asked men not to jump in front of motor vehicles. Still, the opening theme "Say Yes" by Chage & Aska flew off the shelves to catapult it into Oricon history as the 7th-ranked single of all time.
5. EAST END×YURI -- DA.YO.NE (12th edition ~ 1995)
For the sake of truth-in-advertising, the full phrase that got EAST END X YURI their award in 1995 was "DA.YO.NE, MAICCA" after their two hit songs, but it's that first tune of "DA.YO.NE" that the hip-hop unit has become famous for. Simply couldn't get the song out of my head and ears, no matter how much I tried. It was that pervasive all over media and that didn't include all of the dialectal variants that also got released.
I'm sure that a lot of Namie Amuro's（安室奈美恵）fans really wanted to cry when she announced her retirement from show business a couple of years ago. Yup "Amurer"（アムラー）was another prize-winning word from 1996 when young ladies wanted to emulate the Okinawan superstar's looks right down to those platform boots. I'm not sure if I had seen too many Amurers walking into my branch of NOVA in Asakusa way back when, but I do remember seeing a lot of those boots. Not that I had a boot fetish or anything like that, ahem.
7. Pirates -- INCANTATION (15th Edition ~ 1998)
One of the reasons that I decided to come up with this list was this comical duo of busty tarento known as Pirates（パイレーツ）who gained their 15 minutes of fame for this one catchphrase, "Dachuuno!"（だっちゅーの...What I'm Saying Is）as they bent over in their low-cut wardrobe. Again as any of the trendy words for that year proved, it was one of those phrases that was everywhere in the media zeitgeist, and therefore, Yoshimi Asada and Haruka Nishimoto（浅田好未、西本はるか）were everywhere as well.
Plus, I vaguely remember that their fame meant going into the recording booth to spit out some singles. Their first one of four singles was "INCANTATION" released in March 1998. Written by Sho Saegusa（三枝翔...not sure about the pronunciation of the last name） and composed by Kazuhisa Yamaguchi（山口一久）, it had that slightly sultry feel, but that's all I can really say about it.
To think, a trio of dumplings became famous for getting the top single of 1999. "Dango San Kyodai"（だんご３兄弟）by Dango Gasshodan is a catchy tune, to be sure, though, and if I could re-title the song, I would put it as the Dango Tango. And yup, "Dango San Kyodai" was one of the 1999 winners, too. Japanese confectioners were probably placing their down payments on some nice real estate after getting all sorts of business after customers had seen the video.
At a time when corporate workers were getting mightily worried about getting laid off, perhaps the cover of Kyu Sakamoto's（坂本九）"Ashita ga aru sa"（明日があるさ）by Re:Japan's motley crew of Yoshimoto Kogyo comedians may have helped provide some solace. Plus, the friendly nature of the song must have made for a fine trigger for a massive singalong that year at the karaoke boxes.
Well, considering that "PPAP" went well beyond Japan's borders and tickled the humour of one Canadian superstar and dragged one other Canadian superstar into a parody, I think that it was a done deal for the song to get a prize a couple of years ago. Reading the description at the website for the trendy words, even those guys aren't sure what triggered the song's popularity.😁
From May, it will be a new reign era. I'm sure that there will be some buzzwords, catchphrases and trendy words formed and bandied about like candy from May to December, though.
This ballad by Ryo Aska（飛鳥涼）rang a bell with me when I heard it on YouTube and it turns out that it is on my purchase of his June 1991 album"Scene II". It was also the coupling song for his mammoth hit single "Hajimari wa Itsumo Ame"（はじまりはいつも雨）which had been released earlier in March that year.
Written and composed by the singer-songwriter, "Kimi ga Ai wo Katare" (Express Your Love) starts off with some pretty piano to relate the story of some fellow who finally got the message that he was loved despite his own doubts about the relationship. I think the diagnosis here was that although he had been hearing, he really hadn't been listening. Well, it looks like that has been resolved happily and he has given standing orders to his significant other to let him know that specific reassurance whenever he falters.
Of course, being an Aska ballad, there will always be that sense of epicness (forgive me, I realize that it isn't a real word) infused in the arrangement, and sure enough, the second half sounds like the clouds parting to let the rays of sunshiny wisdom and joy filter into the guy's brain. I would say that there is even some passing resemblance to The Beatles'"Hey Jude" near the end. Break out the swaying glow sticks!
Gotta include the concert performance of "Kimi ga Ai wo Katare" with an orchestra although I think the original recorded version still takes the gold medal in terms of glory.
Now the whole reason that I've put this ballad up in the first place was that I was actually looking for any Saburo Tokito（時任三郎）songs featured online. Up to this point, I was able to profile a couple of songs by the actor/singer, his bluesy and romantic "Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai"（川の流れを抱いて眠りたい）from 1981 and his comic hit, "Yuuki no Shirushi"（勇気のしるし）which was the jingle for all those Regain power drink commercials a decade later. And those songs were profiled way back in 2012.
Unfortunately, Tokito will probably only be known for his skills as a kakkoii thespian since I really wasn't able to find anything except videos representing the above two songs. However, I found out that he covered Aska's "Kimi ga Ai wo Katare" in June 1992 as his 16th single for which the above video is a cover.
Going back to Aska, I know about his personal problems from last year and I hope he gets better.
Years before Red Bull would smash into the nightclubs and study rooms of the world, there was Regain. The black-and-yellow vitamin drink still exists in Japan but over 20 years ago, one commercial and one song for this drink would have everyone marching gleefully whether or not they bought the stuff. I remember it even made it onto CNN as part of a report on the state of the Japanese economy which was starting to enter its quarter-century of recession.
The only other Saburo Tokito (時任三郎）song I have in the blog up to now was his debut song in 1981, the bluesy ballad"Kawa no Nagare wo Daite Nemuritai"（川の流れをだいて眠りたい）. About a decade later, Tokito would achieve another sort of pop fame by becoming the Ultimate Japanese Businessman/Ultra Daimyo, Saburota Ushiwakamaru（牛若丸三郎太）. He challenged viewers with this popular catchphrase, "Can you battle it out for 24 hours?" The above is the commercial that made it all possible.
This is the full 3-minute version of "Yuuki no Shirushi"(The Badge of Courage)which was released as a single in November 1989. It peaked at No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies and became the 16th-ranked song for 1990. I'm sure it was a hit at the year-end parties and karaoke bashes. There's nothing like a rousing march to get everyone up and singing.
This is the series of Ushiwakamaru Regain ads. Since those days, there have been a number of new Regain ads with other celebs, but no one and nothing has come close to The Ultimate Japanese Businessman.
Another one of my early exposures to kayo kyoku came through this song which means "I Want to Embrace the River's Flow and Sleep", released in 1981 as the theme song for a TV drama. The star of the drama and the singer for the theme are one and the same, Saburo Tokito (時任三郎）, a tall cool actor who seems to be currently playing calm, cool and collected upper echelon staff. He was seen as a top officer representing the Japan Coast Guard in the TV/movie series "Umizaru"(海猿...Sea Monkeys) a couple of years ago.
"Kawa no Nagare" was his debut as a singer. It's a crooning manly ballad which Tokito sings with plenty of emotion on his sleeve. You could just imagine him walking down the highway with a guitar on his back as the song is playing. For some reason, whenever I hear the song, it reminds me of Michael Johnson'sAOR hit "Bluer Than Blue" in 1978. I've also thrown it in here as a comparison.
The single also appeared on Tokito's debut album, "Tooku de Boogie ga Kikoeru"(遠くでBoogieが聴こえる....I Can Hear a Boogie Far Away) released in 1981.
