Just for Fun...The J-C AI Gallery -- TOKIO, SHOW-YA & Anzen Chitai

 

TOKIO -- Ambitious Japan!

SHOW-YA -- Mizu no Naka no Toubousha（水の中の逃亡者）

Anzen Chitai -- Wine-Red no Kokoro （ワインレッドの心）

Happy 150th Anniversary to Railroads in Japan!

 

Well, NHK's "News at 9" went on a different tack this morning here. Instead of the usual doom-and-gloom news (for the most part), the anchors and reporters not only based their broadcast from the Osaka studio for the first time, but they also gave a cheery report on the 2025 Expo there and acknowledged some history in that 2022 is the 150th anniversary of railroads in Japan.

For a country filled with rabid train enthusiasts, this sesquicentennial has to be a big deal. And at Shimbashi Station in Tokyo, there was a commemorative ceremony and not surprisingly, a ton of tore-ota showed up with cameras and smartphones in tow. I can only imagine that there have been many specials all over the television dial this year as well as similar station ceremonies all over Japan.

If I'd known about this auspicious year in public transportation, I would have acknowledged it on Aya's（彩）"Happy Train" which I wrote about on Monday. However, this has given me an opportunity to devote an Author's Picks on those train-connected tunes. Of course, there is so much related kayo out there and I've covered my small share of them here on KKP, but off the top of my head, I'll just put these up in my own recognition of this piece of history.

TOKIO -- Ambitious Japan!

Karyudo -- Azusa Ni-go （あずさ２号）

Ruiko Kurahashi -- Chuo Line（中央ライン）

Denki Groove -- Popo （ポポ）

ZOO -- Choo Choo Train

While you're at it, enjoy some of Kuga's Travel via the Komachi!

TOKIO -- Hanauta（花唄）

Last night, NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）returned after a brief hiatus and this time, it came out as an extended 75-minute show. It's been a long while since I've seen an extended episode due to the pandemic and appropriately enough, the theme was the season of spring.

One of the acts who came on was Johnny's Entertainment aidoru group Snow Man and they performed a cover of the song "Hanauta" (Flower Song), originally recorded by their grand senpai, TOKIO. Their 25th single from March 2002, it's certainly one jaunty tune about loving the spring and the arrangement has that feeling of Beatles and Queen. I swear that there is one riff which was borrowed from the "Sesame Street" theme.

The lyrics are by TAKESHI and the music is by keyboardist and songwriter Akinori Suzuki（鈴木秋則）, formerly of the band Sentimental Bus（センチメンタル・バス）. "Hanauta" reached No. 5 on the Oricon weeklies and ended up as the 54th-ranked single of the year. TOKIO was even able to perform it on the 2002 Kohaku Utagassen. As well, the song was included on the band's 8th original album "glider" released in February 2003 which also hit No. 5 on the album charts. 

"Hanauta" was also used as the theme song for the 2002 NTV drama "Nurse Man"（ナースマン）which starred TOKIO member Masahiro Matsuoka（松岡昌宏）.

J-Canuck's Favourite Kyohei Tsutsumi Songs (A Tribute)

 

This morning, I was watching the usual NHK evening news broadcast when there was a brief one-minute statement announcing the passing of prolific kayo and J-Pop composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. He had passed away on October 7th from pneumonia at the age of 80 but to hear that one of the musical greats was gone still had my jaw dropping.

The news was still quite fresh in the media which explained the brevity of the announcement but I think for someone like Tsutsumi, there will be big tributes to the composer in the weeks and perhaps months to come on shows such as "Uta Kon"（うたコン）and maybe there will be a show dedicated to him on at least one of the major networks. Certainly, he was well represented on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" over the years via articles on individual songs and even articles showing how big he was such as a Creator article and an Author's Pick. Not surprisingly, Tsutsumi probably has the most number of KKP articles as a songwriter which partially reflects his status as the No. 1 popular music composer in Japan and also how much I enjoyed his work over the years. My most recent article involving him was about a week ago for Asami Kobayashi（小林麻美）.

As such, I've decided to pay tribute to the Tokyo native by showing off some of my favourites composed by him. It was fairly difficult to pare down; I had thought that I could give five but could do no "better" than ten. The majority are naturally the big hits but there are also a few that are perhaps not well known but are quite dear to me.

1. Ayumi Ishida -- Blue Light Yokohama (1968)

"Blue Light Yokohama" by the vivacious Ayumi Ishida（いしだあゆみ）, I think, was one of Tsutsumi's earliest hits and remains one of his evergreen classics. I also think it has one of the best intros to any kayo, and the song was created in tandem with Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）, his first regular songwriting partner. It may be an oldie but whenever I enter Yokohama itself, this song inevitably enters my brain at some point.

2. Hiromi Ohta -- Momen no Handkerchief (1975)

The song may not have the happiest lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, another frequent songwriting partner, but there's no doubting the bouncy melody by Tsutsumi. Since I hadn't been a lyrics person at the time, when I first heard "Momen no Handkerchief" sung by Hiromi Ohta（太田裕美）, I just thought it was one of the most carefree songs that I had ever heard in Japan.

3. Junko Ohashi -- Tasogare My Love (1978)

Another wonderful creation by Tsutsumi and Matsumoto, Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Tasogare My Love" also showed that the former could also come up with some of that urban kayo along with the breezy love ballads. For Ohashi fans, there are plenty of splendid examples in her discography but "Silhouette Romance" and this one are probably the two songs that Ohashi is widely known for.

4. Judy Ongg -- Miserarete (1979)

In Tsutsumi's vast collection of songs, Judy Ongg's "Miserarete" is his biggest-selling single and one of the prime examples of the exotic kayo boom that was taking place in the late 1970s. Of course, a lot of folks will point out the visual spectacle of Ongg and that dress of hers, but that dramatic and free-flowing melody has provided the wind beneath her wings (as corny as that may read).

5. MANNA -- Tokio Tsushin (1980)

Compared to the previous songs, MANNA's "Tokio Tsushin" is probably one of the lesser-known creations by Tsutsumi but it has been one of my favourites by the composer. It's got that disco beat, to be sure, and I think he was on that disco kick for a bit, but it also has some of that exotic kayo feeling as well. Perhaps he was aiming for France in this case. As I mentioned to one person, "Tokio Tsushin" is appealingly quirky.

6. Kyoko Endo -- Kokuhaku Telephone (1981)

"Kokuhaku Telephone" is another appealingly quirky and lesser-known song composed by Tsutsumi with new singer Endo（遠藤響子）providing the lyrics. "Kayo Kyoku Plus" helped me get to know more about the songwriters for all of the kayo, and with Tsutsumi, I first got to realize how many of the big hits he was responsible for, but then with further digging, I also discovered that he had a lot of hidden gems in his jewel case as well. For "Kokuhaku Telephone", the setting might be a stationary one by the phone but Tsutsumi makes it all sounds like a whirlwind tour around the city.

7. Hiroshi Itsuki -- Aishitsuzukeru Bolero (1982)

As I stated in the original article for "Aishitsuzukeru Bolero", this won't be one of the bigger songs for enka/kayo master Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）, but it's still one of my favourites by the singer and that is because of Tsutsumi's melody. The composer splendidly weaves in Latin, Mood Kayo and even some hint of City Pop to create that classy tune to accompany a drink in an expensive Akasaka bar. After first listening to this one on "Sounds of Japan", I realized that Itsuki wasn't just strictly an enka singer.

8. Jun'ichi Inagaki -- Natsu no Claxon (1983)

For me, "Natsu no Claxon" is one of Inagaki's trademark tunes as he wistfully sings about the end of the hot season, and Tsutsumi here spins up a bluesy City Pop/AOR melody handled by the piano, strings and background chorus to provide instant relaxation and some reminiscing of the pop ballads of yesteryear on the radio. Summer might be going away for another year but it's going out gracefully.

9. TOKIO -- Ambitious Japan (2003)

I think by this point, Tsutsumi may not have been as prevalent in the pop culture sphere but he still provided a banger with "Ambitious Japan" by the Johnny's Entertainment band TOKIO. I'm not sure if the composer had meant to do so, but he may have given the staff of Japan Railways and for that matter, anyone who wants to see Japan get higher, stronger and faster, the song to rev up to. The entire arrangement is designed to power a maglev train up to 603 kph and then whip it across the country. I'd probably say that this is my favourite Johnny's song.

10. Kiyohiko Ozaki -- Mata Au Hi Made (1971)

I've saved this one up for the very last entry since I think as a final farewell song for Kyohei Tsutsumi, "Mata Au Hi Made" is the one to use since it does mean "Until We Meet Again". Ironically, when I wrote up the article back in June 2012, it was on the occasion of singer Kiyohiko Ozaki's（尾崎紀世彦）death. One of Tsutsumi's greatest creations may have been initially meant for an air conditioner commercial, but I think since then, it has become not only Ozaki's most famous song but also a fine kayo of bittersweet bye-byes and then hoped-for reunions. Speaking of hope, I do hope that this will be the show-ending showstopper for any televised tribute to Tsutsumi. Perhaps this could be an idea for the upcoming Kohaku Utagassen, as different as it will be this year.

As I mentioned off the top of the article, it was difficult to pare down my choices and I've left a few that I would have put up if I had wanted to push it to twenty. However, these are my own favourites but if any of you have your favourites that I didn't mention, please feel free to say so below.

Although I couldn't track down how many songs he composed in total during his 55+ years in music, according to his J-Wiki article, Tsutsumi has 2709 songs registered in JASRAC which I'm pretty sure is only part of that total. He may not have covered the entire breadth of music in Japan (just couldn't see him doing punk rock or hardcore enka) but he took care of a huge chunk of it. One question that I've seen pop up in Japanese sometimes for a Tsutsumi tune (and one that I've blurted out myself) in the comments section of a YouTube video consists of three words, a question mark and an exclamation mark: "He composed that?!". Yup, he certainly did. 

He may not have been as prolific in recent years as he once was, but he kept on working right to the end. In fact, his final song was one he did for seiyuu/singer Azusa Tadokoro（田所あずさ）in mid-2019 at the age of 78.

TOKIO -- Uwasa no Kiss （うわさのキッス）

I have to admit that I never saw a single episode of the anime "Kiteretsu no Daihyakka"（キテレツの大百科...The Encyclopedia of Kiteretsu）, but at one point, I did enjoy one of the program's ending themes. That was "Uwasa no Kiss" (Rumoured Kiss) by Johnny's Entertainment unit TOKIO. It just had that catchy beat that managed to hold my attention. Written by Tetsuo Kudo（工藤哲雄） and composed by Takashi Tsushimi（都志見隆） as the band's 3rd single released in April 1995, the song's "Yea, Yea" and rumbly guitar basically drew me in like a magnet.

Tomoya Nagase and Tatsuya Yamaguchi（長瀬智也・山口達也）were on the lead vocals with "Uwasa no Kiss" which became their most successful hit under the Sony label (even higher goals were met once TOKIO moved over to Universal Japan at the turn of the century). It hit No. 2 and became the 88th-ranked song of 1995. The song was also a track on their 2nd album, "Bad Boys Bound".

TOKIO -- Ambitious Japan!

It seems as if a good chunk of the variety shows that thrive on Japanese TV is headed up by the boys....er, men....from Johnny's Entertainment. The SMAP members have been doing their fair share of hosting or regularly appearing for years, and the current masters on the hilltop, Arashi, are all over the airwaves. Then, there is TOKIO who have also been well represented, notably by two members: leader Shigeru Joshima and keyboardist Taichi Kokubun. In fact, let's introduce the whole band:

Shigeru Joshima （城島茂）　lead guitar
Taichi Kokubun   （国分太一）　keyboards
Tatsuya Yamaguchi （山口達也） bass
Masahiro Matsuoka （松岡昌宏） drums
Tomoya Nagase （長瀬智也）     rhythm guitar

I'm no expert on the Johnny's groups, but I think TOKIO is the one band in the harem that actually handles musical instruments on a regular basis. Although I've seen the 5 guys regularly on the variety shows and even in some of the dramas, I only know a couple of their songs off the top of my head. One was their 3rd single, the 1995 "Uwasa no Kiss"（うわさのキッス） which was the theme for an anime, "Kiteretsu no Daihyakka"（キテレツの大百科）. And then there was their 28th single, "Ambitious Japan!", released in October 2003.

The song found its genesis from the then-president (now chairman) of railroad company JR Tokai, Yoshiyuki Kasai（葛西敬之）, when he approached veteran lyricist, Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）, and asked him to write a railroad song to coincide with the opening of Tokyo's Shinagawa Station's new area to handle the Shinkansen (Bullet Trains). The song and its title were used as part of the big campaign, with the Bullets' 300 and 700-series trains emblazoned with "AMBITIOUS JAPAN!". I even remember seeing the huge posters of the well-suited members of TOKIO adorning the pillars in Shinagawa Station.

The song matches the speed of those Shinkansen. Composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）, the shiny optimistic melody just races along at a happy clip, so I can imagine President Kasai was a pretty happy fellow. It hit the No. 1 spot on Oricon and was the 55th-ranked song of 2003. And for Tsutsumi, who had started his career as a Group Sounds musician and then created songs from the late 60s into the 21st century for singers ranging from Agnes Chan to Shoko Nakagawa, "Ambitious Japan!" was his very first No. 1 single! I can only hope that Tsutsumi celebrated by getting that special Green Car seat on one of the 700-series.

courtesy of
b_macd from Flickr