Tomoko Saito -- Aikagi（合鍵）

Wikimedia Commons
by Lukkojaska

 

Just from my memories and what I've scrolled down at the JASRAC database, there are so many Japanese pop songs titled "Aikagi" (Duplicate Key) that it ought to get its own subgenre. At the same time, I gather that songwriters loved to whip up tunes about illicit love affairs so listeners could live vicariously in a way.

Well, this "Aikagi" is the possession of breathy-voiced actress-singer Tomoko Saito（斉藤とも子）as a track on her 1981 album "20 ANS". Sharing space with the bossa nova/City Pop tune "Singapore", "Aikagi" was once again given lyrics by Kaoru Asagi（麻木かおる）, but this time, the melody was woven by Susumu Sugawara（菅原進）into something more of a downtown Tokyo groovalicious City Pop, replete with that wailing electric guitar and saxophone. The opening of the song had me wondering into which direction "Aikagi" was going but at 25 seconds, there was no doubt. Time to make that reservation at that hotel-top bar in West Shinjuku.

Tomoko Saito -- Singapore（シンガポール）

 

If I could afford international air travel again, besides Japan and Lichtenstein, I would love to drop by Singapore. And this time, I wouldn't be consulting with fellow KKP writer Noelle just for information on the early Showa Era kayo kyoku since she's also from Singapore. Of course, being a foodie, I would love to try that famous chicken rice over there. 

So my focus on Singapore would be the food and the marvelous architecture. However, for actress and singer Tomoko Saito（斉藤とも子）, it looks like love is on her mind with her song "Singapore". Written by Kaoru Asagi（麻木かおる）and composed by Yuuichiro Oda（小田裕一郎）, I do love that down-home City Pop with the infusion of bossa nova. It's just the song for drinks at a hotel-top bar in the titular city itself. By the way, "Singapore" was originally a track on her 1981 album "20 ANS".

Another inspiration for me to put up "Singapore" for Saito is that the powers-that-be at YouTube took down the lone video for her "Josei"（女性）song, so I had to put that one into mothballs for now. But at least, I still have her City Pop "Kaze no You ni"（風のように）up and running.

Tomoko Saito -- Josei（女性）

 

A couple of years ago, I wrote about actress and singer Tomoko Saito（斉藤とも子）whose time in the latter profession was very short...just ranging from 1979 to 1980. What was intriguing to me was that the cover for her debut single "Kaze no You ni"（風のように）belied how the song sounded. With her looking rather aidoru-like in her high school uniform, I had assumed something appropriately teenyboppery only to hear a City Pop or AOR tune.

Full album can be found here. "Josei" is Track 4 at 12:11.

I gather that this cute subterfuge may have been a promotional thing where Saito was concerned. Her second and final album "Takekurabe"（たけくらべ）from January 1980 has the lass looking very traditional in her yukata in front of a rustic house. I don't know how the entire album sounds but at the very least, one track, "Josei" (Woman), actually sounds like a disco-based City Pop tune that would be perfect for a lone-wolf detective of that time. 

As with "Kaze no You ni", "Josei" was composed by Akira Fujimoto（藤本あきら）with the lyrics this time being provided by Kaoru Asagi（麻木かおる）. Incidentally the album title "Takekurabe" literally means "comparison of statures" but I think it was named after the late 19th-century novella "Takekurabe" (Growing Up) by Ichiyo Higuchi（樋口一葉）.

Tomoko Saito -- Kaze no You ni（風のように）

 

A few days ago, commenter Misha contacted me inquiring about a certain song by an actress Tomoko Saito（斉藤とも子）. Regrettably, I couldn't identify the track but in my attempts to do so, I was able to encounter another pleasant song by her.

Saito has indeed been categorized as an actress on J-Wiki and nothing more. However, in the late 1970s going into the early 1980s, this native of Kobe did release three singles and a couple of albums. Her debut single was "Kaze no You ni" (Like the Wind) from June 1979 and from the looks of the cover, I had naturally assumed that the song would be of an aidoru nature.

Nothing was further from the truth here. Despite Saito looking like a junior high school kid on the cover of "Kaze no You ni" (she was actually around 18 when the single was released), the song is an appropriately breezy tune within the genres of City Pop or AOR. I think that I can even categorize the tune as something quite Resort Pop since I easily envisage beach umbrellas, boardwalks and tropical cocktails. Saito's voice is quite innocent-sounding, light and skippy, though, as I would expect from an aidoru.

"Kaze no You ni" was written by Hiromi Igarashi（五十嵐ひろみ）, composed by Akira Fujimoto（藤本あきら）and arranged by Yoichi Takahashi（高橋洋一）. Just a few weeks after the single's release, "Kaze no You ni" also got onto Saito's debut album "Arigato, Anata"（ありがとう、あなた...Thank You To You）. Listening to that song that Misha told me about, I also received some urban contemporary vibes there, too, so I'm wondering during her brief time as a recording artist whether she was solely into City Pop and the like.