Tokyo Mokuyo Gakudan -- Oyasumi（おやすみ）

 

As I mentioned in that Hitomi Ishikawa（石川ひとみ）article yesterday, I was kindly treated to some Salvadoran fare for lunch and it was my first time (on the cusp of 60, no less) to have pupusas, which are these flatbreads stuffed with meat, vegetables and other ingredients. Very tasty and filling, and I couldn't finish the whole thing since there were other items ordered as well. My friend's wife is a big fan of pupusas as well, so she probably was very grateful to get the remainder that I couldn't finish as a doggie bag.

Not sure if Salvadoran cuisine has made it over to Japan but wouldn't it be quite the thing if I were able to get a decent pupusa at a Lawson's or am/pm past midnight? In any case, this has made for a somewhat nice segue into the mellow music of Tokyo Mokuyo Gakudan（東京木曜楽団...Tokyo Thursday Band）. I wrote their first and only article on them (that is, until today) back almost exactly three years ago when I posted their "Mayonaka no Service Area"（真夜中サービスエリア）. Having a pupusa from one of those highway service areas and then noshing on it in the passenger seat of a car driving through the Kanto during the midnight hours may be a nice experience.

As I wrote on "Mayonaka no Service Area", Tokyo Mokuyo Gakudan doesn't have a lot written about them, although I hope that they still get together every Thursday night for their sessions. But I was able to find another short-and-sweet song by them titled "Oyasumi" (Good Night) that is also from 2019 and retains that groovy mellowness in the arrangement. This time though, it starts with some Xmas jingling bells, so I am wondering whether it is Yuletide-themed, but I don't get the impression that the vocalist is relating anything about any impending Christmas. I think it is a well-titled song since after having that loaded pupusa while listening to "Mayonaka no Service Area", I really might go "Oyasumi" for the next several hours.

Tokyo Mokuyo Gakudan -- Mayonaka no Service Area（真夜中サービスエリア）

 

Unfortunately, I never got all that many opportunities to visit the famous roadside service areas of Japan (similar to those gas station/convenience store combinations here) since neither my friends and I got together in cars. My only chances were through the occasional bus tour that I got to go on including a trip to Yamanashi Prefecture one time with fellow teachers and students.

From what I've read and seen through translation assignments and variety shows like the above with popular tarento Matsuko Deluxe（マツコ・デラックス）raiding the Ebina Service Area after midnight for some of her beloved melon buns. Those facilities can be huge and I didn't even realize that they can be open past midnight, although the COVID situation may have changed opening times dramatically.

In recent days, I discovered this enigmatic band called Tokyo Mokuyo Gakudan（東京木曜楽団...Tokyo Thursday Band） which identifies itself as a multi-pop band. Not quite familiar with the term multi-pop but I can assume that they may take on genres such as indies pop, City Pop or pop/rock. There's barely any information about them anywhere although they have put out several singles and albums since the late 2010s, but there is a Twitter account for them that has been up since 2018. As for their name, apparently it's because they hail from West Tokyo and they meet every Thursday.

My first song by them is "Mayonaka no Service Area" (Midnight Service Area), a groovy and comfortable pop tune although I'm not sure whether I would put it in the genre of Neo-City Pop despite the use of a car in the music video. Mind you, they're not in the city per se as would be logical since the title refers to the rural service area along the highway. If I've got it right, the song came out in late 2019 and it has its moments of determined driving and dream-like rest stops with a rumbling piano and electric guitar that takes me and perhaps other listeners back to the 1970s, so "Mayonaka no Service Area" definitely has my attention.

Now, what would I get if I ever had the chance to stop at a service area past midnight? I'm OK for melon buns, but they wouldn't be in my Top 10. A nice hearty bento would be my best bet even though post-midnight indigestion would be a definite possibility.