Shinpei Nakayama & Yaso Saijo -- Kata Tataki（肩たたき）

 

Happy Labour Day! This is the day in tribute to the working class in North America. Of course, being the master of the ham-fisted segue, I can say that after a hard day's work, folks can use a nice massage especially around the shoulders. As someone who's read a few books on the practice and used to undergo regular massage at the neighbourhood clinic in Ichikawa, I remember the masseur at both that clinic and the barber at my regular shop finishing up a session with some tapotement on my shoulders and back. They would just tap away while sounding like some slow maracas.

I've got just the song for you then. Weirdly enough, I heard about this one during last night's episode of "Asaichi"（あさイチ）which had the theme of ground sesame seeds. According to one expert on the topic, the ideal length of time to pound those seeds is to go five verses of this song before saying "thank you" in Japanese and a few more words.

The song is called "Kata Tataki" (Shoulder Tapping) and it is a children's song that was selected by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Parents-Teachers Association of Japan in 2006 to be a part of The Collection of 100 Japanese Songs（日本の歌百選）consisting of beloved songs and nursery rhymes. It was actually created in 1923 by famed lyricist Yaso Saijo（西條八十）and composer Shinpei Nakayama（中山晋平）as a song celebrating Mom's hard work and the children recognizing this by offering a shoulder massage. Not sure if Mommy appreciates being told that she's grown a gray hair, though.

Bonny Jacks/Hideko Hirai -- Ano Machi Kono Machi（あの町この町）

 

Remembering that I wrote about Akina Nakamori-related article on the 100th anniversary of Kiyose Station in Tokyo yesterday, and then encouraged by Noelle's article on Columbia Rhythm Boys' "Kappore" (かっぽれ) just this morning, I was wondering about what had come out in the record shops in Japan a hundred years ago in 1924, aka Taisho 13（大正13）.

Well, a beloved children's song titled "Ano Machi Kono Machi" (That Town This Town) was first created by the popular songwriting duo consisting of lyricist Ujou Noguchi（野口雨情）and composer Shinpei Nakayama（中山晋平）in that very year. Its first appearance was in the January issue's pages of a magazine known as "Kodomo no Kuni"（コドモノクニ...The Land of Children）. However, the earliest actual recording I could find on YouTube was the one by 10-year-old singer Hideko Hirai（平井英子）in 1928. Noguchi's lyrics and Hirai's voice gently send the message that it's time for the kids to head on home from playing outside before it gets too dark.

In 2007, "Ano Machi Kono Machi" was selected to be included in the "Nihon no Uta Hyakusen"（日本の歌百選...Collection of 100 Japanese Songs）, a collection of a hundred songs and nursery rhymes. On top of that, a stone monument with Noguchi's lyrics was established in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture where the lyricist had once lived. The veteran vocal group Bonny Jacks（ボニージャックス）also included their rendition of "Ano Machi Kono Machi" in their December 2021 "Bonny Jacks ni yoru Nihon no Jojou Uta Senshuu Nana-juu Kyoku"（ボニージャックスによる 日本の抒情歌選集 70曲...A Selection of 70 Japanese Lyrical Songs by Bonny Jacks）. Their version really amps up the folksiness of the song.

Hisaya Morishige/Keiko Fuji -- Sendou Kouta（船頭小唄）

 

I was watching a 1994 TBS variety series of a trio of tarento bicycling their way around the shitamachi area of Tokyo, and they encountered a couple of grizzled artisans in their 50s who specialized in creating obi for kimono. They accepted and lamented at the same time that they and their fellow comrades were slowly becoming extinct since machines were now able to create them much better and at a lower price although they felt that the human touch added that much-needed character. Now that it's almost thirty years later, I wonder what has become of them.

My feeling regarding the sendou（船頭）or Japanese boatmen is more guardedly optimistic. I can hardly imagine the day when robots will be rowing those old boats on the many rivers of Japan let alone seeing them pull off stunts like the one in the above video supplied by sshinozukajp. And I think that they've had a bigger presence in Japanese culture including within kayo kyoku. I've sometimes come across a few songs with sendou in the title.

Just recently, I found out about this one song titled "Sendou Kouta" (Boatman's Ballad) which was originally created in 1921 by lyricist Ujou Noguchi（野口雨情）and composer Shinpei Nakayama（中山晋平）under the title of "Kare Susuki"（枯れすすき...Withered Pampas） before being renamed the following year. Utako Nakayama（中山歌子）was the first singer to record "Sendou Kouta" in 1923, but unfortunately, I couldn't find any sign of her popular version online. However, I've noticed that the song has been covered by many singers since then, and it's even merited its own article on English Wikipedia.

From what I could discern of Noguchi's lyrics, "Sendou Kouta" seems to be a sad relating of a despairing boatman who may have lost his love and can now just do his job and little else. In 1957, the movie "Ujou Monogatari"（雨情物語...Rain Story） used the song as the theme with actor/singer Hisaya Morishige（森繫久彌）giving his version. The arrangement and Morishige's forlorn delivery can really punch a hole in the heart and I'm reminded a lot of Hibari Misora's（美空ひばり）"Kanashii Sake"（悲しい酒）which was released the following decade.

The first version of "Sendou Kouta" that I heard though was by Keiko Fuji（藤圭子）via her July 1971 5th album "Keiko no Jinsei Gekijo"（圭子の人生劇場...Keiko's Theatre of Life）. Her take has a bit more of an epicness to it and then about halfway through, the song suddenly veers more toward a jazzier Mood Kayo arrangement thanks to the introduction of a bluesy saxophone. With that version, I think that the setting goes from the lonely boatman all the way into a Shinjuku nightclub.

Ichimaru -- Tenryu Kudareba （天竜下れば）

Referring to the most recent episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）, the theme for last night was water, and I think the old kayo liked to pay tribute to Japan's fair share of waterways ranging from rivers to oceans.

The name Ichimaru（市丸）popped up again last night on the NHK program. Some months ago, I wrote an article about this interesting synthesis of shamisen and swing music called "Shamisen Boogie-Woogie"（三味線ブギウギ）that had originally been sung by the geisha-singer when she was entranced by American jazz in the postwar era.

Well, the song that was performed last night was one of her earlier hits, "Tenryu Kudareba" (Going Down The Tenryu River). Released in 1933, this song is pure enka in which Ichimaru pays tribute to this flowing waterway that passes through Nagano, Aichi and Shizuoka Prefectures. It may have had some special meaning to the singer since she was born in Nagano.

One of the other reasons that I decided to put this song up was that I recently spoke with my old university buddy who, along with her daughter, has been practicing Japanese dance for many years. She informed me that some of her friends in dancing have actually been taking a look at this blog, presumably for some of the enka songs that could be performed through odori. And I think "Tenryu Kudareba" may fit into that category. So if any of you see this, thank you for your patronage and please give Laura a shoutout. I'll be seeing her in a couple of weeks anyways to catch "Wonder Woman" with her family.

"Tenryu Kudareba" was written by Mikihiko Nagata（長田幹彦）and composed by Shinpei Nakayama（中山晋平）.

Ujou Noguchi -- Shojoji no Tanukibayashi （証城寺の狸囃子）

   

I heard a grand orchestral version of this children's song being played on the musical interlude just before NHK News several minutes ago. "Shojoji no Tanukibayashi" (The Raccoon Dog Forest of Shojo Temple) has a special place in my memory (although it wasn't until those minutes ago that I finally found out what the title was) since it was a song that my mother used to sing to me when I was a little raccoon myself. Mom put me on her lap and sang it while she had me clap my hands together. I was rather bemused at the time but I have always remembered the first line from the song, "Sho-sho-shojoji..."

"Shojoji no Tanukibayashi" was written by Ujo Noguchi/野口雨情 (1882-1945) who was famous as a poet and as a lyricist of children's songs. Around the mid-1920s, Noguchi visited Shojoji Temple (which is actually depicted under different kanji...證誠寺) in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture which inspired him to write "Tanukibayashi no Densetsu"（狸囃子伝説...The Legend of the Raccoon Dog Forest） in a children's magazine in 1924. Later on, composer Shinpei Nakayama （中山晋平）created some music around the words to finally make one of Japan's most famous children's songs.

Strangely enough in 1955, the late Eartha Kitt released an English version titled "Sho-Jo-Ji -- The Hungry Raccoon". 

We got plenty of raccoons here in Canada, even within the city limits of Toronto. The usual response from residents here would probably be something like: "AAUGGGGH! Raccoons! They're eating my begonias!" Apparently, raccoon dogs are somewhat different animals since despite the resemblance, they and raccoons actually belong in different families according to scientific classification. And over the centuries, a legend has grown around the beer-bellied tanuki that show them as sly shapeshifting entities that have evolved their own parallel society alongside humans. The most recent example of this that I came across was through the anime "Uchoten Kazoku"（有頂天家族...The Eccentric Family）whose wonderful ending theme song I've covered here.