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.
The very briefly ominous intro and outro with the percussion aside, as soon as I heard the music for this one, I knew that this had to be a Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）composition.
And sure enough, I was right. "Hoshi no Deja Vu"(Star-Crossed Deja Vu) was the B-side to Tomoyo Harada's（原田知世）"Soushun Monogatari"（早春物語...Early Spring Story）, her 7th single from July 1985. The sweeping feeling of fantasy within those strings and piano was pretty much a dead giveaway to the magic of Kisugi under Masaaki Omura's（大村雅朗）arrangement. And it goes so well with Harada's floating vocals. Chinfa Kan（康珍化）was responsible for the lyrics of a woman's memory of romance being triggered by certain scenes.
Although it's been categorized as a single with just the two songs on each side, "Soushun Monogatari" was packaged in an EP format, according to J-Wiki, so I'm thinking that instead of the usual 45" donut-ban, it got the full LP treatment.
Personally, I preferred to have my Royal Milk Tea when I was at some cafe in the Tokyo area but I was also fine with lemon tea, albeit it had to have some form of sweetness like honey in there.
Lemon tea is also the drink of choice in this lovely Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）song called "Tea For Memory" from her March 1981 4th album"Tenderness". Through Etsuko Kisugi's（来生えつこ）lyrics, it's about a couple of old flames who find themselves together again for just one spot of the drink in a cool cafe somewhere as they go over the memories of their past life together. The story and the music are very genteel and there's no bitterness...not even within the tea.
Composer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）comes up with a classy set of notes on the song sheet which brings to mind some elegant jazz which matches the setting perfectly. At first, I'd thought that it was Kingo Hamada（濱田金吾）behind the composition, although I've known that the Kisugi siblings have often come up with the refined stuff. I especially like the very amiable guitar intro after which Mariko's beautifully lilting vocals perfume the ears just so. After writing such florid prose, I'm actually eager to have a cup of tea myself although I won't go as far as sticking my pinkie out when I lift the cup.
Being a Sunday, I should be my usual more relaxed self but right now, it's the final day of the Winter Olympics and of course, that means that the Gold Medal game for Men's Ice Hockey is happening as I type this. Canada and the USA are battling it out and currently they are tied at 1-1. Canadians have confidence in their team but a few of them have also admitted to some jitters. What I wouldn't advise though while standing among a horde of hockey-crazed Canucks watching the game is whispering doubt along the lines of "But, what if we lose?". It won't look pleasant.
That's quite the segue into this song titled "Tamerai no Whisper"(Hesitant Whispers) which was sung by Shoko Minami（南翔子）, a name that I haven't talked about for a few years...at least, not since I posted her 1985 "Nagisa No Separation"（渚のセパレーション）. That had a rock vibe along the AOR side of things but "Tamerai no Whisper" which appeared on Minami's 3rd album from November 1986, "Sophisticated", is, as the album title would suggest, a more refined slice of sophisticated pop on the City Pop side of things.
One commenter for the above video mentioned that as soon as they heard the intro, they figured that it was the Kisugi siblings, lyricist Etsuko and composer Takao（来生えつこ・来生たかお）, behind the creation of the song. I actually saw the songwriting list first but I still went "ah, naruhodo" on seeing those two. Those guys were indeed the masters of the smooth and refined melody that hint at champagne and caviar in Tokyo. Kimio Mizutani（水谷公生）also has to get his accolades as the arranger. Considering the year of release, "Tamerai no Whisper" sounds like the typical City Pop song of that time of the Bubble Era.
Y'know...I should have posted this one up right on New Year's Day almost a month ago, but then again, I was rather busy with family stuff on January 1st. But I digress. This year is once again the Year of the Horse; people who were born in that year are supposedly responsible, confident and agreeable.
As such, I'm not sure whether I can find any kayo kyoku that are responsible, confident and agreeable, but at least I can find some songs that have some sort of relationship to horses.
I realize that this last one may not have anything directly to do with horses, but dang it, the rhythms here just remind me so much of taking a running ride on a steed through the countryside!
I figure that with the Holidays now in full swing in Japan, folks may be having their share of parties including those that occur at the karaoke boxes and bars of the nation. Maybe franchises such as Big Echo are doing volume business this week which may be quite long for people...perhaps as long as a week (yeah, I'm being a little sarcastic there). Of course, depending on the size and the average age of the group along with the type of songs that they tend to sing, there will be the duets to tackle.
Perhaps for the younger generation, that doesn't happen so often, since a lot of those duets occur in the enka and Mood Kayo genres. Plus, there is the matter of harmonizing which isn't all that easy. Not being a particularly great singer in my karaoke days in Japan, I don't think I ever dared ask any lady for a duet. However, listening to those duets on the stereo and now on YouTube is more my speed. Here are some of my favourites.
(1959) Frank Nagai and Kazuko Matsuo -- Tokyo Nightclub （東京ナイトクラブ）
(1982) Hiroshi Itsuki and Nana Kinomi -- Izakaya （居酒屋）
As soon as I heard the first few notes and first few strains of this song, I figured that this had to have been created by lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and her brother, singer-composer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. The tenderness in the opening piano was too much of a giveaway.
Quite appropriate, too, as this was Tazumi Toyoshima's（豊島たづみ）final single to date, released in 1982. "Moetsukite, Desire"(Burn, Desire) actually appears as a slowly fading ember in a campfire or maybe the night lights of the city gradually turning off after midnight once all of the usual hijinks take place. It seems like the perfect bedtime City Pop ballad to tuck folks into sleep. Perhaps it could have been the ideal campaign song for Japan Railways as tired commuters are heading back home after a long day of work and a long night of play.
Just staring at the cover for Takao Kisugi's（来生たかお）December 1979 album"Natural Menu", I felt like he should have gotten a gig for a cooking show on NHK. That is one lovely kitchen, and as it turns out according to the J-Wiki article on "Natural Menu", that was no set but his real kitchen after he had just gotten married. The photo itself inspired Kisugi to name the album "Natural Menu"!
Today is a Sunday and in keeping with that relaxed Sunday morning theme along with Takao himself enjoying that Western breakfast of toast, sunny-side egg, orange juice and coffee, I give you one of the tracks "Yuruyaka ni Ai ga..." (Love Slowly...). Composed by the singer, written by his sister Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and arranged by Masataka Matsutoya（松任谷正隆）, it comes across as the ultimate Sunday brunch song with that relaxing rhythm, the old-style pop feeling (something Gilbert O'Sullivan-ish) and Takao's crooning vocals. Heck, I've even read that Yosui Inoue（井上陽水）was helping out in the background chorus although I couldn't quite pick him out.
Well, I have to confess over here on a mistake that was left hanging over one article for a little over three years. You see, back in November 2020, I wrote an article on the 1976 "Suteki na News"(Wonderful News) by the late Mari Yoshida（吉田真梨）. I had been having trouble tracking down who the songwriters were and unusually, JASRAC wasn't all that helpful either but seeing the familiar names of songwriting siblings Etsuko and Takao Kisugi（来生えつこ・来生たかお）there with no singer listed, I naturally credited the mellow melody from what I heard to the Kisugis, especially since Takao had already been quite active in his singing career back in those 1970s.
Now, I was doing some maintenance on the blog earlier this morning when I was checking through the articles for any dropped videos and saw that the video for Yoshida's "Suteki na News" had been taken down. Of course, I start searching for any other videos featuring this particular song but I kept getting a song with the same title but different singer...to be specific, a model and tarento, really, by the name of Risako Shitara（設楽りさ子）who had recorded it in 1990. Plus, I saw Etsuko and Takao Kisugi attached to this one and so I naturally assumed that this young Shitara had done a cover version of the Yoshida original. However, Shitara's "Suteki na News" sounded nothing like the 1976 version, so I began sweating a bit and went down to town to find out the truth.
And the truth of the matter is that though it took a bit of time, I realized that I had been wrong about the songwriters for Yoshida's "Suteki na News" all along. By searching for the record itself in Yahoo Images and blowing up the liner notes by 50%, it turns out that a couple of French songwriters had created the original French pop song with lyricist Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）actually providing the Japanese lyrics. Of course, I made any corrections on the original article and noted the error at the very bottom of the article.
As it is, Shitara's "Suteki na News" was never released for sale and it was simply used as a promotion song for a Sanwa Bank (which was my old bank in Japan) commercial back in 1990. But indeed, this "Suteki na News" was taken care of by the Kisugis with Akira Inoue（井上鑑）handling the summery and relaxing arrangement paired with Shitara's whispery vocals.
The above video here has who I presume to be Shitara in a series of Sanwa Bank ads although "Suteki na News" isn't included. She was born in New York City and raised in both Dusseldorf, Germany and Fujisawa City in Kanagawa Prefecture. Along with doing her fair share of commercials, she has a short filmography, almost all in TV, and released two singles and five albums between 1988 and 1993. Shitara has been married all these years to Japanese soccer legend Kazuyoshi Miura（三浦知良）.
Over five years ago, I posted an article which involved the theme song for a strange Japanese sci-fi film from 1983 that even included actor Peter Fonda titled "Daijoubu My Friend"（だいじょうぶマイ・フレンド）. The star of the movie, actress/director Reona Hirota（広田玲央名）recorded that theme song with the same title and let's say her live version of the song wasn't exactly thrilling ears.
The B-side of the single is "Ki ga Ikisou na Sora" (The Exciting Sky) whose original recorded version was something that I discovered recently, and at least here, Hirota sounds pretty decent. It's a refined and sweeping pop tune (especially with those strings) so I am not surprised that it was once again the Kisugi siblings behind its creation, Etsuko（来生えつこ）on lyrics and Takao（来生たかお）on melody with Nobuyuki Shimizu（清水信之）handling the arrangement.
The Toronto International Film Festival is wrapping up today after about ten days of movies and glitz downtown. It's run its course like any other festival lasting some days here; a lot of giddy excitement in the beginning with all of the stars coming out to do their meet-and-greets with fans but the ending has gotten a lot quieter and slowly fading into the rest of the news in the city. Mind you, this year's TIFF is a bit more special since for all intents and purposes, this has been the first year since before the pandemic that the festival has returned to its old semblance of movies, fans and thespians happily getting together since before that, we all had to deal with COVID lockdowns and then the Hollywood strikes last year.
TIFF has gotten me to write about this ballad by crooner-songwriter Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. His August 1984 10th album"Romantic Cinematic" was created with the air of the old movies in mind, and so I bring you this track "Itsuka Tsukiyo de" (Sometime on a Moonlit Night). Written by his sister Etsuko（来生えつこ）with Takao handling the melody, Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）arranged "Itsuka Tsukiyo de" as this straight pop love song about an ideal time to fall head-over-heels, with the singer describing over how he first saw his beloved one moony evening.
I can certainly imagine a scene out of old Hollywood whether it involved Spencer and Kate, Humphrey and Lauren or Fred and Ginger. As for the album, it managed to hit No. 18 on Oricon. And I really like that stylized image of what could look like a typical Beverly Hills mansion as the cover for "Romantic Cinematic".
Well, today is indeed Father's Day. Hopefully, a lot of us have paid tribute to the patriarchs of the household. Our family got to share in a dinner together last night, and then I took my parents out for breakfast at our favourite diner earlier this morning. I still seem to be digesting my meal.
Summer is still yet to officially arrive but the feeling is quite summery already here and I hear in Japan that the temps are more than reflecting the hot season. Perhaps, it's just the time to reveal Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）opening track from her May 1982 5th album"Pineapple", "P・R・E・S・E・N・T". Written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, composed by Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）and arranged by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）, there is a feel of anticipation in the intro that made me first think that the protagonists were about to head out on a major vacation to exotic climes. But actually, as the title hints, the giddy young lady is about to receive a lovely gift from her beloved in the form of a gold necklace. Maybe it's another step closer to something even more precious such as an engagement ring.
Despite the intimate setting, I still get that feeling of all things summery out there with the rollicking rhythm and Seiko's light and fleeting vocals. Nice guitar to end things. As for "Pineapple", that was another No. 1 hit for the Queen Aidoru of the early 1980s.
Ahh...yes. Getting all moony-eyed are we? As a sequel to last night's J-Canuck's Favourite Ballads by Female Singers, I now have the male singers and their songs of love to finish things off.
The beginnings of the 1990s in Japan may have been the end of the high-flying Bubble era, but the City Pop music of that time was still very effective in giving that vibe of the good times, albeit in a more sophisticated pop sense.
Singer-songwriter Nami Hirai（平井菜水）is most likely not a household name in the Japanese music industry but she's just one of the unsung chanteuses who were keeping the luxury nights going in a melodic sense at least while the economy was finally coming down like a house of cards. One of the songs of hers that I have posted up in the past is her creamy but urbane "Kagayakitai kara"（輝きたいから）, her 2nd single from September 1991 and the final track on her debut album"Yume no Silhouette"（夢のシルエット）which was released a month later.
Another track from "Yume no Silhouette" is "Mada Yume dake no"(Still Just a Dream) which was written by Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. The Kisugi siblings were known a decade prior for providing singers with some lush romantic ballads, but in the 1990s apparently, they could also come up with the City Pop creations, and in 1990, Takao (and Etsuko) got a hit with his urban classy "Yume yori Tooku e"（夢より遠くへ）. "Mada Yume dake no" is also another cool and contemporary city tune by him under Motoki Funayama's（船山基紀）arrangement. Those particular keyboards bring in a lot of nostalgia of that time.
Singer-songwriter and musician Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）has been one of my favourite chanteuses in Japan for over 40 years, and as such, I have gone over a few of her albums such as her 1981 third album"Tenderness", although because of the usual powers-that-be issues, the best I've gotten for that one at least is the link to the Apple site. Maybe for this one, her March 1979 debut album as a solo artist, "Hitoaruki", I can bring in some of the videos for the music.
"Hitoaruki" means "Walking Alone" and it's a good title since Takahashi, who just turned 30 at the time, was making her foray alone in music without the support of her old band, the flamboyantly named Pedro & Capricious（ペドロ&カプリシャス）. Although I can't say that I'm an expert on the group, during Takahashi's time there as the vocalist, they probably focused more on the folk and rock of the 1970s, basically New Music. As a bit of an aside, I have to say that the soft-focus picture of her on the cover shows one of the best soft perms that I have ever seen for a singer. The lass looks rather uncertain when she really doesn't need to be.
I've already actually covered a couple of the songs from "Hitoaruki": the first track and one of her signature songs, the Ami Ozaki（尾崎亜美）-penned "Anata no Sora wo Tobitai"(あなたの空を翔びたい）, and the City Pop"Oide Summer Holiday"（おいでサマー・ホリディ）. There are eight more tracks so why don't we split the difference and try four of them in Part 1 tonight?
Starting off with Track 2, "Te no Hira"（掌...The Palm of Your Hand） is a song that was written and composed by folk singer Masashi Sada（さだまさし）. With Takahashi, it's always been the dramatic and heartfelt vocals and along with the preceding "Anata no Sora wo Tobitai", "Te no Hira" shows off the angst of love via her voice and the lyrics about love beginning with the contact of hands. Perhaps due to Sada's association and where the singer had come from, the song might be heard as a particularly rich folk song but I've opted to consider it another example of the baroque Fashion Music.
The next song is "Sayonara no Etude"（さよならのエチュード...The Goodbye Etude）, is a throwback to the 1950s or 1960s vocal group pop which was also part of the musical realm of another lady making her mark at the time and she also has the same initials as Mariko Takahashi...MT, as in Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）. Created by the sibling songwriting duo of lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ） and composer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）, it's a tenderhearted plea for a quiet and grateful end to a relationship. Let's remember the good times but look forward to the future without each other.
Track 4 is the slow samba-worthy "You're So Far Away" under the aegis of lyricist Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composer Henry Hirose（ヘンリー広瀬）who happens to be another former Pedro & Capricious member and Takahashi's husband. Despite the lyrics of a woman in the aftermath of a romance now over, Hirose's melody sounds perfect for a cocktail accompaniment at sunset. Not sure if it's City Pop or J-AOR so I've thrown both of them into the Labels.
The final track for Part 1 is the inspirational "My Dream"（マイ・ドリーム）which begins like a classic Carpenters tune with that piano and oboe combination in the intro. However it then transforms into a power ballad that Takahashi has become famous for belting out of the park. The lyrics (and music) by Kuni Kawauchi（クニ河内）seem to tell of a story of a woman and her unrequited wishes of romance. Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）was the arranger here.
John McGraw is someone that I've met a couple of times at lunch, thanks to an introduction via our mutual J-E translator friend. I guess that you can say that we're ramen buddies. But in any case, he began a YouTube channel called Hiyaku Coaching and a podcast titled "Intercultural Insiders" more than a year ago which in his oft-repeated words "...helps expats feel more confident in their new country in less time and pain than they would on their own". Whether it be in Canada or another nation, I'm sure that lot of us including myself have gone through the euphoria and despair of culture shock in the early years of residency in a new country. Well, McGraw and his coaching are the shock absorber.
Obviously I'm living in my home nation again, but I've been listening to John's podcasts for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm an introvert and I can use some of what he's spoken about and 2) he's got a very soothing voice.
But the reason that I'm starting off this edition of KKP on the first Saturday of March 2024 with some intercultural therapy is because of what this particular song is saying. It's been a while since I've posted anything by aidoru Yoshimi Iwasaki（岩崎良美）but I was able to find this track "City Polka" which is a track on her 3rd original album"Weather Report" from July 1981.
I know that Iwasaki actually began her career as a singer with some City Pop under her belt, but I have to admit that I've never heard of "City Polka" before. As created by lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composed by her brother Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）with arrangement by Masaaki Omura（大村雅朗）, "City Polka" isn't a polka at all even in its jauntiest moments. In fact, I'd say that it's a very congenial aidoru tune with a hint of 1950s girl pop and country. Lyrically though, the song is about a woman coming to grips with a new life in the big city, presumably Tokyo. Yes, she can feel very lonely in a megalopolis with a daytime population of 14-16 million souls. Overall, I can add that the song is a very pleasant underrated track that is very Kisugi indeed.
Well, I've brought out "live-action" Kayo Grace Kyoku in a drinking establishment whose bottles are perhaps a little too close for comfort. However, the photo seems to be the right one for this song.
First, just a little background though. I first mentioned singer Yuri Shimazaki（しまざき由理）almost four years ago when she sang one of the ending themes for the popular 70s cop show"G-MEN★75", "Omokage"（面影）. Shimazaki was still technically a teenager when she recorded this moody Mood Kayo in 1975 as if she were a hardened mistress of the mizu shobai. Mind you, she'd been a singer for some time before that.
The majority of her discography going into the 1980s and her early twenties was involved with "G-MEN★75", but in September 1981, Shimazaki released an album "After Hours"（アフター･アワー）which I hadn't heard of. The cover has her sleeping comfortably in some gold leaf or gold lame that makes it appear she's had the most expensive rest in her lifetime. Regardless, one track that I found on "After Hours" is "Shien" (Tobacco Smoke). It stands out for that particular keyboard being used in the intro and throughout the song. Feeling the mellowness of the arrangement by Tadashige Matsui（松井忠重）, I wasn't surprised that "Shien" was created by lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）who are famous for their languid songs.
Nope, I wouldn't say that "Shien" is a City Pop or AOR tune or even Mood Kayo by any means. But it does have that metropolitan feel and I do imagine that above scene with Kayo when this is playing in my head. If anything, I would say that the song enters the Fashion Music realm with the way the melody kinda slowly bounces around as if it were in France but at the same time, feels like a stint on the chaise lounge...or a well-worn bar stool. The titular smoke would be rising up very calmly, making all sorts of curls before it dissipates.
Happy Monday! It's been about a month since I put up a Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）song and that was the rare rocker by her, "Out on a Limb", the title track from her 1991 album. It was quite the revelation when I bought it. The above, by the way, is the back of the CD for her debut album in 1981, "Without Sugar", and it's noteworthy for the fact that she is actually smiling like a lottery winner. Kurahashi doesn't usually put up a happy face for the camera, so it's always nice when she does.
Anyways, we're going back to Ruiko's earlier days when her fans (including myself) knew and loved her for the languid light pop tunes. From her December 1983 album"Thanks", I offer "Melancholy Harbour". It has a little of everything for a light and mellow pop piece: some underlying bossa nova over here, a bit of AOR over there and some of that refined Fashion Music that first brought her to my attention. It was no surprise to realize that it was Etsuko and Takao Kisugi（来生えつこ・来生たかお） behind lyrics and music respectively since they were the experts back then to concoct the rich and sophisticated chocolate of kayo kyoku. But then we also have to thank arranger Kei Wakakusa（若草恵）.
In any case, this is a very typically Kurahashi song and if anyone asked about what her type of music is, I would definitely show this one. "Thanks" is also one of the very few albums of hers that I don't possess. Wouldn't it be nice to get this one at this late stage in the game?
Just for this article, I asked the AI art generator to cook up KKP representative Kayo Grace Kyoku to be draped over a chaise longue or chaise lounge (according to Wikipedia). However, Bing decided that the result would be too "racy" so I had to settle for the empty furniture. As for the reason that I made the request in the first place was that I was planning to talk about a song that could be considered to be within the sphere of Fashion Music, a particularly refined form of 70s New Music which I've often compared to Baroque Rock or Baroque Pop. I've given my examples on a 2018 article titled "J-Canuck's Fashion Music"（ファッション・ミュージック）. In all aspects, my genre is something that I impressed upon the blog on my own since its very brief usage in Japanese media had only been for singer Asami Kado（門あさ美）as a catchphrase for her 1979 song "Fascination". But in my opinion, there has been a good chunk of songs with that certain baroque quality so that the genre name is worthy of continued existence.
Anyways, one of my fellow Japanese music-loving Twitter companions, -3°C, informed everyone quite happily about how much they have have enjoyed this song "Koibito no Ryoubun" (Lovers' Domain) by Tomoko Kuwae（桑江知子）. Listening to it myself, I agreed and opted to write about it today on KKP seeing it is Hump Day and by this point, a lot of folks would probably love to lie down on the chaise longue, KKP's official furniture of Fashion Music.
It's got the gallant languidness that would suit the genre but it also possesses a certain relaxing country music lilt, and so I could easily imagine other singers such as Ruiko Kurahashi（倉橋ルイ子）or even the aforementioned Kado covering "Koibito no Ryoubun" as well. Maybe even Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）back in those early years. Speaking of which, the song was a track on Kuwae's 2nd album, the December 1979"Neppu"（熱風...Tropical Winds）. The sibling songwriting duo, lyricist Etsuko Kisugi（来生えつこ）and composer-singer Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）were responsible for "Koibito no Ryoubun" which doesn't surprise me since those two are quite famous for their smooth and languid arrangements.
Kuwae has dabbled in pop and City Pop, so why not something like Fashion Music? But since you're here, you can additionally try out her most well-known song, "Watashi no Heart wa Stop Motion"（私のハートはストップモーション）from that same year of 1979.
Takao Kisugi himself covered his composition in his December 2010 album"Hitasura ni"（ひたすらに...Devotedly） to mark his 35th anniversary in the business. His version seems almost elegiac as if he was thinking about putting a close to his career. Thankfully, that has yet to happen.
Ahhh...yes, the equivalent of "Teen Beat" in Japan, "Myojo"（明星）also has their Xmas issues. Kinda wonder what the magazine looks like now.
As with any town or city in many parts of the world, there is plenty of Christmas illumination and other decorations adorning the streets. One place that I've enjoyed viewing is actually a little north of us here. It's called Unionville and during the Holidays, it gussies itself up into basically the ideal Christmas town as you can see from the video by Intuitive Imprints. Heck, watching this, I wouldn't mind pulling up stakes and moving over to the community myself although I think realistically one would need a car to get around.
Coincidentally, singer-actress Hiroko Yakushimaru（薬師丸ひろ子）was singing about the same thing basically when she recorded "Christmas Avenue". It is a track on her August 1985 2nd album"Yume Juuwa"（夢十話...10 Dreams） and I've already written about the album that I have on audiotape but at the time, "Christmas Avenue" wasn't up on YouTube apparently. Well, it's up here now and this time around, this whimsical J-Xmas number has nothing to do with partying or romantic wonders/breakups, it's just about Hiroko enjoying that pleasant walk down the (Unionville) street around the Holidays. Can't be beat.
Written by Minako Yoshida（吉田美奈子）, composed by Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）and arranged by Kazuo Shiina（椎名和夫）, "Christmas Avenue" is a pop song that has that hint of old-style variety show jazz standard within it. I could imagine if Hiroko had ever performed this on TV or stage, she would have been accompanied by a bunch of dancing folks in candy cane or penguin suits.
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