Maiko Okamoto -- Romance Shitai（ロマンスしたい）

 

I gather that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" representative Kayo Grace Kyoku is getting a little swoony again. Well, at least, she still has several more weeks of that before autumn finally arrives, and of course as anyone who knows kayo kyoku realizes, autumn is the season for romance to wither away like dried leaves.

Not to say that early 80s aidoru songs had bare-bones arrangements (and I'm saying this as someone who loves those early Seiko, Akina and other aidoru tunes from that part of the decade), but I've often found arrangements for similar tunes in the latter half of the 80s to be especially lush and almost downright cinematically fantastical when it comes to how they may affect the imagination of listeners. Not sure what it was, but arrangers seemed to enjoy weaving a lot of strings, choruses and synthesizers into this huge string ball of appealing whimsy and wistfulness that a kitten could adorably play with.

Case in point: I bookmarked this song by aidoru Maiko Okamoto（岡本舞子）. "Romance Shitai" (I Want to Have a Romance) was one of the tracks in Okamoto's debut album from October 1985, "Heart no Tobira"（ハートの扉...The Gateway to Your Heart）, and having a listen to it a few times, I swear that the song itself could sprout a black hair bob, a frilly dress and a supremely cheerful attitude as it skips on the yellow brick road. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed/arranged by Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）, it's late 80s aidoru-dom personified as Okamoto sings about trying to empty her heart of all romantic notions but helplessly getting dragged back into the mushy stuff. Kinda reminds me of a certain scene in "The Godfather, Part III" with Al Pacino (although let's not imagine Don Corleone in a cute dress, shall we?).

Yamakawa may have been one-half of the amazing City Pop and jazzy duo Tohoku Shinkansen（東北新幹線）in 1982, but she also had a great touch with aidoru tunes forty-odd years ago. 

Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi -- Good Bye Seishun（GOOD-BYE青春）

 

Welcome to Monday! I was looking down the Oricon Top 50 singles for 1983 on J-Wiki and perhaps not all that surprisingly, we've managed to cover pretty much all of them in the 14+ years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in existence.

However, one that I had yet to cover was singer-songwriter and actor Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi's（長渕剛）"Good Bye Seishun" (Good Bye Youth) which ended up as the 49th-ranked single of 1983 after hitting No.5 on the Oricon weeklies following its release in September 1983. Strangely enough, the intro for "Good Bye Seishun" was familiar to me so I had heard it sometime in the past as it reminded me a bit of "El Condor Pasa", and indeed, Nagabuchi had based the melody on Central and South American songs created into this folk-rock tune.

Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）was responsible for the lyrics which don't give a particular happy glow to someone's days of youth. It seems like the protagonist went through some very hard times as a teenager and is more than happy to wash his hands of all of it before taking those steps into adulthood. Still, the song is plenty jaunty.

"Good Bye Seishun" was Nagabuchi's first major hit since his 1980 "Junko"（順子）. It not only got him more appearances on television but it was also used as the theme song for the 1983 TBS drama "Kazoku Game"（家族ゲーム...The Family Game） which was also a starring vehicle for him.

Iruka -- NYC wa Toosugite（NYCは遠すぎて）

 

I'm probably going to have to come up with an Author's Picks regarding New York-based kayo kyoku sometime soon. I've been encountering them during the past fourteen plus years that "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has been in business and perhaps it's enough that the bunch of these Manhattan music tributes in Japanese can make up a subgenre of sorts within City Pop.

Anyways, I have another one here by singer-songwriter Iruka（イルカ）who was in her 1980s City Pop phase at the time. I don't have my own copy of her April 1985 12th album "Heart Land" but I have covered at least one song on the list, "Ame no Distance"（雨のディスタンス）, which also qualifies as a City Pop tune. This one here is "NYC wa Toosugite" (New York City is Too Far Away) which was actually written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed/arranged by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, so Iruka was just behind the microphone. 

This is quite the romantic strolling tune to be enjoyed at sunset, and of course, Iruka's velvety vocals help with the overall listening pleasure. I can imagine that Japanese tourists must have been swooning for the Big Apple at the time, especially when that saxophone comes into play halfway through. Well, it helps that the Bubble Era started around the time that "Heart Land" was released.

Hideki Saijo -- New York Girl

 

Yeah, I knew that Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）had his City Pop phase going deeper into the 1980s but I didn't realize that it went quite this deep. Armed with a sparkling single cover by Hiroshi Nagai（永井博）, Saijo released his 57th single from May 1987 in the form of "New York Girl".

Beginning with a quiet intro that had me thinking of Earth Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" for a little while, "New York Girl" vaults into sultry urban dance pop action with Saijo yelling out the title throughout the song (bass addicts, you'll love this one, too). It seems the song was created for Saijo right from the start with keyboardist and record producer George Duke and Shalamar member Howard Hewitt creating the song while future AKB48 Svengali Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）came up with the Japanese lyrics. "New York Girl" managed to peak at No. 50 on Oricon. The Japanese version is above while the English B-side is below. Its first appearance on an album was on the December 1987 version of "BEST PACK/Saijo Hideki".

Misaki Iwasa -- Aikagi（合鍵）

By Daderot via Wikimedia Commons

I've encountered a number of tropes within Japanese pop music over the years of doing "Kayo Kyoku Plus". Another one has to do with aikagi or duplicate key/passkey.  I've noticed that there are quite a few songs with the title "Aikagi". One was by Hatsumi Shibata（しばたはつみ）which happened to be her debut single in 1974 and there's another one by Mayumi Itsuwa（五輪真弓）that I have yet to cover. 

The whole rigamarole regarding passkeys has to do with the illicit affair which is a common lyrical plot in the various romantic ballads, enka and Mood Kayo numbers. Fans have loved to listen vicariously and dangerously as men and women throw caution to the wind and have those romances in their special hotels or homes...of course, accessible by that guilty duplicate key. 🔑

It was just last weekend on NHK's "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）when I heard enka singer Misaki Iwasa（岩佐美咲）perform her latest single titled naturally enough "Aikagi". Released in February this year, her 12th single is a bittersweet ballad about the aftermath of an affair in which the heroine has kept the titular key although there is no longer anyone to meet in the secret love nest. Written by AKB 48 mastermind Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Saburo Takada（高田三郎）, I guess it's safe to say that this could be considered a Neo-enka or New Adult Music with some Latin and sophisticated pop mixed in with the traditional stuff.  Strangely enough, Akimoto weaves a very similar story to the one concocted by Fumiko Okada（岡田冨美子）for Shibata's "Aikagi", so I guess that anything titled "Aikagi" isn't going to be necessarily very happy.

I've also come to realize that this is only the second Iwasa article that I've written with her name on the byline after my first posting of her 4th single "Hatsuzake"（初酒）back in 2015. The scary thing is that my articles on "Hatsuzake" and Shibata's "Aikagi" were posted within a day of each other in February of that year. Cue spooky music. Anyways, Iwasa's "Aikagi" broke through the Oricon Top 10 to peak at No. 7.

Mayumi Hara -- Persia no Namida（ペルシャの涙）

 

I've usually assumed that the small and temporary genre of exotic kayo was limited to the late 1970s when hits such as Judy Ongg's（ジュディ・オング）"Miserarete"（魅せられて）boarded the Oricon charts. After that, it was the Golden Age of aidoru, City Pop and technopop.

However, there may have been some pop-ups here and there of songs that seemed to bring images of life and love overseas in distant Asian and European climes. Maybe one such song can be Mayumi Hara's（原真祐美）"Persia no Namida" (Persian Tears). Released in September 1984 as her 7th and penultimate single, it feels slightly like an adventure on the Silk Road in an aidoru atmosphere. The silky strings along with other stringed instruments help sell the image of traveling in the titular area. "Persia no Namida" was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Yasuo Kosugi（小杉保夫）.

Sayuri Kokusho -- Koi wa Ring Ring Ring（恋はRing Ring Ring）

From Nevit Dilmen via Wikimedia Commons

 

Continuing on the Valentine's Day theme from the previous article and also sifting through those old B-sides, I did find something from Sayuri Kokusho's（国生さゆり）classic February 1986 single "Valentine Kiss" (バレンタイン・キッス) via JTM's write-up on the song all the way back in 2013.

As cute as "Valentine Kiss" is, the B-side "Koi wa Ring Ring Ring" (Love is Ring Ring Ring) is more of a frantic sugar-high as a young lass is trying her darndest to contact her beau on the phone but he's too busy talking to someone else. Who could that someone be? Stress levels and conspiracy theories abound like bunnies! As with "Valentine Kiss", "Koi wa Ring Ring Ring" was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）, but this time, the melody was provided by Hideya Nakazaki（中崎英也）who gave a fine illustration of how the lass was going out of her mind with the rock guitar, the sparkly synths and the rapid-fire percussion.

The song is also available on Kokusho's 1st album "Pep Talk" which was released in July 1986. It hit No. 2 on Oricon.

Kei Ishiguro -- Ame no Freeway（雨のフリーウェイ）

 

I took one look at that cover of Kei Ishiguro's（石黒ケイ）1985 album "Mont Saint-Michel no Kodoku"（モン・サン・ミッシェルの孤独...The Solitude of Mont Saint-Michel ）along with the singer's very artistic appearance, and figured that this was going to be a different animal compared to my usual impression of her as a jazzy City Pop singer through songs such as "Hearty" and "Misty Night"（ミスティ・ナイト）. Even the title hints at the Gallic-ness of it all and when it's produced in the mid-1980s, it's just gotta be somewhat avant-garde and/or New Wave.

And yep, the first track on "Mont Saint-Michel", "Ame no Freeway" (Rainy Freeway), strikes me quite different for an Ishiguro song, but not so much that I consider it to be way out from left field. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）, there are the synthesizers and syn-drums that remind me a bit of Asami Kobayashi's（小林麻美）"Ame Oto wa Chopin no Shirabe"（雨音はショパンの調べ）along with the breezy je ne sais quoi arrangement. Still, even with Ishiguro's vocals that hint at a certain feeling of chaise lounge behaviour, I can pick up on some of the old urban contemporary and sophisticated pop.

Yuuichi Ikuzawa -- Fushigi na Hodo I Love You（不思議なほどI Love You）

 

It's been over eighteen months since I had Yuuichi Ikuzawa（生沢佑一）up on the byline with his cover of the "Ghostbusters"-connected "Hot Night", so let's redeem that with one of his tracks from his 1984 album "Hana Wakare"（花わかれ...Parting of the Flowers）.

"Fushigi na Hodo I Love You" (I Love You So Much It's Weird) is an intriguing title for a pretty groovy and straight-up City Pop song. But hey, as long as it sounds cool and good, I'm fine. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed/arranged by Toshiyuki Kimori（木森敏之）, it does sound like an accompaniment to a good stroll down any of the main streets of Tokyo to get that fresh air (or as fresh as it ever gets in one of the world's largest cities) into the lungs.

Maiko Kawakami -- Watashi to Iu Tanin（私という他人）

 

For my last article tonight and for that matter, the final article for September 2025, I'd like to refer you to an article I did a couple of years ago featuring actress Maiko Kawakami（川上麻衣子）. In her J-Wiki article, she is identified as an actress only, but she did put out her albums and singles between 1981 and 1984, and in fact, I highlighted her sophomore album "ÄLSKLING"（エルスクリン）from June 1983.

Well, another track from that album is here tonight and this is "Watashi to Iu Tanin" (That Other Person Known as Me). Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Akira Mitake（見岳章）, the song follows that certain arrangement I've often heard from tunes by aidoru and other female pop singers of the 1980s; there is that footloose-and-fancy-free vibe with the plunky piano/keyboard rhythm as if the arranger...in this case, Hiromoto Tobizawa（飛沢宏元）...is following the daintily-dressed singer as she is skipping down the street while sporting a parasol. Ah, those were innocent times.

Masatoshi Nakamura -- Puzzle Night（パズル・ナイト）

 

My previous posting on Masatoshi Nakamura（中村雅俊）was for his "Akogare no Summer House"（憧れのSUMMER HOUSE）, a B-side that was notable for its pompadour-swinging rock n' roll party sense. Richie and Mary Beth would have felt at home here.

Meanwhile, its A-side, which represents Nakamura's June 1984 21st single, is "Puzzle Night", and no, it has nothing to do with the weekly jigsaw puzzle get-together with the whole family. Instead, lyricist Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）reveals the vagaries of love in the big city where whatever happens there may really have to stay in there. Meanwhile Tetsuji Hayashi's（林哲司）melody under Hiroshi Shinkawa's（新川博）arrangement has a rocking and dramatic feel somewhat reminiscent of Hayashi's work with Omega Tribe（オメガトライブ）at around the same time. 

"Puzzle Night" wasn't a humongous hit for Nakamura as it went only as high as No. 52 on Oricon, selling around 36,000 records. Hopefully, it did better for the Nissan Pulsar whose commercial featured both song and singer.

Yurie Kokubu -- Mou Dare mo Aisenai（もう誰も愛せない）

 

Just to reiterate, I'd first gotten to know singer-songwriter Yurie Kokubu（国分友里恵）through her heart-on-a-sleeve cover of Miho Nakayama's（中山美穂）"Tada Nakitakunaruno" （ただ泣きたくなるの）in the 1990s. Eventually, I did learn of her City Pop debut through her 1983 album "Relief 72 Hours".

And it was basically a ping-pong exchange between those two time periods. However, I have come across this track from her February 1996 6th album "whisper whisper", "Mou Dare mo Aisenai" (Can't Love Anymore). It's a sad topic, to be sure, but this ballad created by lyricist Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composer Kokubu herself, has a refined pop arrangement and lovely chorus backing up the singer's reassuring vocals. I wouldn't be surprised if it had been used in some J-Drama about affairs taking place.

Riho Makise -- Osoi Santa Claus（遅いサンタクロース）

 

Yes, it is indeed a bit unusual for me to put up a Christmas song only a few days into June but I've been known to leave a J-Xmas tune during the summer months before so that we can be reminded that the Yuletide is only half a year away.

Anyways, this year's candidate for the Christmas song in June/July is Riho Makise's（牧瀬里穂）"Osoi Santa Claus" (Late Santa Claus). Her penultimate single from November 1993, it's a kid-friendly number due to that children's group helping her out, the adorable synths and the cute bouncy chorus; it was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）with the melody and arrangement provided by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）. In it, Makise sings about some kid getting rather impatient for Kris Kringle to arrive because he wants his presents yesterday. Apparently, "Osoi Santa Claus" was used as a commercial jingle for Japan Postal Savings.

Naomi Kawashima -- Weather Report

 

Kinda weird our weather but we Torontonians have known that for decades. Meteorologists would love to reside here...or not. Yesterday we had Humidex readings of 30 Celsius but this morning, the wind chill factor was -3 C! And in between, we had a five-minute thunderstorm around the dinner hour which seemed to be filled with a dozen thunderstorms worth of rain. Power went out for a few seconds in my neighbourhood but I consider us to be lucky; there are some other areas in the city which were still out as of this morning.

So I gather that for this week's Hump Day, we can start with a song titled "Weather Report". The last time I wrote on Naomi Kawashima（川島なお美）, it was back in early 2023 for her finger-snapping City Pop opening track "Brunch ga Dekiru made"（ブランチができるまで）from her July 1983 3rd album "Shower no Ato de"（シャワーのあとで...After Takin' Shower）. "Weather Report" just happens to follow after that.

Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, the second track takes on a calmer West Coast AOR line. Kawashima sings about how the change in weather can compare to her romantic fortunes. Perhaps this would be the ideal song after that brunch while still savoring the mimosas.🍹

Tunnels -- Yabusakadenai（やぶさかでない）

 

I saw and heard the news on NHK a couple of days ago, but comedian Takaaki Ishibashi (the taller, louder and even crazier one) of the duo Tunnels（とんねるず）announced that he was suffering from esophageal cancer and would be leaving the entertainment industry for a little while to get it treated. He mentioned that it was in the early stages so it's still very treatable and here's hoping that he makes a full recovery.

Still remember this outtake from their Thursday night Fuji-TV variety show "Tunnels no Minasan no Okage desu"（とんねるずのみなさんのおかげです）from the turn of the decade (80s to 90s). I gotta say that as outrageous as the duo could be, they did suffer for their art.

Also, I've had to remind myself that the Tunnels had their time in the recording booth cutting some raunchy records. The first time I even heard their name was through an "Eye-Ai" issue in which one of their records was being sold. I think it could have been their 1985 "Ame No Nishi Azabu" (雨の西麻布) which was their parodic take on the enka genre. Supposedly, the boys hated enka but I think they certainly did a nice job with that one.

But their 7th single from May 1986, "Yabusakadenai", was definitely not from the traditional Japanese genre. No, this was a rockin' boogie stomp by Takaaki and his partner Noritake Kinashi（木梨憲武）. Written and composed by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）with arrangement by Akira Mitake（見岳章）, I couldn't find the lyrics but from what I could hear, I don't think I can really describe the situation in a family-oriented blog, but let's say that Nori was feeling really randy.

As for the translation of the title, I found out that there had been an original meaning of doing something with gusto but in recent years, that meaning of yabusakadenai has been considerably watered down to mean "Well, I'm not opposed to doing it, but...", and apparently it was jargon within the business world. In any case, "Yabusakadenai" reached No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies and ended up as the No. 59-ranked single of the year. The song was also used as the theme for the TBS drama (well, comedy really) "O-Bocchama ni wa Wakarumai!"（お坊っチャマにはわかるまい!...You Wouldn't Understand, Kid!）which starred the Tunnels.

Miwako Fujitani -- Dry Flower（ドライフラワー）

 

At this writing, I think there are only two or so of these YouTube videos showing "OIOI TOKYO TASTE ROOMS", so they are quite precious. Now, I've mentioned this show a couple of times in the past, going all the way back to 2013, and I have to make some clarifications here since I was rather loose with my details. For one thing, I referred to the show as just "Rooms"; well, the full name is now above us. For the second thing, I'd assumed that the show ran on for a few years when in fact, it was just for a year on late-night Fuji-TV between 1994 and 1995.

But I guess such was the impressive style and panache that the producers behind "OIOI TOKYO TASTE ROOMS" placed onto this mere 10-minute vignette that it was like getting that video version of a great midnight snack. And indeed, the program ran at around the 12:30 am time period as it focused on the more interesting apartment layouts of urbanites ranging from their late teens to thirties. Having a passing interest in architecture and interior décor, I have to admit that it was some late-night catnip to me as I watched from the comfort of my futon.

Of course, being sponsored by the department store Marui, having the show get into viewers' eyes and minds probably had them snoozing and perhaps dreaming of furniture and other interior goods that they could get from stylish Marui itself. If I'm not mistaken, there was also a rather bizarre segment of about a minute in length in which a famous actress or female Fuji-TV announcer in character or even a viewer would leave a phone message on some existential matter.

However, it was the ending theme that did catch my ear, and in the past, I have posted about a couple of those themes: Kenjiro Sakiya's（崎谷健次郎）"ROOMS" and Kaya Saeki's（佐伯伽耶）"Perfume wo Nokosenai" （パフュームを残せない）. Today's theme is "Dry Flower" which was singer/actress Miwako Fujitani's（藤谷美和子）July 1994 2nd single following her hit duet with the late Yoshiaki Ohuchi（大内義昭）, "Ai ga Umareta Hi"（愛が生まれた日）which had been released earlier in February. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）, although I have put on the City Pop label for it because of its overall urbaneness, it doesn't have that usual groove but it does have some of that sophisticated pop and dramatic balladry. I'd say that it fit the "OIOI ROOMS" ethos quite well with the resident of that refined apartment or condo sighing about love and all that jazz. Still, after waking up the following morning, I didn't get that urge to buy a tapestry or a OIOI bookshelf.

Yuyu with Onyanko Club -- Tenshi no Bodyguard（天使のボディーガード）

 

I hadn't been aware that an angel required a bodyguard. From what I've been hearing of angels recently, it's more that we mortals need bodyguards against angels. But perhaps things were very different in the late 1980s.

Anyways, here is this single by Yuyu（ゆうゆ）with Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）...Yuyu being aidoru Yukiko Iwai（岩井由紀子）as a member of that super-huge aidoru group..."Tenshi no Bodyguard" (Angel's Bodyguard) from March 1987. This twinkly and oh-so-sweet teenybopper tune with a hint of 1950s girl pop was written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）with melody by bassist Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）and arrangement by Jun Sato（佐藤準）, and though I couldn't find the lyrics, I can imagine that some young high school girl is being gallantly protected by her good buddy and potential beau against all suitors. It all reminds me of some of the stuff that I witnessed in elementary and junior high school. Wasn't quite as sweet. Regardless, it scored a No. 2 ranking on Oricon. Also for your information, the Onyanko Club girls backing Yuyu up are Ruriko Nagata（永田ルリ子）, Mutsumi Yokota（横田睦美）and Tomoko Fukawa（布川智子）.

Koutarou Yamamoto -- Mihoko e（美保子へ）

 

My impression of the late singer-songwriter Koutaro Yamamoto（山本コウタロー）was that he was quite the amiable and goofy guy in his T-shirt and bell-bottom jeans according to what I've read and heard through "Mura no Yuubin Haitatsu"（村の郵便配達）of 1972 and via his bands Salty Sugar（ソルティー・シュガー）and Koutarou Yamamoto and Weekend（山本コウタローとウィークエンド）.

So, it's quite the thing to see a much snazzier and older Yamamoto in that suit on the cover of his October 1984 album "Juu-gatsu no Kyori"（10月の距離...October Distance）. He looked like he was ready to party on the dance floors of Roppongi or Shinjuku back then. One song from that album and itself his final single is "Mihoko e" (To Mihoko); the single was released a month earlier. A wistful tune about a fellow who wishes a former flame well when she gets married to another guy, the arrangement of the song still keeps that folksy nature that had been part and parcel of a Yamamoto song from years previously...that is, before a synthesizer crashes the party like a thunder clap near the end for some weird reason. And this time around, Yamamoto doesn't have anything to do with the songwriting. The lyricist was Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）of AKB48 fame and the composer was Ryudo Uzaki（宇崎竜童）.

The kanji for Mihoko can also be read as Mioko but I don't think I could hear the name at all being dropped in the song but maybe one of you can catch it if it does exist. 

Tsukasa Ito -- Namida no Crescendo（涙のクレッシェンド）

 

A few weeks ago, I read a tweet from one of my Twitter buddies stating that Tsukasa Ito's（伊藤つかさ）"Namida no Crescendo" (Crescendo of Tears) was the only saving grace from her April 1984 5th album "Crescendo" and that her following album "Osusume!"（オススメ！）that came out in December of that year had no redeeming features whatsoever. Granted, even for a young lady in aidoru mode, Ito's voice was never heard as being all that strong and there's perhaps a big reason that she's only been described as an actress in her J-Wiki file (despite the presence of a discography there). However, her "Kanashimi wo Uketomete"（悲しみをうけとめて）from the latter album isn't all that bereft of intrigue, especially with that combination of synthesizers and a Maynard Ferguson-loving trumpet, but yeah, I am reminded of her vocals which had my face contorting a bit at times.

It just goes to show though that the aidoru of the 1980s had a lot of good support from the songwriters and arrangers surrounding them. But anyways, let's go to "Namida no Crescendo", which was also her 6th single from February 1984. Written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, composed by Kazuhiko Matsuo（松尾一彦）and arranged by Akira Inoue（井上鑑）, the song is going into that more languid ballad-y (approaching AOR) style that was one part and parcel of the aidoru experience back in that decade. I also have to say that the backup singers in the main chorus were also quite heavenly for the hell being suffered by that lass in the song who has found out, gosh darn it, romantic relationships often don't take. Bitterness hasn't tasted so sweet.

AKB48 -- Totteoki Christmas（とっておきクリスマス）

 

Well, we're in the homestretch now at seven day's worth of sleeps before Christmas. I was playing around with the Bing AI to see if I could get some lovely Christmas Town images (Unionville would be our local one in the Greater Toronto Area), and I could get at least a couple of them. This one seems to have that pleasant mixture of contemporary and old-fashioned with a café at the corner.

I was also searching around to see if there were any aidoru Xmas tunes within the last fifty years or so, and I got lucky with AKB48's "Totteoki Christmas" (Special Christmas). I say lucky because the video is set in one of those happy and shiny Christmas Towns. To be honest, I half-expected a KFC to pop up in one corner but then we'd have copyright issues and the like, wouldn't we?

Anyways, "Totteoki Christmas" was a track on all of the iterations of AKB48's 29th single, "Eien Pressure"（永遠プレッシャー...Eternal Pressure） from December 2012. Of course, written by Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composed this time by Kazunori Watanabe（渡辺和紀）, the song is a typically jingle bell-happy tune about a young lady wanting to spend that romantic Yuletide with her boyfriend. For all those veteran AKB48 fans out there, watching the music video above should bring plenty of nostalgic feelings with a lot of AKB48 members from those days showing up in appropriate Christmas garb. And isn't it nice to hear a Japanese Christmas tune that isn't all about heartbreak?

"Eien Pressure" was another No. 1 hit for the group and despite it being released in December, it quickly became the 5th-ranked single for 2012. If I'm not mistaken, I've only had one other AKB48 Xmas song up on the blog, and that would be the earlier "Anata to Christmas Eve"（あなたとクリスマスイブ）.