YONA YONA WEEKENDERS -- Yoyoi no Yoi（予酔いの宵）

 

In recent years through Japanese television, I've become aware of a type of vacationing called glamping which is a portmanteau of "glamorous" and "camping". From what I've seen, it apparently looks like bringing 5-star hotel accommodations out to the woods. I've seen tarento partake in the activity. I've gone camping only once in my lifetime so it's not something for me but there is a part of me that wonders whether glamping kinda takes the meaning out of camping...but I'm not judging. I only know of one person who has gone camping by herself so if I ever meet her again, I'll have to ask her about her feelings on glamping.

I was reminded of this by the music video for YONA YONA WEEKENDERS' September 2025 EP "Yoyoi no Yoi". Now, it translates into "Pre-Drunken Evening" but I have heard it before as a part of a chant during some Japanese party game such as a really intense version of paper, rock and scissors (the strip kind). If I'm mistaken, please correct me here. To extend the definition further, the expression was used to describe the early evening when partygoers are already feeling the effects of alcohol but are still looking forward to the main event of drinking, eating and carousing. For those 80s music fans, I guess it's the stuff before everyone wang chungs that night.

However in this case, vocalist Isono-kun's（磯野くん）lyrics seem a bit more toned down. It's all about having a few friends get together to chill or maybe for a couple to snuggle one night. I've usually categorized YYW's music as Neo-City Pop but this time, I would probably say that it's more really groovy pop. The environment shown in the video helps in my decision although I posit that Isono-kun and his bandmates are taking part in camping rather than glamping.

YONA YONA WEEKENDERS -- Sushi to Sake（寿司と酒）

 

NHK

I only found out about it early this morning when I actually watched the program, but NHK's "Sarameshi"（サラメシ...Lunch ON!）program on what people eat for lunch ended its 14-year run today. The network has been its usual chintzy self and not provided any video footage from the program on YouTube so I can only provide the above image of host Kiichi Nakai（中井貴一）that pops up in the opening credits. I enjoyed the program as another example of Japanese whimsy when it comes to programming topics on television over there. Imagine it...a show dedicated to folks in all walks of life and their noontime repasts. 

Well, I don't usually do a fourth article on a Thursday but I wanted to provide some tribute to the end of "Sarameshi", and I'd thought about doing a second list of Foodie Kayo but really couldn't find enough food-based songs to put up. And so, I have opted to focus on one particular song.

"Sushi to Sake" (Sushi and Sake) is the 13th single by the band YONA YONA WEEKENDERS that got released in April 2024. Written and composed by vocalist Isono-kun（磯野くん）, the lyrics seem to go on somewhat obliquely on living and tackling this SNS-obsessed society while the music has that bluesy Neo-City Pop feeling. The music video is fun and imaginative as a sushi party gets a re-think as a high-stakes poker game involving some hardcore types.

We are heading toward the end of March which is usually the time when Japanese television shows end and hosts/panelists/news anchors get their transfer orders. I saw one change for "Uta Con"（うたコン）the other day and "Sarameshi" got the axe. What else will change on NHK?

YONA YONA WEEKENDERS -- Sunrise

 

There are many New Year's traditions in Japan and I'm sure that all of them were attempted a couple of weeks ago. Included among them is being the lucky ones to catch the first sunrise to reach the nation. Well, the easternmost point under Japanese claim is Minami-Torishima which is an extremely remote atoll with poisonous snails some 1,848 km southeast of Tokyo. The citizenry can be very hardy and ambitious but I don't think most of them would venture quite that far.

A place that is far more accessible to see that first dawn of the year is Cape Inubosaki in Chiba Prefecture. Supposedly, it arrived at 6:46 am on January 1st. I was never all that keen myself to wake up in the early morning hours of New Year's Day to see the sun break through the horizon; I was perfectly happy to have any osechi or regular breakfast at a more civilized hour.😉

But I digress. A little over a month ago, I wrote about "Tokyo Midnight Cruising Club"（東京ミッドナイトクルージングクラブ）which was YONA YONA WEEKENDERS' 2nd single from May 2020 and also the penultimate track on the City Pop/punk band's second EP "Machi wo Oyoide"（街を泳いで...Swimming Through the City） a month later. It was quite the wistful and calming nocturnal melodic walk during a very jittery time on Earth.

Well, the final track on "Machi wo Oyoide" is "Sunrise". Having YYW have their music video set in a very bright empty swimming pool was probably the right call since although it still keeps that languid groove, "Sunrise" is a more upbeat tune about sun-up symbolizing hope and a happier future...plus some much-needed Vitamin D.

YONA YONA WEEKENDERS -- Tokyo Midnight Cruising Club（東京ミッドナイトクルージングクラブ）

 

Back in early 2023, I posted my first article on the band YONA YONA WEEKENDERS, a group that's embraced the genres of City Pop, J-Pop and punk in their performances. I didn't get any punk in their 2019 "Yoru no groovin'"（夜のgroovin'）, but the song is one relaxing cocktail mix of nocturnal inner-city Tokyo urbane and a soupcon of dream pop. 

In May 2020, YONA YONA WEEKENDERS released their second single as a major act, "Tokyo Midnight Cruising Club" along with a music video of going through a late-night Japanese urban neighbourhood filmed with that split mirror effect. It provides an eerie yet romantic atmosphere of a seemingly futuristic cityscape. Just like "Yoru no groovin'", there is the YYW arrangement of urbane and dreamy pop whipped up by songwriter and vocalist Isono-kun（磯野くん）.

At the same time, I noticed the lyrics midway through the song where Isono-kun invites listeners to join his little club. The whole thing is wistful since at the time the single was put out there, the entire planet including Tokyo was in the middle of the pandemic so I can imagine that a lot of Tokyoites were restricted to their apartments and computer screens. Perhaps the video was even more of a source of comfort for people to even take a virtual walk outside. It could have also served as an open invitation for folks to finally walk around the area in person at midnight once the lockdowns were lifted.

"Tokyo Midnight Cruising Club" was also a track on YYW's 2nd EP from June 2020, "Machi wo Oyoide"（街を泳いで...Swimming Through the City）. Hopefully, people are truly appreciating their night sojourns now in 2024.

YONA YONA WEEKENDERS -- Yoru no groovin'（夜のgroovin'）

 

My observation has been that certain types of Japanese pop music from the past have been getting their renovations in this century. Aidoru music has been getting injections of indies and hard rock, and even City Pop of the 1970s and 1980s has been popping up here and there with some new flavours. For example, I wrote about Natsu Summer earlier this morning with her blend of City Pop and reggae.

I'm uncertain whether the band YONA YONA WEEKENDERS has actually mixed Neo-City Pop and punk into any of their music since I've only heard the one song so far. However, their J-Wiki profile lists them as covering the wide range of City Pop, regular J-Pop and then punk. Would love to hear that sort of blend if possible.

YONA YONA WEEKENDERS has been around since 2016 and they hail from Naka-Meguro, Tokyo. Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Isono-kun（磯野くん）, guitarist Kiichi（キイチ）, bassist Shingo Suzuki（スズキシンゴ）and drummer Takeshi/Takefumi "Beatsoldier" Kohara（小原“Beatsoldier”壮史）, J-Wiki has described the band as a group coming from mellowcore punk sensibilities with "snack-worthy good music". Well, I do love my Pringles and Kaki-P. As for the origin of the band's name, it comes from the fact that all of the members have been working as company employees by day and then musicians at night and on the weekends (the expression "yona yona" means "night after night").

In their indies period with the label para de casa before 2021, YONA YONA WEEKENDERS already released a few singles and EPs with their first of the latter being "Yoru to Album"（夜とアルバム...Night and the Album） which came out in November 2019. "Yoru no groovin'" (Night Groovin'), written and composed by Isono-kun, is indeed a grooving and gliding guitar-driven nighttime tune which does have a city vibe albeit not of the major centres such as Ginza and Akasaka. It actually seems to reflect more of the nocturnal side of the smaller hubs including the band's native Naka-Meguro or even the neighbourhood of Jiyugaoka whose fuzzy photo is up at the top. Nope, no sign of punk in there. I think that even the cover for "Yoru to Album" kinda reflects that inner city feeling.