Hibari Misora -- Hitori Bocchi no Christmas (ひとりぼっちのクリスマス）

Well, this is quite the revelation. A week ago, I introduced this blog's tribute to Japanese Christmas songs with what I had thought was the first domestically produced Xmas tune, Yuming's "Lodge de Matsu Christmas". To be honest, there was a small part of me....under layers of unnecessary fat...that wondered if there couldn't have been an earlier musical tribute to the Yuletide. After all, Christmas was being celebrated to a certain extent even in the postwar years in Japan.

Just on a whim, after writing my entry on Naomi Sagara, I just threw in the name Hibari Misora（美空ひばり） and Christmas into the YouTube engine, and immediately I got this song called "Hitori Bocchi no Christmas" (A Lonely Christmas). At first, I thought perhaps this was one of the Queen of Kayo Kyoku's later songs that hadn't been released as a single in the 70s or 80s. Then, I listened to it. It was definitely something from much earlier. Although "Jingle Bells" bursts in the middle of this short song, the overall feel is somewhat sad as the title suggests.

I decided to dig a bit deeper about this song. And I quickly found a blog that had an entry on it. From that entry, I found out that Misora was all of 15 years of age when she sang it...incredible, considering how she sounds in this video...in 1952. The song was written and composed by Masao Yoneyama(米山正夫）. Recording Xmas songs in Japan was not a common occurrence at the time and the actual thought of picking up a barrel of Kentucky Fried Chicken for December 25 was non-existent when the people there were still picking up the pieces from the Second World War. Misora was singing this song for all of the boys and girls growing up at that time, according to the blog entry, to warm up their hearts and give them hope for the Christmases yet to come.

The blog can be found here: http://88123516.at.webry.info/200612/article_7.html

courtesy of macmagocha70
from Flickr

Naomi Sagara -- Sekai wa Futari no Tame ni （世界は二人のために）

One of the earliest kayo kyoku that I'd ever heard, the singer behind "Sekai wa Futari no Tame ni" (A World for the Two of Us), Naomi Sagara（佐良直美）, is someone that I only remember seeing vaguely in some of the old Japanese TV retrospectives. She had a very boyish appearance when she debuted in May 1967 with this song, a quiet romantic ballad that was composed by Taku Izumi（いずみたく） and written by Michio Yamagami（山上路夫）. Not immediately but sometime after hearing it for the first time and before seeing her on video tape, I'd wondered if the voice was male or female since there was quite a bit of depth in her delivery.

Sagara herself had had doubts about whether this song would actually be a good start for her. In a 2006 interview for an NHK-BS documentary special on kayo kyoku, she remarked "At the beginning, I thought that this lullaby-like song wouldn't sell at all." Actually, it sold at least 1.2 million records, which would signify a mega-hit in Japan. On top of that, it won Sagara the Newcomer's Prize in the Japan Record Awards for that year. The Oricon rankings had not existed in 1967 but when it came into being the following year, "Sekai wa Futari no Tame ni" was ranked at No. 41 on the yearly singles of 1968. Finally, the singer would also make her debut appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen on New Year's Eve of 1967, a little over 7 months after her singing debut, something that was the talk of the town at the time.

For a little over a decade, Sagara would become a familiar face on TV as well as a familiar voice in her records. She was a TV personality and an actress, and even co-hosted the Kohaku 5 times out of her total of 13 appearances on the annual special. However, a scandal involving a tryst between her and another tarento in 1980 led to her virtually disappearing from TV, although she continued to release singles until 1983. A couple of years ago, she did release a new song titled "Inochi no Kokage" (いのちの木陰....The Shade of the Tree), her 48th single.

An Akina Nakamori Medley of Xmas

I was kinda wondering if this video was still in the ether after so long; according to YouTube, it had been uploaded all the way back in 2005! But here it is! A teenage Akina Nakamori（中森明菜） gives her own musical tribute to some of the songs of the season. There was some speculation as to when the actual program was aired....one person said it was about 1983. Looking at Akina's hairdo, I can accept that year.

Anyways, enjoy!

Kiyotaka Sugiyama -- Saigo no Holy Night （最後のHoly Night)

The first lead vocal of the smooth Omega Tribe, shades-sporting Kiyotaka Sugiyama（杉山清隆）, went solo from the band in 1986. His first single was "Sayonara no Ocean"（さよならのオーシャン....Goodbye Ocean）, an appropriately summery song in May of that year. But his second release was a distinctly different animal based on a bittersweet reminiscence of a former couple's final Xmas Eve together.. "Saigo no Holy Night"(Last Holy Night), despite its last two words, has no religious significance but is an innocent City Pop Xmas song.

The video above (unfortunately taken down) gives a fine presentation of what a Tokyo Christmas looks like, something that I used to see often. In fact, my first Xmas Eve in Tokyo in 1994 was spent walking down Omotesando, the tony tribute to Champs-Elysees and one of the scenes shown in the video. It was about as romantic as a traffic jam. Thousands of people were herded down that avenue like cattle while cops were posted on the pedestrian overpasses yelling at us to keep moving. They don't have those mob scenes anymore since the city banned closing off the street though the Christmas lights are still there.

"Saigo no Holy Night", composed by Sugiyama and written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）, was released in November 1986 and peaked at No. 2.

Kiyomi Suzuki with Rats & Star -- TAXI

Along with "Lonely Chaplin" , Kiyomi Suzuki（鈴木聖美） released another single from her album, "WOMAN" in November 1987 as her 3rd single. "TAXI" is this bluesy ballad that I often heard at karaoke, and I can imagine if there had been a music video done of this song, it would've taken place appropriately in a Tokyo cab as it wound its way around Shinjuku or Roppongi in the wee hours.

Unlike "Lonely Chaplin", Kiyomi Suzuki has more of a lead role here than in her duet with her brother, Masayuki. Rats & Star this time are more in the backup role. But Kiyomi can more than hold her own in her solo. The song went no higher than 75 on Oricon, but I think for those fans of the more adult contemporary side of Japanese music, this fits the bill quite nicely on a Saturday night. Fumiko Okada and Daisuke Inoue（岡田ふみ子・井上大輔）were behind the creation of the song.

Mariya Takeuchi -- The Christmas Song

For me, the 1945 Mel Tormé/Bob Wells-penned "The Christmas Song" (aka "Chestnuts Roasting Over An Open Fire") is my favourite Holiday song...just a tad over Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin. And with all due respect to Mel (The Velvet Fog) Tormé, I think the song belongs to Nat King Cole when it comes to the performing of this perennial tune.

However having said that, I think Mariya Takeuchi（竹内まりや）does a wonderful cover of the Torme classic. She and her husband, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, will be popping up a fair bit this month since they seem to have become the First Couple of J-Xmas songs. Takeuchi's version of "The Christmas Song" is very much old-school, almost along the lines of Cole's eternal rendition, thanks to the arrangement by renowned classical composer, Katsuhisa Hattori（服部克久）. It is a track on Takeuchi's 8th album, "Quiet Life" which was released in October 1992.

Even though Christmas in Japan, especially in the big cities, is celebrated more like New Year's Eve, there's also been an attraction there for the Norman Rockwell-type of Xmas celebration, and I think songs like Takeuchi's cover is a reflection of that, since she's often enjoyed going to the Great American Songbook.

And here's Nat King Cole himself performing "The Christmas Song".

Toshinobu Kubota feat. Naomi Campbell -- La La La Love Song

All it took was a chance meeting in an elevator. According to J-Wiki, Toshinobu Kubota（久保田利伸）, during his life in New York, was living in the same condo as supermodel Naomi Campbell. One day, they just happened to share an elevator ride together, and somehow thanks to her whispering a few phrases here and there later on, she has become part of a J-Pop classic.

After a decade in show business, "La La La Love Song" was Kubota's first No. 1 on Oricon. What must have made it even sweeter for him was that it was all his doing. He composed, wrote and sang the No. 3-ranked song of 1996...and had one of the world's most famous (and volatile) supermodels to help out. And to top it all off, it became the theme song for one of the most popular Japanese dramas in recent memory, "Long Vacation", starring one of the most popular heartthrobs at the time, Takuya Kimura（木村拓哉） of SMAP. Talk about one star-blessed tie-up. The guys at Fuji-TV must have been over the moon.

I never really fell for the KimuTaku oeuvre, but there was no way I could avoid Kubota's magnum opus. It was everywhere that year, including the karaoke boxes. It just had that funky hook and Kubota's smooth voice. I eventually bought the single and the album it had come on, "La La La Love Thang". As for his 16th single, "La La La Love Song" was released in May 1996, hit the top spot, and smashed through that million-unit barrier with 2 million copies sold.

As for the album, "La La La Love Thang" made it to No. 2 and became the 26th-ranked album of 1997. His 8th album was released in December 1996. Of course, I have to show the man in action performing his most popular hit.

There had to have been at least an indirect effect from her musical collaboration for Campbell when it came to a series of commercials starring the supermodel. In 1996 and 1997, Naomi became a household name of sorts in Japan for the esthetic salon TBC. In the first ad, it all started with the usual parent-daughter battle as Japanese Naomi stormed off to TBC against the parentals' wishes and came back as supermodel Naomi. Much hilarity ensued. For several months, "Naomi yo"(ナオミよ.... It's Naomi) became a popular catchphrase.