Vacation Songs

 

Although the next couple of days following Showa Day are technically regular days, the Golden Week holidays have begun and apparently folks could have as many as twelve straight days off depending on how nice the bosses are. I knew that GW was on when I saw NHK show the annual Bullet Train capacity percentages and shots of highways showing a packed route going away from Tokyo and a relatively empty one going to Tokyo. From what I've seen so far, it looks like a lot of the Japanese may be keeping things within the nation instead of flying overseas due to the yen looking rather middling and the rise in a lot of things such as airplane fuel.

So I gather that it's time for an Author's Picks on vacations, and I'm surprised that I hadn't already done this in the past but I can rectify this right now.

(1962) Mieko Hirota -- Vacation

(1972) Takuro Yoshida -- Tabi no Yado （旅の宿）

(1986) Hiromi Iwasaki -- Chiisana Tabi (小さな旅）

(1990) Kome Kome Club -- Roman Hiko (浪漫飛行）

(1997) Yumi Yoshimura -- V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.

"Soundtrack" from "Otona no Wagamama Tabi"（大人のわがまま旅）

By Alix Lee
at Good Free Photos

by Maibaru Travel

I didn't think that I would write such an article but after having watched NHK's travelogue "Otona no Wagamama Tabi" (An Adult's Selfish Trip) last night, I was rather inspired by the "soundtrack" pushing things along. The city for last night's episode was Taipei, Taiwan, and unfortunately, I couldn't find any sign of anything of the NHK show but I figure that the network had done its usual search-and-destroy mission of any signs of unpermitted NHK coverage on YouTube. However, I've found a fine video by Maibaru Travel as you can see above. I've been to Taipei myself once and all I can say after watching the episodes is that I still have much to discover about the city, especially when it comes to its gastronomy.

Anyways, about that eclectic "soundtrack", and yes, I have put it in quotation marks because I'm fairly sure that NHK is not going to put out an actual soundtrack but I thought it was nice to hear some of the old songs, a few of which were instrumental covers while others were the real McCoy. Here is what I heard as the actor/model on "Otona no Wagamama Tabi" was touring and eating his way through Taipei. 

(1997) Yumi Yoshimura -- V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.

(1986) Akiko Yano -- David

(1981) Eiichi Ohtaki -- FUN X 4

(1990) Kome Kome Club -- Roman Hiko (浪漫飛行）

(1978) Yellow Magic Orchestra -- Tong Poo（東風）

(1998) Misia -- Tsutsumikomuyouni （つつむ込むように）

Happy 12th Birthday, Kayo Kyoku Plus! January 30th Birthdays

 

Well, allow Kayo Grace Kyoku and me to wish "Kayo Kyoku Plus" a Happy 12th birthday today. Yup, a dozen years ago, I launched the blog with a posting on one of the big hits of 1981, Jun Horie's（堀江淳）"Memory Glass"（メモリーグラス）and haven't looked back. As usual, I'd like to express my thanks to everyone who's helped out over the years with their own articles: JTM, nikala, jari, Marcos, Noelle, Larry, Joana, HRLE92, Oliver and T-Cat as well as commenters including Michael, YMOfan04, Jim, Brian and Fireminer for their recommendations and insights. Last but not least, I am also grateful for all those who have stopped by for a spell and taken a look at some of the 10,000+ articles we've put up since January 30th 2012.

I was kinda wondering what I would do to commemorate No. 12. At first, I had thought about posting songs with the number 12 in their titles but all I got were tunes involving the month of December which would be somewhat confusing since we are near the end of January. Then, a light bulb came over my head regarding silk which is the traditional gift for a 12th anniversary but nothing popped up on the search engines about kayo kyoku with that relationship. 

Finally, I opted for any singer who was born on January 30th just like KKP. Well in that situation, I did hit pay dirt. I was able to find three singers who fit the profile. And so, Happy Birthday to them as well (I've listed their birth years below. As for the years of release for the songs, you can check the Labels below the article or go to the original articles via the links).

(1958) Sayuri Ishikawa -- Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu Geshiki （津軽海峡・冬景色）

(1975) Yumi Yoshimura -- V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.

(1995) Misaki Iwasa -- Hatsuzake （初酒）

Yumi Yoshimura -- V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.

Not really feeling in vacation mode myself but, hey, it's the Fourth of July weekend coming up in the States, and I'm sure Americans are on the move. So I thought what would be another ideal J-Pop song to profile that reflects an American vacation.

Well, it was a song that I had been thinking about doing for a while but now that July 4th is upon us, it's a fine time for Yumi Yoshimura's（吉村由美）"V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N". I guess it didn't take long for the folks surrounding Puffy (or Puffy Amiyumi in North America) to decide that with the success they'd had so far that they could have Yumi and Ami Ohnuki（大貫亜美）do some solo stuff. Of the two solo debut songs, Yoshimura's "V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N" is the one that I still remember for her cute if unpolished vocals and for her travelogue music video through the United States.

"V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N" came out in July 1997 and listening to it, I thought that there was a bit of Shibuya-kei in there, and as it turned out, it was Yasuharu Konishi（小西康陽）from Pizzicato Five who had written and composed the song. But I also heard some of that old-style jangly rock which reminded me of Tamio Okuda's（奥田民生）work for Puffy. All in all, it wasn't exactly a song that I was willing to buy, but it was still a short-and-sweet aside from the usual Puffy works. It peaked at No. 7 on Oricon.