Sumako Matsui/Hisaya Morishige/Chieko Baisho/Yoshio Tabata/HALCALI -- Gondola no Uta （ゴンドラの唄）

Just before I logged in today, I got some rather shocking news from my mother. Apparently, our shopping mall (one of the oldest in Canada) plays kayo kyoku!...and yes, I am still living in Toronto. She rather nonchalantly remarked that she has heard Yuzo Kayama's（加山雄三）"Kimi to Itsumademo"（君といつまでも）and Kyu Sakamoto's（坂本九）classic "Sukiyaki" song over the speakers from time to time, albeit as cover versions. But still, this is quite a revelation. If the manager ever decides to play anything by Yellow Magic Orchestra, I will be so there!

Last night, after getting back from my friend's house with her great Jamaican buffet, I sat down and caught a little bit of that NHK morning serial drama that's currently playing on TV Japan, "Hiyokko"（ひよっこ）starring Kasumi Arimura（有村架純）. The episode took place at the end of the year 1965, so that meant the Kohaku Utagassen would be on the telly which in turn meant the main characters huddled around the kotatsu singing to the performers while noshing on mikan. There were a couple of excerpts of the 1965 Kohaku showing...with one featuring someone singing a song called "Gondola no Uta". I had never heard of this particular chestnut so I decided to investigate.

Happily again, "Gondola no Uta" has quite a bit of history behind it. Originally released in 1915, the song was written by Isamu Yoshii（吉井勇）and composed by Shinpei Nakayama（中山晋平）. Nakayama came up with the melody one day while coming home on a train as he was mourning the recent passing of his mother. According to the J-Wiki article for the song, he mentioned that "the melody came up naturally as I was swaying along with the train". The source for the information from the last two sentences is from pages 140 and 141 from a novel by Noboru Wada（和田登）, "Inochi Mijikashi Koi se yo Shojo-tachi: Shosetsu Nakayama Shinpei"（いのち短し恋せよ少女-小説中山晋平....Life Is Brief, Fall In Love, Maidens - A Shinpei Nakayama Novel） that was published in October 2005.

The first artist to sing "Gondola no Uta" (The Gondola Song) was Sumako Matsui（松井須磨子）, an actress who had an even bigger hit the previous year with "Katyusha no Uta"（カチューシャの唄...Katyusha's Song）, also composed by Nakayama (that particular song has been seen as being the first ryūkōka). The video above has Matsui's rendition of "Gondola no Uta", and it begins with a minute-long monologue by Matsui although due to the age of the recording and her high-pitched voice, I cannot decipher what she's saying. The song begins a little after 1:20.

Found out through J-Wiki as well that the 1965 Kohaku Utagassen featured actor/singer Hisaya Morishige（森繁久彌）performing "Gondola no Uta". Looking at Yoshii's lyrics, there is a lament in there but also encouragement for folks to grab happiness as much and as soon as they can since life will catch up to them before they know it.

Chieko Baisho（倍賞千恵子）has given her own straight-ahead cheerful cover of the song.

I have to say that Yoshio Tabata's（田端義夫）rendition, though, is one of the most heartfelt.

Even Okinawan song-and-dance duo HALCALI provided a cover of "Gondola no Uta" in 2012, almost a century after its original release. Unfortunately, the only copy that I could find was in commercial form.

But the one rendition of the song that will probably have viewers and listeners sniffling away like crazy is through a scene that has become one of the most iconic within Akira Kurosawa's（黒澤明）oeuvre of films (and perhaps film in general). "Gondola no Uta" was performed by actor Takashi Shimura（志村喬）in the film "Ikiru"（生きる...To Live） as his terminally ill protagonist Kanji Watanabe slowly swings away in the playground on a winter night. Frankly, I'm still afraid to watch "Ikiru" since from what I've read of the plot, it just comes across as being very depressing even after Watanabe's ultimate passing. I guess I'm simply not ready yet.

There are plenty of other covers of "Gondola no Uta" on YouTube. You can just cut and paste the kanji for the title and take a look. I can't help but wonder though whether either songwriters Nakayama or Yoshii had somehow read the legend about the river Styx and the ferryman Charon before this song was created.

LUNA SEA -- IN SILENCE

Rock music isn't exactly my forte but even I have to admit thinking the name LUNA SEA as one of the cleverest and coolest monikers for a Japanese rock band. And strangely enough, according to the J-Wiki write-up, it did originate from the band's first name, LUNACY. The band first came into being in 1986 via a couple of high school buddies, Jun "J" Onose（小野瀬潤）and Kiyonobu "Inoran" Inoue（井上清信）after which  Yasuhiro "Sugizo" Sugihara（杉原康弘）and Shinya Yamada（山田真矢）joined in 1989. Finally, the most famous member, vocalist Ryuichi Kawamura（河村隆一）entered the band later that year. The name change from LUNACY to LUNA SEA took place in 1990.

I hadn't paid too much attention since visual kei wasn't my thing and my early memories of LUNA SEA were the members in makeup and outrageous clothing. But it looks like by the time I returned to Japan in late 1994, Kawamura and the band had toned down their looks to a large extent.

Now, JTM was the first collaborator on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" to put up a LUNA SEA article through his elaboration of the theme song for the Fuji-TV drama "Kami Sama Mou Sukoshi Dake"（神様、もう少しだけ）, "I For You". As for me, my biggest memory of the band was from their 8th single, "IN SILENCE" which was released back in July 1996. I remember the song getting lots of airplay and I especially liked the refrain where Kawamura unleashes that voice of his and the percolating guitar work.

Created by LUNA SEA, "IN SILENCE" went all the way up to No. 2 on Oricon. It was even used as the image song for the American CBS drama "Chicago Hope" via TV Asahi. The single was also placed on the band's 5th album "STYLE" which came out in April 1996 with a No. 1 ranking and an eventual place at No. 30 on the yearly charts. The end of 1996 would signal the band's sabbatical from recording or performing for about a year so "IN SILENCE" was the final single before the break. I think it was during this time that Kawamura started popping up on TV screens regularly due to his solo career.

Now, the boy in the music video for "IN SILENCE" is rather interesting. I had no idea until I was about to write up this article that he was future actor/tarento Eiji Wentz（ウエンツ瑛士）. The reason I mention him is that he became a regular sighting for me on the variety shows as this strapping half-Japanese and half-German-American lad goofing it up. Wentz is the fellow on the far left of the row of foodies chowing down on some don.

Apparently, according to the article on "IN SILENCE", during the filming of the video, little Wentz had to hold the true corpse of a bird (perhaps he was truly screaming in that scene) and he said that he was so scared of the thing that he was on the verge of tears. I hope the director had the good sense to at least fumigate it.

Rajie featuring Yoshitaka Minami -- THE TOKYO TASTE

Another wonderful day out there. Quite reflective of the late spring and early summer. It's just like that photo above with the blue sky shining off that skyscraper in West Shinjuku there. I will be heading off in a couple of hours to a friend's place up in Richmond Hill for a nice little dinner party but still wanted to get this one article peeled off before I go.

Last night, I pulled the trigger again and purchased a few City Pop albums including this one, "Heart to Heart" (1977) the debut release by the relatively unknown Rajie. Part of the reason that I got it was I have enjoyed her brand of music especially this one track, and the album itself makes quite a contrast with her 3rd album "Quatre"  (another acquisition) from 1979 which has more of a technopop flavour.

"THE TOKYO TASTE" wasn't only a track on that first album but also the B-side to Rajie's 3rd single, "Cool Down" from December 1978. And although the song says "Rajie featuring Yoshitaka Minami", I think the mellow Minami（南佳孝）shares equal billing with his duet partner in this one. They would get together again in the aforementioned "Quatre" for one number "Tokidoki Mahou"（ときどき魔法...Sometimes Magic）.

The song itself is a cool and light funk piece that actually didn't have Minami creating it. Minami was just the singer here. Instead it was YMO drummer Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋幸宏）and YMO associate Chris Mosdell taking care of the lyrics while Takahashi also provided the music alongside Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）. It's quite nice to listen to while strutting down the hotel-laden streets of West Shinjuku around sunset with the slightly loopy lyrics describing some cool and light fun downtown. Considering the title and how I have described it here, I would think "THE TOKYO TASTE" would have made for the ideal jingle for a menthol cigarette commercial.

In any case, I am looking forward to getting my copy of "Heart to Heart" in the next few weeks.

AKB48 -- Negaigoto no Mochigusare （願いごとの持ち腐れ）

The last time I wrote on an AKB48 song was around Halloween 2015 for the appropriately timed "Halloween Night". I may not be an aficionado of their brand of aidoru pop but when the melody goes for something a little more off the beaten path for them...such as 70s disco for "Halloween Night", I can be down for that.

Well, on an episode of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）late in May, the group appeared to perform something that was indeed out of the ordinary. Sounding like it was a folk song/romantic ballad created in Europe, "Negaigoto no Mochigusare" kept my attention due partly because of the marionette-like choreography and partly due to an arrangement that had me reminiscing of some of the "exotic" kayo that was coming out around those late 70s that I already referred to above. Of course, a song that sounds as if it came from the European countryside will have me thinking of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）by default.

Released right on May 31 2017, the J-Wiki write-up on "Negaigoto no Mochigusare" had AKB48's papa and lyricist Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composer Shiori Uchiyama（内山栞）going for the feeling of a Russian folk song in 6/8 time. For me, I was thinking of a melancholy waltz. The Wikipedia translation of the song has it as "Wishful Tumbling" which is quite vague to me; mochigusare is translated on Jisho.org as "unused possession" or something that is being wasted away from disuse, so perhaps "The Unwanted Part of a Wish" might be the more down-to-earth and harsher translation. From taking a cursory look at Akimoto's lyrics, AKB48 is singing about wishing everyone on the planet to be happy but being quite realistic about it. Total happiness may be as easy to grab as a mirage of apples but at least continuing to hope for it means that all hope is not lost.

There's not much of an explanation about the official music video on Wikipedia but there is one on J-Wiki. An elementary school in Shizuoka Prefecture (the place for green tea) closed for the last time on March 19 2017 so there was an air of the inevitability of parting as being such sweet sorrow which was what Akimoto wanted as the theme for the song. So several days before the official closing, some of the members of AKB48 paid a surprise visit to the school and the kids with the song being performed there.

Some of the comments I've come across about the song have not been too complimentary which I'm not too surprised about. "Negaigoto no Mochigusare" has a melody which might have caught at least some of the fans off-guard and may be seen as being too melancholy or just plain too old-fashioned. As someone who likes the old stuff, though, I don't mind it at all and it makes for an interesting change from the usual pop and disco (which I also like). In any event, it has become another No. 1 as the group's 48th single but of course we'll just have to wait and see how it does on the yearly charts.

Yujiro Ishihara -- Yokohama Monogatari （よこはま物語）

I definitely have to get back to Yokohama the next time I visit Japan. The place has got some panache by the bay in the Minato Mirai 21 neighbourhood and there are some intriguing areas in the city that I have yet to visit. But I gotta go to the Ramen Museum and Chinatown once more.

And I guess for the late great Yujiro Ishihara（石原裕次郎）, Yokohama is just one of the settings for a Mood Kayo song. He's starting to strike me as being quite the fellow for geographical kayo. Along with swinging Tokyo, the Tough Guy has given his love to Sapporo and also to the city of note here in this article.

Ishihara gave his heart to Yokohama at least once before through the 1972 ballad "Sayonara Yokohama"（サヨナラ横浜）that Noelle covered last year. Well, 9 years later, he decided to revisit the second-largest metropolis in Japan via "Yokohama Monogatari" (Yokohama Story).

Listening to the song before checking out the details of its origins, I figured that it was probably released sometime in the late 1970s since his tunes around that time had a couple of traits: 1) a bit of Latin guitar and 2) that haunting female background vocal, with "Brandy Glass"（ブランデーグラス）being the most famous example. I actually wasn't too far off. It took a bit of searching but the single was released in February 1981.

Written by Rei Nakanishi（なかにし礼）and composed by Keisuke Hama（浜圭介）, Ishihara does his crooning best in front of a set of strings which almost sound feline but I think were meant to signify sighing. Perhaps Tough Guy likes Yokohama as the Lounge of Lost Love since that is the lyrical theme here and also in "Sayonara Yokohama". Bright lights and big city surrounding a lonely palooka in a bar? Yokohama might be the place. As for me, I still see it as one of my wonderful foodie challenges.😎

Motohiro Hata -- Himawari no Yakusoku （ひまわりの約束）

Nope, those are tulips above...couldn't find any pictures of sunflowers that would have been able to show up as thumbnails when I published this one.

One of the highlights of "Uta Kon"（うたコン）tonight was hearing this ballad by singer-songwriter Motohiro Hata（秦基博）. I had never heard of this fellow from Miyazaki Prefecture until tonight but when he performed his "Himawari no Yakusoku" (Sunflower Promise), I was instantly entranced by both the melody and lyrics devoted to love and friendship. The last several years seem to have seen its fill of male pop singers with these high soulful voices but this particular singer and song simply kinda struck me from the get-go.

"Himawari no Yakusoku" is actually Hata's 17th single since his major debut in 2006. Released in December 2014 as the theme song for one of the "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）movies done up as a 3D CG feature released back in the summer of that year, it managed to peak at No. 10 and break through the million-seller barrier.

Hideo Murata -- Iwai Bushi （祝い節）

On tonight's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, which incidentally I liked much better than last week's episode, there was a more flavourful tribute given to the late Hideo Murata（村田英雄）since the 15th anniversary of his passing is coming up. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite find the right video but although I've known him for his severe countenance, when he did smile, he can light up an entire banquet room! And sure enough, one of the video excerpts showed that beaming grin.

Nowadays, I think the thing to do for a beloved one who has left this mortal coil has been to not so much mourn his death but to celebrate his life. So perhaps I can indeed do the latter by putting up one of Murata's more joyous songs. This would be "Iwai Bushi" (Melody of Celebration) from June 1966. With that melody by Kanae Wada（和田香苗）indeed sounding quite festive, I could almost imagine Murata entering Haruo Minami's（三波春夫）sphere. And the lyrics by Hiroko Ohya（大矢弘子）seem to cover a whole range of things to celebrate, whether it be the summer festival or a full-blown wedding. Just put your hands together!

Murata managed to get onto the 1966 Kohaku Utagassen by performing this song which sounds absolutely ideal for something as celebratory as the NHK year-end special. And wouldn't it be something if it were performed again by one of the current enka stars? Bring back some of that bushi brio!