Shigeko Orii -- Kuroyuri no Uta（黒百合の歌）

by Takeshiro Matsuura at the
Hakodate City Central Library

I don't know much about botany but that Kamchatka lily (or black lily)...she is scary!

At least, that's the impression which I got from Shigeko Orii's（織井茂子）"Kuroyuri no Uta" (Song of the Black Lily). I've mentioned Orii once before when I wrote about her very successful "Kimi no Na wa"（君の名は）, the theme song for the cinematic adaptation of the story of the same title in 1953. Her melancholy rendition reflected the plot progression which had viewers weeping into their hankies. 

1953 was also the year that Orii released a second theme song for the sequel movie for "Kimi no Na wa", "Kuroyuri no Uta", penned by the same songwriters behind "Kimi no Na wa": legendary composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）and lyricist Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）. Compared to "Kimi no Na wa", though, "Kuroyuri no Uta" has a much more haunting and otherworldly quality, similar to the songwriting duo's earlier classic, "Iyomante no Yoru"（イヨマンテの夜）. As Kikuta's lyrics span the three verses of the song, listeners get an increasingly more sinister image of the black lily (which is native to Far East Russia, northern Japan and the northwestern regions of North America), spanning from a flower of love to a flower of magic to finally a flower of poison. 

Kikuta expressed some of his knowledge of the indigenous Ainu people into "Iyomante no Yoru" and he also did the same in "Kuroyuri no Uta" with one line mentioning that the black lily is a deadly and therefore forbidden flower according to the Ainu god or gods. And the way that Orii delivers the song, I can't help imagine that there was something downright witch-like in her vocals. "Kuroyuri no Uta" was another massive hit for the singer as it sold over 1 million records and earned her another appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen at the end of 1955, a couple of years following her debut on the NHK special to sing "Kimi no Na wa".

Akira Matsudaira -- Koi wa Hana yori mada Akai (戀は花よりまだ赤い)

1930s film quality will be in like 1p and  I'll still be like, "This is the most
adorable thing I've ever seen."
From 松平晃、ミス・コロムビアらが参加した、コロムビア芸
術団の慰問風景を収めた貴重映像！(YouTube)

 

I have to admit that Akira Matsudaira (松平晃) has grown on me considerably, which was the last thing I was expecting considering my initial cold reception of him. I wasn't a fan of his voice because it had a quality that, to my ears, made it sound dull on cursory listens for the longest time. But that ironically became what I like about it, and I now find it endearing. I don't really enjoy songs in the minor key very much, and his major hits were mainly in minor. But I came to realise that his softer and more forlorn tone complemented the darker sort of melodies, and slowly began to uncover his jolly tunes that were mostly hidden. I thought he always looked bored/mildly annoyed, or had the dopiest of smiles. But I now find that awkwardness cute in a warped way, especially after seeing how adorkable he seemed to have been.

I compare Akira-san to his Columbia Records senior Tadaharu Nakano (中野忠晴) A LOT. It's mostly because when I see one I would inevitably see the other, and lately I've just been seeing a lot of things where they were literally placed next to each other. This made me realise that they were like different sides of a coin, their works surprisingly complementing each other during my listening time. Mr. Nakano pulls of bright, cheery, and confident, but when it comes to the foreboding or sentimental, I'd say that Akira-san has him beat. His softer vocals were able to convey loneliness and, at times, a sort of naïve sweetness that can be heart-meltingly... adorable. A case in point is "Koi wa Hana yori mada Akai" (Love is still Redder than Flowers). 

"Koi wa Hana yori mada Akai" was composed by Yuji Koseki (古関裕而) and written by Kikutaro Takahashi (高橋菊太郎), a power combo if I've ever seen one, from 1937. The rosy waltz-inspired tune with its tender strings aptly expresses the ups and downs of being in love. Akira-san's subdued delivery makes it feel as though we are hearing the inner thoughts of a shy protagonist who is very much head-over-heels for his beloved. He's certainly on cloud nine when bringing her flowers and when taking her out on a date, but becomes extra gloomy when he is unable to see her. In a way, one could also interpret the narrative in the perspective of the protagonist nostalgically looking back at the memories he had of, say, his first love. 

Waltz-inspired melodies are more of a slow-burn for me, but the way Akira-san handled the tune really knocked it out of the park. He just conveys "shy protagonist" so well, and I don't really think any other singer from that era (1930s) can pull that off that convincingly. The closest I could think of was Bin Uehara (上原敏), but Bin-san just sounded sad and forlorn for the most part.

That photo was taken almost exactly a month ago after I went with some ryukoka enthusiasts to a record event organised by the one and only prof. Yoshinori Osakabe (刑部芳則), who's one half of my favourite podcast "Osakabe-Takehei Showa no Utagoe" (刑部たけ平昭和の歌声). I'd brought various photos/photo cards of my fellows in anticipation of scoring an oshikatsu hit on the event's program based on the prof's personal favourites. I even brought Akira-san's photo just in case because he'd been featured on the podcast. Little did I know he'd be the only one among my collection to show up. Turns out my taste is the complete opposite of the prof's save for my budding interest in Akira-san. After events like these, my tradition is to have dessert and take a snapshot of the photo/photo card I brought. Even though Akira-san wasn't yet of that caliber, prof. Osakabe did introduce his song and I brought his photo, so I got my tea and cake-tart at a cafe after the show and... *click*.

Matsudaira seems extremely popular among a wide-range of ryukoka fans, the professor included, and I couldn't understand what it was about him that made him so for the longest time. But hearing his song on a gramophone for the first time at this event and picking up the aforementioned nuances and gentleness in his voice allowed me understand why. I get it now.

 

They're all wearing bow-ties.

A few months ago, I joked that Matsudaira was the "Ichiro Fujiyama we have at home" (if you get the meme). A few months later, Matsudaira is the one I have at home. On my shelf. And in my photo card holder. They say irony is a dish best served cold, but this one feels like a bouquet of red flowers presented by a brightly grinning Akira-san. 

Alright, you've finally convinced me, Akira-san. Happy 113th! 💐(´-`*) 

Ichiro Fujiyama & Aiko Anzai -- Midori no Uta（みどりの歌）

 

Well, I did mention yesterday about St. Patrick's Day today and so young Kayo has decided to take part in the annual St. Patrick's Day parade somewhere on Earth. And rest assured, she is old enough to enjoy a pint of Guinness at some Irish pub though the bartender may ask her for ID. She might even be flattered by the request.

It's a bit of a tall ask but I was looking around to see if there were a kayo kyoku associated with the Irish holiday, and sure enough, I couldn't find anything. Then I searched for any Japanese songs that had a connection with Ireland itself. Once again, I got nothing. So, next I made the trek for any song title that had the word "green" or "midori".

Happily, it was there that I got the hit. Let me introduce you to "Midori no Uta" (The Green Song or The Greenery Song) which was released in 1948 and it is a duet between the legendary Ichiro Fujiyama（藤山一郎）and children's song vocalist Aiko Anzai（安西愛子）. Written by Riki Nakamura（中村利器）and composed by Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, "Midori no Uta" is a typically Koseki upbeat march, this time celebrating the verdant land surrounding the citizenry. It was still the early days of recovery from the war so I'm not sure whether all involved with the kayo kyoku were reflecting on home and hearth in the regional towns and villages while the younger generations were toiling away in the factories in the big cities. Perhaps Tokyo had some greenery in patches where people could visit and relax.

There's not much of a writeup on Anzai but on J-Wiki, she was born in Tokyo in 1917 and after her singing days, she became a Lower House member for the Liberal Democratic Party for three terms. She also had high status in a few organizations including one as vice-chairperson for the ultra-conservative Japan Conference lobbying group. She passed away in 2017 at the age of 100.

Dark Ducks -- Hotaka yo Saraba（穂高よさらば）

 

August 11th's Mountain Day is the newest national holiday in Japan although it's been around since 2016. I'm not sure whether people have been encouraged to climb their local geological protuberance tomorrow, but there are many Japanese citizens who have never needed prodding to hike up mountains. My old English circle has often scaled the local mountains as a hobby.

To commemorate the occasion then, I thought that a mountain-themed kayo kyoku would do. As such, I've managed to find this one by Dark Ducks（ダークダックス）, a vocal group that seems to be the experts at singing mountain songs according to this article that I wrote back in 2017. Ironically, they would retire in the same year that Mountain Day was first celebrated.

According to "World Folk Song", "Hotaka yo Saraba" (Farewell, Hotaka) is a song that was created back in 1944 by composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, a beloved songsmith who knew his way around the proud and intrepid melodies such as "Sports Show Koushinkyoku"（スポーツショー行進曲）. The same goes with "Hotaka yo Saraba" which sounds like a theme for the aftermath of a military campaign but the lyrics by Mitsuhiko Yoshino（芳野満彦）talk of a climb up beloved Mt. Hotaka, one of The 100 Famous Mountains of Japan that lies on the border between Nagano and Gifu Prefectures. One interesting point that I discovered was that Yoshino only came up with the first verse; after that, a number of different verses were written by actual mountain climbers so that the song could have different versions based on lyrics. I tried my best but I couldn't find out when Dark Ducks' version was recorded.

Speaking of holidays, the Obon Holidays are upon Japan now but the typhoons have been a problem over the past few weeks, and unfortunately Typhoon No. 7 or Typhoon Ran is now making a beeline straight toward the main island of Honshu. I've already been noticing events and reservations being cancelled, so I can only hope that all of my friends and relatives in Japan will stay safe.

Yuuji Koseki -- Sports Show Koushinkyoku（スポーツショー行進曲）

 

I think that a lot of us folks in our thirties and above will always remember weekends for ABC's "Wide World of Sports" with the late Jim McKay narrating the famous introduction including the legendary line "The thrill of victory ... and the agony of defeat". Of course, all that was accompanied by the dramatic fanfare by American composer Charles Fox who I was surprised to find out came up with some of the most famous TV themes in the United States such as for "Happy Days", "The Love Boat", and "Wonder Woman".

Japanese television, specifically NHK, also had its sports programming scored by a famous theme that is still used even today. In fact, I heard "Sports Show Koushinkyoku" (The Sports Show March) just earlier this afternoon when I was watching the rugby match between Waseda and Keio Universities. It may not be as dramatic as the "Wide World of Sports" theme, but it can sure rouse a crowd into a good sporting mood.

Created in 1949 by famed composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, who had also made another legendary sports-based tune several years before, I think that the brassy and jaunty "Sports Show Koushinkyoku" has probably been used for pretty much any type of sports event in Japan outside of the Olympics coverage and sumo. I've usually associated the theme with baseball, including the national high school championships.

Hisao Ito -- Iyomante no Yoru（イヨマンテの夜）

 

In recent years, I've been made aware of this particular kayo titled "Iyomante no Yoru" (The Night of the Sendoff Ceremony) sung by enka veteran Takashi Hosokawa（細川たかし）. But this isn't an enka song. When I first heard Hosokawa perform it a few years ago, he didn't particularly sing it; it was actually more of a bellowing of what sounded like an incantation for something to happen at that ceremony of the title. It was raw, operatic and the rhythm felt like part of a soundtrack from an old 1940s adventure in Africa. What the heck was "Iyomante no Yoru"?

Well, we have to go all the way back to an old NHK radio drama called "Kane no Naru Oka"（鐘の鳴る丘...The Hill on Which the Bell Tolls） which had been broadcast between the summer of 1947 to the end of 1950. A story by playwright and lyricist Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）, the plot featured a demobilized soldier who ends up living in a communal facility in a mountain village on a hill and becomes well acquainted with some war orphans.

Famed composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, who had worked with Kikuta before to create "Francesca no Kane"（フランチェスカの鐘）in 1948, came up with "Iyomante no Yoru" as the theme representing the woodsmen in the drama as he improvised something while performing on a Hammond organ. It was originally meant to be performed with just the "Ahhhhh..." bellowing, but singer Hisao Ito（伊藤久男）, who had recorded Koseki's iconic "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku"（栄冠は君に輝く ）, occasionally listened to "Kane no Naru Oka" and fell in love with "Iyomante no Yoru".

Both Kikuta and Koseki eventually got together with Ito and came up with the revised "Iyomante no Yoru". The lyricist had some experience with Ainu songs so he adapted some of the language of this East Asian ethnic group native to Hokkaido and added it to the lyrics for the song. In fact, the word iyomante is Ainu for a sendoff ceremony. A 45" single was sold in stores as of January 1950.

However, according to the J-Wiki article on "Iyomante no Yoru", despite the Ainu influence in the language, it was found that with the arrangements which included an African tom-tom drum and the fact that in spite of the title hinting at a night ceremony, any actual sendoff ceremonies in Ainu culture were almost always performed in the daytime, there were opinions raised that the song really didn't musically reflect the Ainu.

Another interesting point of trivia found in the J-Wiki article is that the NHK singing program "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）during the period of 1950-1952 found almost all of the male contestants asking to sing "Iyomante no Yoru" which put the judges in a bit of a tizzy. During the show in modern times, I've occasionally seen a few guys come up to perform the song, even high school boys.

But it hasn't been just the amateurs tackling the song. A number of singers have covered it, too, including tenor Masafumi Akikawa（秋川雅史）who gained national fame for his rendition of "Sen no Kaze ni Natte"（千の風になって）in 2006, as well as enka singer Aya Shimazu（島津亜矢）. I think with "Iyomante no Yoru", there is probably that "muscularity" in there that has attracted the kayo singers like a workout machine attracting the gym athletes.

Akiko Futaba/Columbia Rose/Chiyoko Shimakura -- Miss Sendai（ミス仙台）

 

One year ago today, the World Health Organization declared the pandemic that has still been affecting our lives but perhaps there is a fair bit of hope peeking through today with a variety of vaccines that didn't even exist in early 2020 gradually being put into arms. As I remember it, it was a tense time going into spring with me having to wake up early to avoid lineups for the supermarket while shelves were often devoid of bread, toilet paper, sanitizers and tissues.

Ten years ago today, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck the Pacific coast of Japan devastating towns and cities in the northern part of the nation while shaking and scaring folks like myself and millions of other residents in the Tokyo area. Although I've heard that there are may be as many as tens of thousands still displaced in Miyagi Prefecture and other vicinities, the past decade has seen recovery coming back to the Tohoku.

I was wondering what to do on March 11th for "Kayo Kyoku Plus". I didn't want to come across as overly pompous about the anniversary but neither did I want to ignore the fact that there was this major national disaster back in 2011. Therefore, I decided to search for some kayo that commemorated and celebrated the Tohoku area in some way. There was one folk song that I'd been looking at, but I then thought that the lyrics were a tad too ironic for today's article, so I will cover that one a little later on since I still think that it can have a place on the blog.

However earlier today, I did find this song that possesses a history and was created by two famous kayo writers, lyricist Yaso Saijo（西條八十）and composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）titled "Miss Sendai". Originally recorded by 21-year-old Akiko Futaba（二葉あき子）for release locally in July 1936 and then nationally later that August, "Miss Sendai" provides a glimpse of the emotions and the scenery of the city of Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, through the four seasons. 

It is indeed a jaunty kayo, and the song was categorized as a shin-minyo（新民謡...new minyo）according to the J-Wiki article on "Miss Sendai". From what I know of minyo as traditional Japanese music for events such as festivals, I was rather curious about what shin-minyo was all about, and I discovered via the genre's own J-Wiki page that such songs were often requested to be made by local governments and businesses to tout their regions in the names of local patriotism and tourism to the entirety of Japan. So, basically speaking, the song was a three-minute campaign for a particular geographical area done to music.

"Miss Sendai" became a hit for Futaba in Sendai and the rest of the prefecture but then less than half a year later, her "Otome Juu-kyuu"（乙女十九...Young Girl at 19）was released in January 1937, and it was basically a slightly sped-up version of "Miss Sendai" with new lyrics by Saijo. This then became Futaba's first major nationwide hit.

Nippon Columbia was the record company behind "Miss Sendai" and it would also be responsible for a second release of the kayo by a different artist several years later. The company apparently did like their imaginative promotion strategies and so in the late 1930s, they came up with the idea of a Miss Columbia to sing songs, and they had Misao Matsubara（松原操）take on the new name.

Some years after World War II, Nippon Columbia for a similar campaign beginning in the early 1950s with a female singer who would go by the moniker, Columbia Rose...a bit of a cheeky take on the notorious Tokyo Rose. The first Columbia Rose was a native of Gunma Prefecture, Matsue Matsumoto（松本マツ江）, and she released numerous singles and made five appearances on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen throughout the decade up to the early 1960s. But then, once Matsumoto left the name, a second Columbia Rose was selected in the form of Noriko Mune（宗紀子）from Tokyo.

Columbia Rose II also released her singles which included a cover version of "Miss Sendai" in 1962. Her version also has that natsumero feeling to it but I think her vocals are also slightly more relaxed. Mune did have her sole appearance on the Kohaku in 1964, and in 1975, she moved to Los Angeles for a time. However, she became good friends with Matsumoto and even appeared frequently on stage together. Mune passed away last year in August at the age of 78 in Kanagawa Prefecture.

For the record, a third Columbia Rose, Mina Nomura（野村美菜）, made her debut in 2004.

Not sure if it's this particular recording but Chiyoko Shimakura's（島倉千代子）version of "Miss Sendai" sounds quite a bit older than its July 1974 release. The tempo is even more languid than the one for the Futaba original and J-Wiki states that Shimakura utilized some of the enka kobushi technique in her delivery of the lyrics. Since this version was the first version that I'd heard, I did wonder whether this would be considered to be an enka tune.

Hisao Ito -- Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku（栄冠は君に輝く ）

 

With the broadcast of the current NHK morning serial "Yell"（エール）, a fictionalized account of the life and times of composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, there has been a running series of 10-minute vignettes on the national broadcaster highlighting famous songs by Koseki. One song that the composer created was for the annual Japanese High School Baseball Championships in the summer held at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture and that was the song that was featured in one of those vignettes.

Unfortunately with COVID-19, the championships have been cancelled this year, a turn of events that probably had baseball fans all over the nation shocked and saddened since in my estimation, this has been a summer event that has had even more prestige than the professional Japan Series, Japanese baseball's equivalent of the World Series in the Major Leagues. I remember when I was teaching in Gunma Prefecture, I was asked to teach some summer school English to kids but one day, the children were acting a little more antsier than usual and when I asked them what was up with them, one of them sheepishly requested if they could watch the high school championships on TV. Being a softie (which did me good and bad over the years), I acquiesced and got them in front of the community centre TV where we watched one of the games. But make no mistake. These championships are a big deal in Japan.

According to Wikipedia, the championships first began in 1915 and were held annually until for a few years between 1942 and 1945, they were cancelled due to World War II. The games were back in business from 1946 and in 1948, Koseki with lyricist Daisuke Kaga's（加賀大介）help created a theme song for the Koshien championships which matched their pomp and glory.

Titled "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku" (The Laurels of Victory Shine on You), the theme was first performed by popular singer Hisao Ito（伊藤久男）, who was first introduced onto KKP by enka expert Noelle over a year ago. Having listened to it many times over the years since the competition was often shown in the sports highlight reels daily, I swear that Koseki created something that could have even fit as a national anthem for any country. The song has been used in the opening and closing ceremonies, and I believe in the opening ceremonies, it's been the song that the competing teams march to as they enter the stadium. I can only imagine the swell of pride that the players feel when they do come in and hear the strains of "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku".

Up until 1996, "Eikan wa Kimi ni Kagayaku" had been performed by local high school chorus groups but afterwards, singers and bands such as BORO and Ryoko Moriyama（森山良子）have performed the song from time to time. In NHK's "Yell", there was even a scene at the stadium in which the genesis of the song was depicted, and in the above video, one of the actors in the show, Ikusaburo Yamazaki（山崎育三郎）, does his rendition on a music program. Hopefully, it will be performed again at the championships as early as next year. Incidentally, this wasn't the only famous baseball-themed anthem that composer Koseki had created.

Akiko Futaba -- Francesca no Kane（フランチェスカの鐘）

With the current NHK morning serial drama "Yell"（エール）being based on the life and times of songwriter Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, there has been a series of 10-minute vignettes focusing on key songs by the man. I already wrote about one song that I discovered through one of those vignettes, "Nagasaki no Kane"（長崎の鐘）.

Another episode that I've recently seen is the one for a 1948 song composed by Koseki, "Francesca no Kane" (The Bells of Francesca). Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）was the lyricist for this particular kayo which dealt with a woman experiencing a variety of emotions such as shock, rage and mourning since he was losing the man that he loved to a higher power. He was breaking things off because he was entering the monastery. "Francesca no Kane" is the musical equivalent of that bitter pill to swallow as Akiko Futaba（二葉あき子）sadly relays the woman's feelings. There was also a spoken verse provided by actress Taeko Takasugi（高杉妙子）, the wife of lyricist Kikuta, who effectively spat out her mocking disdain for her soon-to-be former beau while undergoing what sounded like delusional denial about her plight.

Through the J-Wiki article on "Francesca no Kane" with the original sources being a 1980 autobiography about Koseki and a 2019 book on the songwriter called "Koseki Yuuji ~ Ryuukou Sakyokuka to Gekidou Showa"（古関裕而～流行作曲家と激動昭和...The Popular Composer and The Turbulent Showa Era）, I got one answer on my question on "Who was Francesca?". Apparently, Koseki asked Kikuta about the name, assuming that it was the monastery where the young man was heading for. The lyricist simply replied that he had no idea; he picked the name because he liked the sound of it!

In later recordings of "Francesca no Kane" following the release of a movie filmed based on the kayo, the spoken verse was taken out of the song for some reason, so a lot of that feeling of a romance gone bitterly south was eliminated. In its place, the song took on the atmosphere of a requiem for all of those lost in the Hiroshima bombing via the wartime experiences that composer Koseki and singer Futaba had undergone. According to that 1980 Koseki autobiography, Futaba had also said that when she sang "Francesca no Kane" at the Nihon Gekijo in Tokyo in the summer of 1949, she saw the images of those high school friends whom she had lost. She then resolved that she would always sing the song until her own death. Futaba passed away in August 2011.

The J-Wiki article also mentioned that singers such as Kenji Sawada（沢田研二）and Tokiko Kato（加藤登紀子）have covered it. I managed to find Julie's performance above, and it's definitely more of a sultry and sullen rock thing here. 

Ichiro Fujiyama -- Nagasaki no Kane（長崎の鐘）

Currently with the adapted biography of composer Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）being televised as the NHK morning serial drama "Yell"（エール）, the network has also been providing 5-minute vignettes of some of Koseki's work. The themes for the Hanshin Tigers baseball team, "Rokko Oroshi"（六甲おろし）and everyone's favourite heroic moth, "Mothra", have already been given their due in the vignettes.

Another song that has been featured is the elegiac "Nagasaki no Kane", inspired by the January 1949 Takashi Nagai（永井隆）book of the same name with the translation of "The Bells of Nagasaki", which referred to the bells of Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki. The song itself was released as a single later in July with Koseki providing the melody while Hachiro Sato（サトウハチロー）was behind the lyrics.

Veteran kayo singer Ichiro Fujiyama（藤山一郎）was the first to record "Nagasaki no Kane", and in the vignette, singer and TV personality Akihiro Miwa（美輪明宏）noted that the song was perhaps one of the first kayo to feature a combination of major and minor chords to reflect both sorrow and hope with the additional help of a women's chorus. That was a pretty noteworthy point Miwa made since I've often heard Japanese pop songs from way back that had that similar pattern of sad-and-happy melodies.

According to the J-Wiki article on the song, "Nagasaki no Kane" never made any direct reference to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki itself but referred to all those who suffered because of the war. Lyricist Sato himself had lost a brother in the Hiroshima bombing.

It would be years before I realized how much of an association Fujiyama had with NHK's Kohaku Utagassen because of his traditional role as the orchestra conductor when it was time to wrap the show up with the annual playing of "Hotaru no Hikari"（蛍の光）. I've also now learned that Fujiyama was one of the performers at the very first edition of the Kohaku on NHK Radio back on January 3rd 1951 in which he sang "Nagasaki no Kane". He would perform the song again on the 1964, 1973 and 1979 editions.

Hamako Watanabe -- Ame no Oranda-zaka（雨のオランダ坂）

Another source of watching the old kayo on NHK along with "Uta Kon"（うたコン）has been "Songs of Japanese Spirit". Unfortunately, I forget what the original Japanese title is of this program on the World Premium service but the English title has always been listed as so. Before TV Japan's programming schedule got turned upside-down because of COVID-19, this particular show was usually featured on Saturdays in the mid-afternoon, and it is even grander than "Uta Kon". It's twice as long as the average "Uta Kon" episode and the stress is on showing the kayo singers performing the old hits instead of the mix of kayo and J-Pop on the other show. And often, the last third of the show is devoted to some sort of stage play being acted out by the performers on the episode with, of course, songs being thrown in, or a segment focusing on the hits surrounding two of the singers.

With "Uta Kon" greatly changed due to the pandemic restrictions, I was happy to find out that "Songs of Japanese Spirit" did pop up at least once since the changes. Obviously, it was a rerun of an episode from 2019 but just to see all those singers appear together onstage to sing their kayo was very reassuring.

There were a few songs that had caught my ear for that episode that I PVR'ed. One was Hamako Watanabe's（渡辺はま子）"Ame no Oranda-zaka" (Rainy Hollander Slope). For some background, Oranda-zaka, which has been called the Dutch Slope or the Hollander Slope, is a scenic sloping street in Nagasaki that was given its name due to the large number of Dutch merchants that had lived in the area in the latter half of the 19th century. During my one time in the city, I only got to see Chinatown and the bay area, so unfortunately I've never had the opportunity to walk on Oranda-zaka.

I have forgotten who performed "Ame no Oranda-zaka" on "Songs of Japanese Spirit", but the original version from January 1947 had been first recorded by Watanabe, a singer who was especially popular from the late 1930s to well into the 1950s. With "Ame no Oranda-zaka", which was written by Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）and composed by Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, she related the tale of heartbreak and sorrow of a romance coming to an end on the wet pavement of the titular slope in Nagasaki.

"Ame no Oranda-zaka" was a hit for Watanabe, who would get married and open up a flower shop in her native Yokohama in the same year of 1947 while restarting her career according to her Wikipedia file. This all happened after she had been repatriated back to Japan following detention in a POW camp in China for over a year once the Japanese surrendered.

In the 1950s, Watanabe made a string of appearances in the early years of the Kohaku Utagassen, including the inaugural edition on NHK Radio in 1951. She would make a total of 9 appearances on the special with her final appearance being in 1973. None of those appearances had her performing "Ame no Oranda-zaka".

Atsuo Okamoto -- Kogen Ressha wa Iku（高原列車は行く）

Tonight's theme on NHK's "Uta Kon"（うたコン）was trains. It's quite the meaty theme, actually, since Japan is indeed a train nation with so many railways criss-crossing the country like arteries and veins, and there have been so much in the way of kayo featuring the mode of transportation.

One of the first songs on tonight's show was a 1954 tune by Atsuo Okamoto（岡本敦郎）, a singer who hailed from the great sushi haven of Otaru in Hokkaido. "Kogen Ressha wa Iku" (There Goes the Highland Train) is one of those jaunty postwar numbers celebrating folks enjoying the great outdoors as the titular train passes through. It's so cheerful that it could get even me hiking into the mountains (probably won't happen).

Still, the trains can be fun to ride. Anyways, while most of the song has that happy march feeling, there's an instrumental part in there which seems to take things into a more traditional enka pattern for some reason. Athough I have categorized "Kogen Ressha wa Iku" as an enka tune, I think the tune is basically one zippy kayo.

Toshio Oka（丘灯至夫）wrote the lyrics under one of his pen names which is pronounced the same way but has different kanji（丘十四夫）, while Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）created the melody. As for Okamoto, he appeared on the Kohaku Utagassen in its very early days a total of 7 times between 1952 and 1958 with his first two times being on the original radio broadcast. He performed "Kogen Ressha wa Iku" on his 4th appearance in December 1954 at Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya Public Hall. I'm sure that his clap-worthy performance had the audience all roused up.

Shigeko Orii -- Kimi no Na wa （君の名は）

OK, first off... this article isn't about the anime "Kimi no Na wa"（君の名は。...Your Name） from this year that has been apparently getting some acclaim. I'm talking about the romantic drama from decades back that had originally been broadcast as a radio drama all the way back in 1952.

As you have probably guessed, I'm not a huge drama watcher although I did have my moments in the 1990s starting with "Tokyo Love Story"（東京ラブストーリー）. However, even I knew about this famous drama titled "Kimi no Na wa" (What's Your Name?) that had its origins on NHK Radio and then was adapted into a movie, a TV drama and even a stage play over the decades.

There's a far more polished article on the drama itself along with similar examples of the weepy sure-chigai (two ships passing in the night...the classic analogy for a romance never meant to be) sub-genre from "The Japan Times", but I can provide the brief synopsis here. A woman, Mariko Ujiie（氏家真知子）, and a man, Haruki Atomiya（後宮春樹）, try to find refuge during the night of the Tokyo Air Raid and spend a brief time together ultimately ending up on the Sukiyabashi Bridge in Ginza. They have to part but promise each other that they will meet again on the same bridge in 6 months' time. Of course, that doesn't come to pass and they don't even give each other their names (D'oh!). In the interim, Mariko and Haruki have to overcome their own surrounding trials and tribulations.

Being a buff of the ancient age of Hollywood, "Kimi no Na wa" reminded me most of "An Affair to Remember" (1957) with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr although the structure of this movie was flipped...not to say that this flick was connected with "Kimi no Na wa" in any way. I'm sure that the final scene for "An Affair to Remember" had the viewers pulling out the hankies, though.

Although the radio broadcast had another singer performing the theme song, it sounds as if "Kimi no Na wa" became famous from the singer performing it for the movie version from 1953 and then recording it onto vinyl, Shigeko Orii（織井茂子）. Orii was born in 1926 in Tokyo's Meguro Ward and became a singer of children's songs while in her teens. Coming under the tutelage of composer Nosho Omura（大村能章）, she graduated into the world of kayo kyoku under the stage name of Yoshiko Miyako（都能子）debuting in 1947 at King Records. However with no hits during that time, the singer decided to start over again in 1949, this time under her real name at Columbia.

In 1953, with her rendition of "Kimi no Na wa", Orii's ship didn't pass her by, it came into port for her. The mournful theme song written by Kazuo Kikuta（菊田一夫）and composed by Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）struck a national chord and sold anything between 1.1 million to 2 million records. A number of Orii's succeeding singles didn't quite get the same amount of business but still sold very successfully.

Orii would also appear on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen 6 times between 1953 and 1989, each time when the Kohaku was staged at a different place including its current venue of NHK Hall in Shibuya. Two of those times, her first and final appearances, had her singing "Kimi no Na wa".

Orii would continue to work right up until her passing at the age of 70 in 1996. She even ran a nightclub in Tokyo for many years until the Bubble burst.

Ichiro Fujiyama -- Nicolai no Kane (ニコライの鐘)

I'm not a religious person by any means although I visited my fair share of temples and shrines in Tokyo and at one point, I even went to a Catholic church near Shibuya to attend a Xmas concert featuring a fellow teaching colleague from an old school.

However, I never got to see the church featured in this song although I have to say according to the visuals in the above YouTube video, it's a pretty impressive structure. This is the Holy Resurrection Cathedral which also goes by the name of Nikolai-do. It's located in the Kanda district of Tokyo where it was completed in 1891 and founded by the founder of the Japanese Orthodox Church who would become known as St. Nicholas of Japan. Continuing on from the Wikipedia description, the church was built to look over the Imperial Palace but over the many decades, it has become inundated by the tall skyscrapers.

Yesterday, I caught the latest episode of NHK's "Nodo Jiman"（のど自慢）in which one of the local citizen singers came up to sing this old chestnut called "Nicolai no Kane" (The Bells of Nicolai). I thought it was resonant enough for me to write about it today. The original singer was Ichiro Fujiyama（藤山一郎）and the song was released in December 1951 with the music by Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）and words by Yutaka Kadota（門田ゆたか）. "Nicolai no Kane" was way before my time but I was still attracted by its melancholy yet proud arrangement. The first verse spoke about this fine church in the valley as the sun set but then the second verse got to the crux of the ballad as Fujiyama crooned about finding out about the loss of a love and then praying for some help. I couldn't say that this was made as an enka tune but there was plenty of emotion flowing from it to make this a Mood Kayo that didn't take place in a bar...far from it.

Hideo Narumi（鳴海日出夫）performs the song on stage here and I couldn't ask for a better person to sing it than him. His voice has got the right type of vibrato to sing this with the ideal amount of melancholy. Fujiyama actually was able to perform "Nicolai no Kane" on the 6th edition of the Kohaku Utagassen at the end of 1955.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sftrajan/880082492/?ytcheck=1

The Peanuts -- Mothra no Uta （モスラのうた）

One of the many interesting foibles I discovered about the Japanese during my time in the country was the near-fatal dread many of them had about cockroaches. Through various television programs and personal experiences, I've seen friends and colleagues react with the same level of fear that they would have if they came face-to-face with the ALIEN when it came to dealing with the tiny roach (Me? Whenever I came across one, I simply picked it up and threw it out the window. Sorry, I don't kill animals.).

But perhaps the second-most feared insect in Japan is the moth. Again, I've felt people going into fetal positions whenever contact is made with the representatives of the sub-order Heterocera (arigato, Wikipedia), and there are plenty of the little furry rascals at night orbiting the lights like satellites around a planet. From what I've heard, it's the "powder" that the critters give off that grosses so many people out. So, in spite of and/or because of this moth-phobia, this movie below came about decades ago:

Well, Toho Studios had a giant lizard and a giant pterodactyl. Why not a giant moth? "Mothra" came out in 1961, and the world's cutest caterpillar-turned-moth with a thyroid condition was one of my favourite characters whenever Monster Week came on the afternoon matinees on WGRZ-TV (then WGR) in Buffalo. I mean, whenever those monster team-up movies came on, Godzilla and Rodan would be unsubtly wreaking rage and havoc on King Ghidorah, but caterpillar Mothra would nonchalantly skitter across the land before unleashing major SILK. That's one cool cat....for a grub.

Of course, it seems like every monster had a theme song, and Mothra was no exception. What I remember from my first sighting of the giant caterpillar was that it was escorted by those two tiny ladies who sang this tropical ditty which started with "Mo-su-raaa-YA!" Mom helpfully instructed me that the shobijin （小美人...little beauties） were a duo by the name of The Peanuts. Yep, this was my first time getting to know the popular duo, and I thought considering their size in the movie, they were well-named.

The music for "Mothra no Uta" (Mothra's Song) was composed by Yuuji Koseki（古関裕而）, the same fellow who came up with the Hanshin Tigers march in 1936. As for the lyrics, I was surprised to find out a couple of things. One was that the "lyricist" of Koji Yuki （由起こうじ）was actually a trio of writers under one name: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ishiro Honda and Shinichi Sekizawa（田中友幸・本田猪四郎・関沢.新一）. The other one was that what I heard The Peanuts sang was not even the Japanese language. The gestalt lyricist created the original Japanese lyrics and then they were translated into Indonesian for which Emi and Yumi Ito （伊藤エミ・ユミ）sang phonetically. The J-Wiki article for the song provides the lyrics in Japanese, Indonesian, Chinese and English.

Of course, the big monsters have been popping up now and then for years, and in December 1992, a new version of the battle royale between lizard and moth was presented via "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth". With a new insect, an updated version of the Mothra song was provided via actresses Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa（今村恵子・大沢さやか）. And the passing of the baton has continued through some more monster movies heading into the 21st century.

P.S. I do have to admit that for several years, though, I did have an unfortunate bout of arachnophobia due to my 6-year-old eyes sighting some humongous and ferocious spiders during my first trip to the land of my ancestors, Wakayama Prefecture. I'm OK now, although the odd daddylonglegs may raise my hackles from time to time.

May 24th 2019: Well, whaddya know? Thanks, Bear McCreary!

Tadaharu Nakano -- Rokko Oroshi （六甲おろし）

Y'know....all those 17 years I was living in Ichikawa-shi, Chiba-ken, and I really never got all that into Japanese baseball. Then again, I was mostly just a casual fan of Major League Baseball over here (currently living in a city where the local team has been out of the playoff picture for over 20 years hasn't helped my attitude) in any case. Mind you, there was that one time when the 2005 Chiba Lotte Marines under Bobby Valentine (yup, the same one who got run out of Boston after that one horrible season in 2012 with the Red Sox) beat the Hanshin Tigers for the Japan Series championship which had a lot of my neighbours crowing with glee well into the night of October 17.

Speaking of the Hanshin Tigers, which have been compared to the Bosox against Tokyo's Yomiuri Giants' equivalent of the New York Yankees, they've managed to win the championship once in 1985 and then get to the finals in 2003 and the aforementioned series with the Marines in 2005. So, they haven't exactly been a dynastic threat (then again, there really hasn't been a dynasty in Japanese baseball since the Seibu Lions in the early 90s) but the Tigers can boast that they have the most rabidly loyal fans in the country and the most well-known team song in J-Baseball history. Heck, even I know about "Rokko Oroshi" (The Downward Wind of Mt. Rokko).

Written by Sonosuke Sato（佐藤惣之助）and composed by Yuuji Koseki (古関裕而...who would also create the theme for the world's most famous giant caterpillar, Mothra, many years later) in 1936, it was first presented at a rallying party held at the Koshien Hotel in late March of that year for the just-established team of the then-Osaka Tigers. The first singer was Tadaharu Nakano （中野忠晴）who sang a mix of jazz and popular songs in the Showa Era. Officially, it is known as "The Osaka Tigers Song" and then "The Hanshin Tigers Song", but "Rokko Oroshi" is the name that has stuck all these decades. Mt. Rokko is actually the name for a chain of mountains in neighbourhing Hyogo Prefecture, and quoting from the Wikipedia article here, "In Japan, wind which blows down from a mountain is known to be cold and harsh, hence the song symbolizes the Tiger's (sic) brave challenge under hardship". The article also has the official English translation of the song.

The Hanshin Tigers may not have had a championship (and therefore not have gotten the opportunity to throw Colonel Sanders statues into the Dotombori Canal) for almost 30 years, but whenever that song comes out on the television in the early months, I think even non-Tigers fans can be warmed by the fact that spring and baseball season is just around the corner.