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.
As I've mentioned before, "Ue wo Muite Arukou"(上を向いて歩こう) will always be Kyu Sakamoto's（坂本九）most famous kayo kyoku but close by in second place is his "Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo"（見上げてごらん夜の星を）which can rival the Sukiyaki song in terms of how many tears it can wring out from listeners.
"Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo" was quite the emotional ballad for Sakamoto, so I gather that the producers for the May 1963 single figured that the B-side had to be somewhat lighter in tone to compensate. Well, the same creators of the A-side, lyricist Rokusuke Ei（永六輔）and composer Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, came up with this cheery slice of Latin-infused kayo called "Benkyo no Cha Cha Cha" (The Study Cha Cha Cha). Short and sweet with an arrangement that Perez Prado would be proud of, it's good enough for those cramming students to get off their duffs for a couple of minutes to do a cha cha throughout the major high school subjects. Hopefully, it was enough for them to pass those dreaded entrance exams. Incidentally, Danny Iida and the Paradise Kings（ダニー飯田とパラダイス・キング） provided background chorus.
Since "Kayo Kyoku Plus" began in early 2012, we've had to say goodbye to a lot of singers and other people who've had a major influence on the Japanese music industry, and sad to say, 2025 is now no different.
Over the past several years, it's been the usual question that has popped up in my family about whatever had happened to actress-singer Ayumi Ishida（いしだあゆみ）. There have been plenty of singers appearing on television to cover her classic "Blue Light Yokohama"（ブルーライト・ヨコハマ）but the woman herself had not shown up as of late....at least, not on the programs that we've been watching.
This morning, we received a sad and definitive answer on NHK's"News Watch 9" when the anchor reported that Ishida had passed away on March 11th at the age of 76 due to hypothyroidism. Although as an actress with a long filmography, Ishida probably played a huge range of characters, I've always seen her on TV as a very vivacious and classy lady but also as someone who gradually grew frailer over the years.
Born on March 26th 1948 as Yoshiko Ishida（石田良子）in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, she was also raised in Metropolitan Osaka. She entered show business in her mid-teens in the mid-1960s but what I hadn't known was that as a young girl, she was also a figure skater.
1964 was the year that she made her debut on all fronts as an entertainer, and that included her first single from April, "Nee, Kitte yo Mama" (Hey, Mom, Got Something to Tell You). Written by Takakazu Okada（岡田教和）and composed/arranged by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, on the kayo side of things, I could say that this was a loud and brassy tune with a dondonpa or cha-cha sentiment while on the Western side of things, it comes across as a happy-go-lucky 1960s girl pop tune a la Connie Francis. Ishida was only 16 when she recorded "Nee, Kitte yo Mama" as this proclamation to turn the blood of all mothers cold as she's been greeted with all sorts of offers from the male population and she's not exactly turning them away all that strongly. The attitude is absolutely teen rebel but even with her first one, I can still hear that plaintive nasal tone in Ishida's vocals that has been a hallmark in hits including "Blue Light Yokohama" and "Anata nara Dou Suru" (あなたならどうする).
My condolences to Ishida's family, friends and many fans. We've lost another kayo kyoku legend.
This will be the late Taku Izumi's（いずみたく）23rd article on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", and the composer has been responsible for a lot of works including a commercial jingle and themes for television shows along with his hit songs such as Saori Yuki's（由紀さおり）"Yoake no Scat"（夜明けのスキャット）and Aoi Sankaku Jougi's（青い三角定規）"Taiyo ga Kureta Kisetsu"（太陽がくれた季節）. However, I didn't know about the fact that he had his own group of singers.
Working since the 1950s, in 1972, Izumi brought together a total of thirteen young men and women from an entertainment company, the alumni group from the NHK music-variety show "Stage 101" and even members from the defunct Group Sounds band Fifi the Free to form Izumi Taku Singers（いずみたくシンガーズ）. Initially, the group was divided into a singing team and a dancing team, and during their three years together, they released seven singles and three albums.
However, by the time of their fourth single, Izumi Taku Singers was basically pared down to around seven members. That single was "Kaerazaru Hi no Tame ni"(For the Day of No Return) which was released in April 1974. A bossy and boppy kayo composed by Izumi and written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）, the No. 13-ranked hit was created for the NTV rugby-based drama "Warera Seishun!"（われら青春!...Our Salad Days!）that had an April-September run in that same year.
The legendary aidoru trio Candies（キャンディーズ）covered "Kaerazaru Hi no Tame ni" on their December 1974 3rd album, "Namida no Kisetsu"（なみだの季節...Season of Tears）. Their version is a bit brighter, for the lack of a better word.
When this movie hit the theatres in late 1963, I was unfortunately yet to arrive on this mad, mad, mad, mad world for several more months, so my first viewing of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was through its rerun on CBS one Saturday night when the network hadn't minded donating three hours of air time to this epic comedy.
And boy, was it epic! From what I learned, the movie industry was in some turmoil at the time since television had been stealing cinema's thunder and viewership. The studios had to throw in every trick ranging from Panavision to humongous casts to bring back bums into seats. So, you had these historical epics such as "The Ten Commandments" and big caper movies such as the original "Ocean's Eleven". Then you had "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" directed by Stanley Kramer who, a couple of years earlier. had helped make the extremely serious "Judgment at Nuremberg" with its own big cast including Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland and William Shatner involved with the theme of fascism and war.
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" then was Kramer's far more jovial take on greed and what it does to people. And in this case, the movie vacuumed up just about every comedian in existence (Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Dick Shawn, etc.) over forty years and dumped them into California with starring and cameo roles. As a kid, I was heaving up my internal organs like a scared sea cucumber as I watched scenes like Jonathan Winters' one-man rampage in a garage.
Then, there was Barrie Chase's weirdly alluring dance (Chase is now the only surviving cast member) along with an unbelievable final car chase which didn't have any action-movie stars but terrified funny people. And that led to the final comeuppance and takedown of almost everyone via a poor fire truck ladder. Spencer Tracy as an escaping police captain? Check. Peter Falk, years before Columbo? Check. Milton Berle as a milquetoast? Check. The Three Stooges in colour? Double check.
And adding to the joyful lunacy of it all? Ernest Gold's soundtrack including the main theme. The Saul Bass opening credit sequence with the theme are worth the price of admission all on their own. Gold got the whole premise of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and reflected that with the crazed circus arrangement of the theme which picks up here and there throughout the movie.
There was even a sung version with Mack David's lyrics and not surprisingly, the content is appropriately mad. The theme was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song but the actual winner for the movie at the Academy Awards was in Best Sound Effects. After all, Jimmy Durante kicked that bucket really melodiously.
As for the comparison that year in Japan, I'm going with the 5th Annual Japan Record Awards and specifically the winning songwriters this time around in 1963.
There are a number of reasons that I actually gained weight while living in Japan instead of the opposite and probably healthier direction. One is that the average convenience store held some scrumptious snacks including various forms of chocolate. The famous company Meiji（明治製菓）was also complicit by providing some of that cacao goodness including those chocolate-covered almonds. If the product being stated on this blog sounds familiar, then you must have read yesterday's article on Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Synchronicity ~ Suteki na Guuzen"（シンクロニシティ (素敵な偶然)）since the song was used for that particular Meiji confection.
From Amazon.jp
Yeah, that's right. YOU! Damn you, Meiji Almond Chocolates and your sultry chocolatey vixen ways! That might as well be a mug shot...a mug of hot chocolate!
I have no idea how many tens of millions of Meiji chocolate products get sold annually but I know that the marketing department for the company must have cleaning up the yen all these decades including the various commercial campaigns on television. And that includes the whimsical theme song for the chocolate which was one line repeated over and over like a hypnotic mantra:
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate wa Meiji（チョコレート チョコレート チョコレイトはメイジ～ ...Chocolate is Meiji）
The first time I heard it was when the popular aidoru duo of the late 1980s going into the 1990s, Wink, sang it coquettishly for the company. My assumption had been that the jingle was made just for them.
Well, how wrong I was! The "Meiji Chocolate Theme", which is also known as "Chocolate wa Meiji"（チョコレートは明治） and "Meiji Chocolate no Uta"（明治チョコレートの歌...The Meiji Chocolate Song）, was first created by famed songwriter Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, who was also responsible for the theme song for the long-running interview show "Tetsuko no Heya"（徹子の部屋） starring Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）, in 1966. The above ads were supposedly from 1967 and it's interesting to see that the commercials feature a father and his daughter enjoying the chocolate; apparently, Mom would have stopped that habit dead in its tracks. The very first version as noted above was sung by the vocal trio The Three Graces（スリー・グレイセス）who also sang the theme song for beloved anime "Mahotsukai Sally"（魔法使いサリー）in the same year of the Meiji theme's debut.
Reading through the J-Wiki article for Meiji, the theme song has been covered over the past half-century by many singers in their individual way, and one such band who did so was none other than the Group Sounds bunch known as The Tigers（ザ・タイガーズ）with Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）at the fore.
80s aidoru Akina Nakamori（中森明菜）gave her own contributions to the "Meiji Chocolate Theme" and other songs connected with the company.
Jun Matsumoto（松本潤）of Arashi（嵐）wasn't the one singing here but the theme gets a circus-like arrangement while the lad himself and his surroundings are very reminiscent of Willy Wonka.
Glad to see that NHK's "Shin Nihon BS no Uta"（新日本BSの歌...Songs of Japanese Spirit）kayo kyoku program is returning to a more convenient hour for the first time since the new Jme regime began on April 1st. It should be coming on within an hour of this writing. Speaking of the program, I saw an old rerun of it a few weeks ago in which enka veteran Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）sang this rather melancholy yet beautifully arranged kayo that I hadn't heard before.
The song's title, "Kibou"(Hope), was easy enough to remember. It seemed a bit outside of what Kobayashi usually has sung so I did assume that the original version had been sung by another singer. Sure enough, it turns out that "Kibou" had been created by composer Taku Izumi（いずみたく）and lyricist Toshio Fujita（藤田敏雄）in the late 1960s for a musical starring actress/singer Chieko Baisho（倍書千恵子）. The song seems to have had an overarching presence in the play which would have had it going for around 6 1/2 minutes so its adaptation into a single back in those days was impossible. Folk group Four Saints（フォー・セインツ）did record a 1969 single of it in the 4-minute range, though, which scored a No. 26 ranking.
However, the most acclaimed version of "Kibou" seems to have been the one by Yoko Kishi（岸洋子）when it was released in April 1970. Arranged by Makoto Kawaguchi（川口真）, the ballad here is a mix of sad kayo and chanson as Kishi sings about a woman who ends up leaving not only her town but what turned out to be the love of her life and has regretted it ever since. Whether or not she's successful, she clings onto that titular hope that she will meet her former flame and make up for lost time. The above "Big Show" performance from 1974 is stressing the more chanson elements.
The story in the lyrics aside, I think Kishi's version of the song has probably had even more meaning for her and her fans. Yes, it did score a No. 2 ranking on Oricon and ended up as the No. 12 song of the year, selling more half a million records and earning her a performance award at the Japan Record Awards at the end of 1970. At the same time, though, she'd also been hospitalized due to a serious disease and so what probably had been a sure appearance on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen had to be cancelled. The hope this time was for Kishi to recover and happily she did recover so that she was able to appear on the 1971 Kohaku which would be her final appearance on the program, after a total of seven such appearances.
The above is the folksier earlier version of "Kibou" by Four Saints.
It's almost become cliché that Japanese celebrities have often decided to go the political route and run for public office. For example, singer-actress Junko Mihara（三原じゅん子）, former SPEED member Eriko Imai（今井絵理子）and the late Antonio Enoki（アントニオ猪木）have all had their time in the House of Councilors within the Japanese Diet. Another singer-actress who also did the same thing was Tamaki Sawa（沢たまき）.
Born in Kawasaki City in 1937 as Masako Yamamoto（山本昌子）, she made her debut in 1956 as a jazz singer (maybe the name change to Tamaki Sawa occurred then), but then made a switch in record labels to widen her musical opportunities. Her first song with the new label, Victor, was "Bed de Tabako wo Suwanai de" (Don't Smoke In Bed) in April 1966. No pun intended, but she has some wonderfully smoky vocals to match the setting of a woman coquettishly asking her bedmate to quit lighting up and start snuggling up. Good advice from her to avoid a very dangerous situation...well, one anyways.🔥
Written by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）and composed by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, "Bed de Tabako wo Suwanai de" has a very comforting atmospheric Latin arrangement, and I could easily see Sawa having performed this in an intimate setting of a tropical bar while some fellow in a white tuxedo is making a sort of mai tai. Although the song was actually the B-side for the single "Oshiete Choudai"（教えて頂だい...Tell Me）, it actually became the huge hit of the record and so adjustments were made for the album cover in later releases. At least initially though, NHK had refused to air the song because Iwatani's lyrics included the line "...the sweet scent of Chanel..."; apparently, the national broadcaster hadn't wanted to give any corporation an unfair advantage, but all was well and good when the line was altered to just "...the sweet scent...".
Sawa had been invited twice onto NHK's Kohaku Utagassen in 1958 and 1960 during her jazz singer era, but I gather that it has been "Bed de Tabako wo Suwanai de" that got her the largest fame. From the J-Wiki article, the song has been covered by at least 34 singers according to the JASRAC database as of 2018.
The singer released over twenty singles and several albums up to the late 1990s with most of them being released in the late 1960s and 1970s (she was also prolific in her acting career, too). In 1995, Sawa was encouraged by one of the movers and shakers in politics, Ichiro Ozawa（小沢一郎）, to make a run for a seat in the House of Representatives' 1996 general election but lost out to another celebrity. However, in the 1998 House of Councillors' election, she was able to win a seat and had positions in panels such as the Welfare Labour Relations Board. Tragically though during her term in 2003, she suffered heart failure and passed away at the age of 66.
Well, I've had one representative song from the currently running anime "Tomo-chan wa Onna no Ko!"（トモちゃんは女の子！...Tomo-chan is a Girl!）in the form of Maharajan's "Kurae! Telepathy"（くらえ！テレパシー）. There have already been some highlights from the first few episodes of the show including main character Tomo giving her own special touch to traditional Japanese kids' songs at karaoke. I will definitely have to cover the song that Tomo sings here very soon since it is a classic and because her seiyuu Rie Takahashi（高橋李依）has really shown her range.
But allow me to introduce an old kayo that I hadn't realized was specifically a children's song until I got to listen to it again after many years. I simply assumed that "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni" (The Sun in the Palms of Our Hands) was just another one of those Showa Era songs that everyone loved to do in a singalong. It's jaunty and people can do it in unison so I can imagine that it was a fun tune to do at karaoke, and maybe ol' Tomo can give it a shot the next time she goes...if she does go a next time.
Bonny Jacks（ボニージャックス）is a chorus group that I've always wanted to get onto the blog just because I like the sound of that name of theirs. Formed in 1958 from the Waseda University glee club, they first consisted of Takeomi Kashima（鹿島武臣）, Motoyasu Tamada（玉田元康）, Hisao Nishiwaki（西脇久夫）and Masato Ohmachi（大町正人）. With the deaths of the last two members in 2021 and 2011 respectively, it's currently a trio with Hideyuki Yoshida（吉田秀行）joining in 2003. "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni" is one of Bonny Jacks' trademark tunes that was released as a single in 1965 and it was successful enough that the group made their final of three appearances on the Kohaku Utagassen that year.
Not surprisingly, "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni" has had its covers over the decades, and in fact, Bonny Jacks' tilt at the song was also a cover. The song about friendship and love of life in all its myriad forms (sounds rather Shinto) was first recorded in 1962 for NHK's music program for kids "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）with lyrics and music provided by Takashi Yanase（やなせたかし）and Taku Izumi（いずみたく）respectively. Recorded by Mariko Miyagi（宮城まり子）, a singer and actress who would later become an advocate for children with disabilities, and Victor Jidou Gasshoudan（ビクター児童合唱団...The Victor Children's Chorus）, the orchestra has an almost rumba approach to the arrangement. Miyagi herself is downright boisterous in her delivery.
When it comes to the TV legend that is Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黒柳徹子）, my first thought will always go to her duties as host for the long-running TBS music ranking program "The Best 10"（ザ・ベストテン） which ran from 1978 to 1989. That was the first time that I had ever seen this vivacious lady who has been an actress, hostess, TV personality and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
However, the truth is that Kuroyanagi has had a show on TV Asahi that had begun a couple of years earlier than "The Best 10" and is still going on today, more than 30 years after the music program finished its run. "Tetsuko no Heya"（徹子の部屋...Tetsuko's Room） is a far more sedate viewing experience than the often bouncy and noisy "The Best 10". Running in the early weekday afternoons, Kuroyanagi invites guests of all stripes onto a set which appears like the salon in a stylish and old-fashioned house where they the host conducts cordial interviews. You would expect cups of tea and a plate of cookies on the table.
I'm not sure how long the above video will stay up, but the episode is a repeat of a "Tetsuko no Heya" with the Godfather of Manga himself, Osamu Tezuka（手塚治虫）, that was most likely broadcast soon after his passing in 1989 with Kuroyanagi providing a preceding monologue giving tribute to her friend.
Of course, for such a show, a theme song which has the same sort of atmosphere imbued into each and every episode is absolutely necessary. And so, ever since "Tetsuko no Heya" began its run in February 1976, the theme song has been one of lightness and amity. It's a very welcoming and cordial (and very well-known) theme that lasts less than a minute, but it gives out the appropriate feeling of a splendid afternoon tea with friends.
Composed by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）who had come up with kayo hits such as the onsen-friendly "Ii Yu da na"（いい湯だな）for The Drifters and The Duke Aces, and the heartfelt ballad "Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo"（見上げてごらん夜の星を）by Kyu Sakamoto（坂本九）, I discovered in the J-Wiki article for the theme song that it had been derived from an earlier musical performance by Kuroyanagi and soprano Yuuko Shimada（島田祐子）titled "Nijuushou"（二重唱...Duet）. But that information wouldn't see the light of day until Shimada, who guested on "Tetsuko no Heya", let the cat out of the bag in 2006. The original "Nijuushou" did have lyrics provided by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）, but of course, the theme for the show only has that light scatting.
I gather that we are continuing on the Valentine's Day weekend kick from the previous article with Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）.
When it comes to the singer Naomi Sagara（佐良直美）, her trademark tune will probably always be "Sekai wa Futari no Tame ni"（世界は二人のために）, the grand heart-on-your-sleeve ballad that the Tokyo native started her career with back in May 1967 when it was released as a single. However, her 2nd single from later in December, "Watashi no Suki na Mono" (The One That I Love) is also another song about l'amour.💕
What "Watashi no Suki na Mono" might lack in the grandeur of "Sekai wa Futari no Tame ni", it makes up for in its bossa nova-inflected sweetness (so I'm not quite why Sagara is being put under siege by some rogue lemons). True to the bossa nova, the underlying rhythm and the flute keep up the melody as Sagara kindly coos some woo. I'm thinking a romantic picnic under a tree in some park somewhere. Taku Izumi（いずみたく）was responsible for the music while Rokusuke Ei（永六輔）, the man behind the words for "Ue wo Muite Arukou" (上を向いて歩こう) , took care of the lyrics here.
Last night, I was writing about Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）"Samui Yoake"（寒い夜明け）and mentioned that I couldn't find a number by the fellow that had been written by Tokiko Iwatani（岩谷時子）who was given that lovely tribute on "Uta Kon"（うたコン）on Tuesday night. Well, there was one song by her that got featured on the show and it is a lovely kayo ballad.
I'm happy to introduce this one, too, since it would be my second song on the blog belonging to Naomi Sagara（佐良直美）, someone whom I had only known thus far for the classic "Sekai wa Futari no Tame ni"（世界は二人のために）, "Ii Janai no Shiawase Naraba" (Why Not As Long As She's Happy),her 9th single from July 1969.
However, I didn't just opt for this song purely for quota's sake. "Ii Janai no Shiawase Naraba" is also a beautiful, bittersweet and haunting kayo that contrasts rather nicely with "Sekai wa Futari no Tame ni". Sagara's debut is gently optimistic but this particular entry in her discography is gently sad and wistful as the protagonist describes his ultimate parting from a woman who may have a bit of history behind her. Perhaps the relationship couldn't continue because of the innuendo surrounding her or she's dumped him for someone else but his love still remains for her. As long as she's happy, that will be fine with the fellow (I hope).
Listening to the original at the top, Sagara's deeper vocals and the tempo really give "Ii Janai no Shiawase Naraba" that gravity as heavy as the footsteps of the sad fellow as he schlumps through the streets mourning his loss. As I said, Iwatani was responsible for the lyrics and Taku Izumi（いずみたく）took care of the introspective melody.
The song was fully in the age of Oricon so it actually hit No. 2 and became the 22nd-ranked single for 1969. It also won a Japan Record Award for Best Song and earned Sagara her 3rd straight invitation to the Kohaku Utagassen.
There have been a lot of covers done of "Ii Janai no Shiawase Naraba". Fellow singer Saori Yuki（由紀さおり）provided her own version of the ballad in her 2011 album"1969" with Pink Martini. The album hit No. 4 on the Oricon weeklies. It would later become the 99th-ranked album of the year and even greatly improved its ranking the following year as it hit No. 26. On iTunes, it actually even hit No. 1 in Japan, Canada and the United States!
As well, Masako Mori's（森昌子）version amped up the Latin jazz flavour. It appeared on her album "Ano Koro"（あのころ...Those Days） which was released in August 2007.
Normally I wouldn't tout my birthday...but it looks like SNS like Facebook are more than happy to do the touting for me. And frankly for folks like me who are beyond their 40s, birthdays aren't exactly anything to be all that enthused about anyways. Still, I will officially be going into my 51st year on Earth in a couple of hours.
As is the case here in North America, a lot of those Western-style restaurants in Tokyo such as the Outback Steakhouse are more than happy to help celebrate the birthday occasion. So the wait staff will come on out with a small birthday cake while Stevie Wonder's"Happy Birthday" plays on the speakers. Our family though is definitely not one of those groups that will advertise a birthday to a restaurant...we relish our privacy.
Last night, I received a message from my Mixi account from one of my friends in Japan which consisted of the above song. It sounded adorable enough so that I wanted to share it with you as well. Titled "Tanjoubi wa Ii Mon da"(A Birthday is a Wonderful Thing), it is sung by the band Pinky and Killers（ピンキーとキラーズ）and was released as their 12th single in 1970.
Now, I've known Pinky and Killers with the clear-voiced Yoko Kon（今陽子）leading the way with the cool 60s number "Koi no Kisetsu"（恋の季節）, so it was a tad surprising to hear them sing this birthday song that was so cute that it could have been made for the kiddies. As for liner note information, I could only find out that Taku Izumi (いずみたく) was responsible for the breezy, let's-go-catch-butterflies music.
"Mambo U" is another entry from Duke Aces' "Nihon no Uta Series" (「にほんのうた」シリーズ)and the prefecture of focus would be Gifu. Frankly, when I stumbled upon this interesting song on YouTube over the weekend, I had no idea that "Mambo U" is part of this series, I just thought that it's probably one of their other jazzy or weird-but-good ditties I had yet to discover. It was only when I saw the names of these songwriters, Rokusuke Ei (永六輔) and Taku Izumi (いずみたく), in the video's description did it finally dawn on me.
So what well-known thing in Gifu is being featured in Ei's lyrics this time? No, it's not temples, or hot springs or frogs. It's the "U" (鵜) or the cormorant, an aquatic bird I've seen in TV shows/documentaries (mostly on a province in China) diving into rivers and swallowing up fish before returning to their human employers (fishermen) and regurgitating the catch on to the bamboo boat. As it turns out, this method of fishing, known as Ukai (鵜飼... Cormorant fishing), is also used in Gifu City along the Nagaragawa River since the beginning of time, according to a tourist guide I visited to find out why a song on Gifu had featured this species of bird. Izumi's smooth, bossa nova styled music makes "Mambo U" quite whimsical and together with Mi-Chan's brassy baritone, it makes you imagine the city's brightly-lit night scene. I wonder if Izumi wanted it to that way since the Ukai is usually held in the evening?
"Mambo U" was released in 1969 and I think it's not one of Duke Aces' better known songs in the "Nihon no Uta Series" since I've never heard or seen of it until a few days ago. But dang it's really catchy!
I've been to Osaka twice, but I can't say that I've seen much of it. That's the problem of going on those package tours, I suppose. You can never have enough time to explore the place thoroughly, and just when you're enjoying the charm of the place, you gotta leave for the next spot on the itinerary. Oh well, there's always a next time. And during that next time, I shall visit the places mentioned in "Ichou Namiki", one of the entries from Duke Aces' (デューク・エイセス) "Nihon no Uta series" (「にほんのうた」シリーズ) that represents Osaka.
"Ichou Namiki"
temtekomy.seesaa.net
It sounds like a pretty fool proof tour. There's Umeda, Nakanoshima, Honmachi, Shinsaibashi, and finally Namba, so that covers quite a lot there... I think. Along with the very walk-able and warming music, the quartet narrates the progression of a couple's relationship as they take walks from the "Kita" (North; more business oriented) to the "Minami" (South; entertainment portion) part of Osaka. Joining the couple are the Ginkgo trees (what "Ichou Namiki" means). So as the young sweethearts grow closer by the season, the trees change accordingly. For example, in Spring when the leaves are young and growing back, the two are looking into each others eyes (I think), assumedly on their first date. Everything goes swell, fast forward to Autumn where the Ginkgo leaves have turned a brilliant gold - I've seen it in Asakusa, it was beautiful - and the two are engaged.
Although a pleasant sounding song, "Ichou Namiki" wasn't one of the more popular tracks from this series, despite the fact that it was on the A-side. In fact, the B-side song on the Gunma prefecture outdid it and became one of the Aces' hits.
Yes, I'm talking about "Ii Yu Dana".
Jaunty and boisterous when compared to "Ichou Namiki", "Ii Yu Dana" has the Aces singing about the four well-known hot springs in Gunma: Kusastu, Ikaho, Manza and Minakami. It's a fun song to listen to with it being so upbeat and lighthearted, and I can't remember how many times I've had this playing through my earphones during the duller, drier classes... I think there was this one time I had replayed the video above with the guys doing the abridged version of the song more than four times! The lesson was tiresome and dragged on more than it should, so I needed something to wake myself up. And YasumasaTaniguchi's (谷口安正) exclamation after his, "Tsumete e na!" ("That's cold!") was silly and adorable.
Anyway, what I enjoyed most from "Ii Yu Dana" is that all four members have a chance to sing solo. I love hearing all of their individual voices, especially Yoshitaka Makino's (槇野義孝) deep rumble that sends shivers down my spine - the good kind! I can safely say that "Ii Yu Dana" is definitely one of my top favourite Kayo kyoku, besides Yuzo Kayama's (加山雄三) "O Yome ni Oide" (お嫁においで).
Since "Ichou Namiki" and "Ii Yu Dana" are part of the "Nihon no Uta series", the lyrics were done by Rokusuke Ei and composed by Taku Izumi (永六輔 . いずみたく). They must've had a jolly good time in Gunma. It was released in 1966.
J-Canuck had done an article on "Ii Yu Dana" a while ago, that article features comedy group The Drifters (ザ・ドリフターズ) take on the ditty, you can read up on it here. I don't mind their version, but I prefer the original.
One of the interesting things about Mood Kayo group, Duke Aces（デューク・エイセス）, is that from 1966 to 1969, they were involved in a project with lyricist Rokusuke Ei（永六輔）and composer Taku Izumi（いずみたく）titled "Nihon no Uta"（にほんのうた...Songs of Japan）. The project had the songwriters tour the country through every prefecture and come up with a song befitting that region. Depending on their schedule, some or all of the Aces also took part in the long journey. One of the songs from that series was "Ii Yu da na"（いい湯だな）, the representative tune for Gunma Prefecture commemorating the hot springs there which became even more famous when it became the ending theme for the long-running variety show "Hachiji da yo! Zen'in Shuugo"（８時だよ！全員集合）starring comedy group The Drifters.
The song for Hyogo Prefecture was "Wakareta Hito to"(With My Old Flame) which was created by Ei and Izumi in 1966. Sung with sighing wistfulness by Duke Aces, the song relates of a story of two former lovers meeting once again in the city of Kobe and perhaps kindling something out of a long-dormant spark. I could imagine a lot of couples dancing to this one in the small space of the bars that could afford some sort of dance floor.
Twenty years ago on January 17, the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck the city of Kobe and the surrounding vicinity, killing over 6,000 people and injuring many many more. I'd had the day off on that Tuesday in 1995 and was only a few months into my long stay in the Kanto region. When I turned on my tiny ancient television, I saw the now-infamous scene of that highway fallen onto its side and initially thought I was watching some sort of disaster movie. Unfortunately, it was all too real. My relatives lived in nearby Osaka so I immediately called them up to make sure they were OK. Luckily, though they received the jolt of their lives, they were otherwise fine. Still at the time, I could only look on horror at the destruction and the realization that thousands of families had been tragically affected. Judging from some of the news reports that I've seen on NHK yesterday and today, the scars still remain but Kobe and its citizens have come back up from the devastation.
Kobe （神戸）is a beautiful city with one of the major Chinatowns in the country, the Kitano Ijinkan（北野異人館）district behind Sannomiya Station filled with its wonderful Meiji and Taisho Era architecture, and the modern Port Island area which perhaps may have been inspiration to those who created the Odaiba district in Tokyo Bay. In my 1981 trip and 1989 stint on the JET Programme, I had the opportunities to visit the city. For the former trip, my classmates and I got to go to Port Island and witness some of the panda mania that gripped the country while for the latter, I actually got to see more of the city since the JET Renewers' Conference took place at the Portopia Hotel on that island.
Unfortunately, I never got to visit the city during my longest stay in Japan and after the earthquake, something that I still regret. But perhaps on the next trip, I will set my sights (and financial situation) higher and visit some of those areas way beyond the borders of Tokyo.
Out of all the songs from Duke Aces' (デューク・エイセス) 'Nihon no Uta series', the one representing Ibaraki prefecture has got to be the silliest and most bizarre - in a good way - one yet.
Written and composed by Rokusuke Ei and Taku Izumi (永六輔 . いずみたく), each of these representative songs would feature what that particular prefecture's most well known for, be it landmarks, temples, etc. In Ibaraki's case, its Mt Tsukuba... the Shiroku toads and the Shiroku toad oil from Mt Tsukuba. What's so special about these toads? Like their name Shiroku (四六), they've got 4 fingers/toes on their front feet and 6 on their hind feet. Well, that's about it. And if you're wondering about the toad oil, its just some ointment for your skin... nothing too nasty, I hope.
Anyway, 'Tsukubasan Rokugashodan', released in 1970, is basically about a frog chorus group from Mt Tsukuba and the 4 members consisted of, surprise surprise, a Top Tenor, Second Tenor, Baritone and Bass. In this little jig, these frogs/toad introduce themselves through song, and each part to be sung - or should I say, croaked - by the corresponding members of Duke Aces. For example, Baritone Michio Tani (谷 道夫) would sing the part of the Baritone frog in the group.
So for about 90% to 95%, the Aces would just just croaking away and I suppose showing off their vocal range too. Cute and rather zany, it actually sounds more like something you'd hear at the start or end of a kiddie show like Sesame street, with the day's feature being frogs.
Frankly, I wonder if Ei was just bored from writing proper songs that he decided to do something different for a change. A+ for creativity? Despite how strange the song is, it was one of the more popular songs from the 'Nihon no Uta series' other than 'Ii Yu Dana' and 'Onna Hitori' that represented the Gunma and Kyoto prefectures respectively. In fact, they even sang it once on their 7th appearance at the 20th Kohaku in 1969!
The best part of the song would be when all 4 Aces start bouncing up and down mid-song. Yes you read right, elderly men in suits jumping on the spot like frogs on stage. It was all the more hilarious to see my favorite Ace (for various reasons), the stiff and mostly aloof Yoshitaka Makino (槇野義孝) doing just that.
I would have to say that 'Onna Hitori' ('Woman by herself/alone' when literally translated) by Duke Aces (デューク・エイセス) really represents Kyoto quite nicely.
Written by lyricist Rokusuke Ei (永 六輔) and composer Taku Izumi (いずみ たく), this song is part of this series appropriately named 'Nihon no Uta series' (「にほんのうた」シリーズ) or 'Songs of Japan series', beginning in 1966 and ending in 1969. Wherein the two aforementioned fellows traveled around Japan and wrote a song (2 for Tokyo, 3 for Hokkaido though) for each of the 47 prefectures in the country, and each song tailor-made for Duke Aces to sing.
Out of the 50 songs, the most successful ones were 'Ii Yu Dana' (いい湯だな), released in 1966 which represented Gunma prefecture. And of course, 'Onna Hitori', released in 1965 representing the former capital and cultural center of Japan. Strangely enough, they did the song a year before the actual project... weird...
Anyway, like 'Ii yu dana' mentioned 4 well-known (I suppose) hot springs in Gunma, 'Onna Hitori' mentioned 3 temples in Kyoto. Namely Sanzen in in Ohara, Kosan ji in Togano and last but not least, Daikaku ji in Arashiyama, or as sung in the song, Ranzan. Same words, different pronunciation. In that particular order. To me, Sanzen in looks the most beautiful... in pictures that is.
The quiet, relaxing, and traditional Japanese sounding instrumental. The smooth main vocals of second tenor Kazuhiko Yoshida (吉田一彦) along with the harmonizing of the 3 otherAces : Top tenor Hideki Osuga (大須賀ひでき), Baritone and leader Michio Tani(谷 道夫) and Bass Yoshitaka Makino (槇野 義孝).
Really makes me want to return to Otawa san Kiyomizu-dera up on that hill and enjoy the warm colours of autumn against the clear blue sky while sitting in a quiet, secluded corner far away from the hoards of tourists. Ah..., good times.
Here's a video of Duke Aces singing it. From left to right: Osuga, Yoshida, Tani, Makino. Heh, I always find it amusing that Yoshida had left this streak of white hair on his head (unfortunately, that video has been taken down and replaced).
It's been almost a couple of years since I put up Masatoshi Nakamura's （中村雅俊）17th single, "Koibito mo Nureru Machikado"（恋人も濡れる街角）, an urban ballad that I used to hear often at Kuri, my old Yorkville karaoke haunt. Then I was reminded tonight of another Nakamura kayo classic which was his debut single, "Fureai"(Contact) from July 1974. In fact, the song was released exactly 40 years ago today.
Nakamura was starring in an NTV school drama, "Warera Seishun!"（われら青春！...Our Salad Days）as a young high school English teacher. The drama already had theme songs set, but supposedly halfway through the 22-episode series, Nakamura's Okita-sensei sang this new song from the veranda of his apartment. And "Fureai" soon became the talk of the town, becoming a million seller and hitting No. 1 on Oricon. Written by Keisuke Yamakawa （山川啓介）and composed by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, the song struck me as being reminiscent of one of those old European love songs from the 1960s; something along the lines of "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin. And Nakamura's vocals are even now such that whenever he sings this one, people of a certain age are sure to be transported back to their old salad days.
I was watching a televised kayo charity concert on NHK which took place in Saitama recently, and there were the usual enka performances and a surprise entry by Yoko Takahashi performing the theme song from the anime "Evangelion" among others. But then one singer appeared and he did a wonderful Nat King Cole-ish version of an old kayo kyoku from decades back. "Yoake no Uta"(Dawn Song), as sung by this singer, reminded me so much of Cole's legendary "Stardust" that I had to dig this one up from the Net and check it out further.
My parents kept talking of Yoko Kishi （岸洋子）while I saw Kyu Sakamoto's （坂本九）name on the screen as "Yoake no Uta" was being performed, so I had plenty of information to track it down. The song first saw life in September 1964 after being written by the recently departed Tokiko Iwatani (岩谷時子...passed away last year at the age of 97) and composed by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）. Kishi, who was born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1935, had originally tried to become an opera singer only to have her dream dashed due to illness. However, from a chance listening to an Edith Piaf album while in hospital, she steered her ambitions into chanson, debuting in 1962.
But then came "Yoake no Uta" in 1964, and although the song wasn't a definite example of chanson, I think Kishi brought in the proud and grand elements of the genre into it. And as a result, it became one of her most well-known entries in her discography. She won a Grand Prize at the Japan Music Awards that year and was invited for the first time onto the Kohaku Utagassen with another appearance 5 years later. The above link shows that 1969 performance.
Sadly, Kishi passed away at the age of 57 in 1992. However, her connection with the song has lived on through Sakata Station on the JR Uetsu Main Line in her hometown of Sakata with it being played as the train arrival melody.
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
The great Kyu Sakamoto provided his own version of "Yoake no Uta" as a single released just a month after Kishi's original. His take on the song had more of a Big Band, bluesy jazz flavour which suited the Sakamoto style. It was sung as the theme for a drama that Sakamoto had starred in at the time, "Boya"（ぼうや...Boy）.
"Yoake no Uta" has also been performed by various singers over the decades from genres ranging from enka to rock. Yujiro Ishihara and Ringo Shiina are just some of the artists who have given their own spin to this very malleable Japanese standard.
But the one version that surprised me was the one sung by Dionne ("Do You Know The Way To San Jose?") Warwick. Titled "I Sing At Dawn", Warwick made a wonderful ballad that reminded me of some of the mellower songs that her cousin, Whitney Houston, provided back in the 80s. Her version was in her 1993 album, "Friends Can Be Lovers".
Long ago in an apartment far far away (actually St. James Town), I was reading one of those Japanese kindergarten readers that my parents had gotten me at the old Japanese food store, Furuya, in Chinatown. One of the comics in there stood out since the main hero was a young boy who didn't look particularly cute (unlike the heroes in a lot of the other manga I had seen) and only had one eye (that could be a dealbreaker in the omiai scene later on). Plus, when I saw that the kid's Dad was a talking eyeball, and his buddies included a rat/human hybrid and a huge stone block....well, let's say that these guys were not exactly in my neighbourhood.
"Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro" is a manga series that was created all the way back in 1959 by Shigeru Mizuki（水木しげる） who had based his magnum opus on a folk tale from the early 20th century titled "Hakaba no Kitaro"（墓場の鬼太郎...Kitaro of the Graveyard）. Although I know that the manga has been adapted into anime since 1968, my exposure to Kitaro and his buddies have mostly been through the printed stuff. There is something of Charles Addams in there; perhaps not through the drawings, but just the idea of normally terrifying yokai（妖怪...supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore） being just folks and trying to fight the good fight with Kitaro in the lead.
The opening theme song for "Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro" , released in September 1968, has also become one of the most recognized in anime history. With lyrics by Mizuki himself and the music by Taku Izumi（いずみたく）, the theme has that playful spookiness so that despite the initial outer appearance of the yokai, the kiddies soon find out that they can play with them just as easily as they can run away. And the lyrics point out that it's pretty fun to head to school where the gang doesn't need to take tests, and that they will never get sick or die. But the guy who brings it all together is the singer Kazuo Kumakura（熊倉一雄） with that creepy but enticing delivery of his. Along with his talents as singer, Kumakura has also been an actor, voice actor for a number of anime, and a theatre director. He's also done his fair share of Japanese dubbing for foreign productions such as his voiceover for the title character in "Agatha Christie's Poirot", a program that has gotten a lot of airplay in Japan.
There was a 1980s version of the theme which was performed by enka singer Ikuzo Yoshi（吉幾三）. And it definitely sounds 80s.
November 30 2015: I'm sad to announce that Shigeru Mizuki passed away today at the age of 93.
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