Kiyono Koto -- Wakayama Blues （和歌山ブルース）

A few days ago, one of my friends introduced me to her fellow odori dancer who was searching for a song that she could perform with at a future Wakayama Kenjinkai（和歌山県人会）event. For people who may not know what a kenjinkai is all about, it's basically an association consisting of ethnic Japanese in Canada, the United States and elsewhere who share a common lineage according to their ancestral prefecture in Japan. I've heard that the Wakayama Kenjinkai in Canada is fairly large from my parents since all of us have roots in the province immediately south of Osaka.

The dancer asked me if I knew of any old kayo related to Wakayama Prefecture. Aside from "Kumano Kodo"（熊野古道）, a song about the World Heritage site in that area by Kaori Mizumori（水森かおり）, I couldn't come up with an answer right away. However, I did a bit of searching about and realized that there were a few of them. Also I found out that a couple of bigwig enka singers were also born in Wakayama such as Toshimi Tagawa（田川寿美）and the legendary Yoshimi Tendo（天童よしみ）.

One of those songs happened to be "Wakayama Blues" by Kiyono Koto（古都清乃）. Now, everyone who is fairly well versed in Japanese kayo will probably figure out quickly that the song is a Mood Kayo from the title including the word "blues", the chorus and the forlorn saxophone playing out there.

The setting this time is the Burakuri-cho Shotengai（ぶらくり丁商店街）, a shopping and entertainment district in Wakayama City. Koto's 8th single which was released in September 1968, became a huge hit for the singer (who was actually born in Gunma Prefecture as Yoko Kondo/近藤陽子 in 1947), selling over 800,000 records, and it did put Wakayama Prefecture on the map, figuratively speaking. The lyrics were written by Shizuo Yoshikawa（吉川静夫）and the melody was by the veteran Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）.

In my case, my image of Wakayama Prefecture had nothing to do with the urban parts at all. Whenever my family went over there, it was to visit my grandparents an hour south of Wakayama City by train in a very small village. It was nothing but farmland and humongous insects (thank you most kindly, Wakayama, for my several years of arachnophobia) out there, and since I had only been there during summer and winter, I got to experience the extremes of climate. The torrid summers most everyone who's been to Japan would know, but at the end of the year, my neck of the woods near Shirahama was always buffeted by high winds so even though there was no snow, there was a definite wind chill factor.

Methinks that a nice tokkuri and ochoko of sake would have helped during those wintry days in Wakayama more than the basket of mikan.

Miki Imai -- Fuyu no Market （冬のマーケット）

When I came back to Toronto for good after so many years, I finally got the gumption to visit the St. Lawrence Market. I had been hearing about this place since I was a kid but never made it there in my life, sorry to say. But I finally did make my visit to this emporium of food and souvenirs on Front St. a few months later.

I've made a few visits there since and I've always enjoyed it for lunch such as juicy porchetta sandwiches (do not tell your doctor about this one!) and chicken parmigiana sandwiches. Still, I was surprised to find out that at least for one year, the St. Lawrence Market was actually labeled as the best market in the world! I guess it's rather Canadian to do so but I couldn't quite believe that our Toronto emporium would actually be selected as the best. After all, there is the Pike Place Market in Seattle, Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, and even Ameyoko（アメ横）in Tokyo. I almost felt like apologizing to everyone on the planet "Hey, sorry....it wasn't my decision!"

But in any event, I think a lot of us were quietly happy and proud that we would get the honour, and the St. Lawrence Market is a pretty decent place for eats and stuff.

Well, on that note, I would like to happily introduce "Fuyu no Market" (Winter Market) by Miki Imai（今井美樹）. Over a year ago, when I wrote up the follow-up article for her grand album "Retour" (1990), I mentioned that this particular song and one other had been the remaining tracks not to be covered by me due to non-availability on YouTube. Luckily, that is no longer the case as far as "Fuyu no Market" is concerned.

My neighbourhood in Ichikawa was well stocked with supermarkets and convenience stores so seeing actual lively markets from the old days was simply not to be during my time. Probably the closest I got was traipsing through the aforementioned Ameyoko. I know now through my translation work that there are some famous farmers' markets in areas of Japan such as Niigata Prefecture with that bustling and homey atmosphere as the locals come down to get some fresh fish and vegetables. I might try to partake in one myself someday when I head back to the nation for a visit.

Imai's "Fuyu no Market" definitely has that contemporary sound (for 1990, at least) in the arrangement, but the atmosphere of the setting is very homey and comfortable as I could see Imai walking through the local market and searching for some goodies to make dinner when, lo and behold, she bumps into an old flame doing the same. There is a combination of that bitter and sweet as the two former lovers decide to chat and partake in some coffee to keep the chill away and maybe stoke of that warmth from the old days.

Yuuho Iwasato（岩里祐穂）provided the lyrics and Akemi Kakihara（柿原朱美）composed the music for this song which was one of the 12 reasons why I love "Retour" as one of my very favourite albums in Japanese pop music.

ORESAMA -- Wonder Drive （ワンダードライブ）/ toi toy toi -- Chant

Looking at the above trailer, you would be forgiven if you had thought that this was merely one of those heartwarming slice-of-life anime starring a little cosplayer. However "Alice to Zouroku"（アリスと蔵六...Alice and Zouroku）has a split personality. I've been watching this as one of my buddy's presentations during the biweekly sessions this season, and it seems like it can swing almost fully into sci-fi thriller for one episode while swinging into a slice-of-life light comedy for another. However, everything hinges on the relationship between the perky and headstrong super-powered Sana and the cranky Zouroku with the heart of gold.

As I said on the article for the theme songs of "Uchoten Kazoku 2"（有頂天家族2）, none of the anison for the shows this season have been instant hits, but at least, the ones on offer here for "Alice to Zouroku" have been appealingly quirky. For instance, the opening theme, "Wonder Drive"（ワンダードライブ）by ORESAMA has got a nice pop beat that reminds me of ZAQ's "Hopeness" for last year's "Koukaku no Pandora: Ghost Urn"（紅殻のパンドラ）.

ORESAMA consists currently of vocalist and lyricist Pon（ぽん）and guitarist and composer Hideya Kojima（小島英也）, both from Nagano Prefecture. Since their debut single in 2014, they have released 1 album and 3 singles including "Wonder Drive". During their high school days, they covered a number of hits by Tokyo Jihen（東京事変）, Avril Lavigne and Judy and Mary. Lyrical Nonsense has the English translation of the lyrics right here.

It's the ending theme that I think fits in with the overall feeling of "Alice to Zouroku" because of its dreamy, innocent and whimsical nature. And in meeting with that mysterious vibe, I've got no idea who this unit, toi toy toi, is. Whoever they are, though, I'm starting to like "Chant" since there is something rather Enya with that layered vocalization. However I've been getting some push from my anime buddy about the lyricist and composer for "Chant", songwriter Kotringo（コトリンゴ）. Even before this show started, he had been telling how accomplished she is and I've passed by some of her videos on YouTube so perhaps I should give her more of a look-see. Translated lyrics are also up at Lyrical Nonsense.

June 13 2017: Well, Lantis Channel on YouTube put up the official music video for "Chant" yesterday, and I did find out that toi toy toi is made up of Kotringo herself, Babi, Rie Yoshihara（良原リエ）and Masumi Ito（伊藤真澄）.

Due to various circumstances, I've been running behind the sessions and with the spring season wrapping up in a couple of weeks, I'm wondering if my anime buddy might end up showing me the rest of episodes in a massive marathon session.

Satoko Shimonari -- Keep In Touch

I mentioned about a week ago that I had gotten another couple of CDs, one of which was the amazing "Yoshino Fujimal". The other one was Satoko Shimonari's（下成佐登子）"Keep In Touch" from December 1987. I purchased that one on the strength of the opening track "Time Goes By".

"Keep In Touch" hasn't had the same immediate impact that "Yoshino Fujimal" did but listening to the former album a second time, I can confidently say that the tracks are starting to grow on me. This was Shimonari's 5th and final studio album to date, so perhaps that title had some meaning when it was released.

As a whole, "Keep In Touch" has got that urban contemporary atmosphere of the late 1980s mixed in with a few ballads. "Game" is one of those songs that would take place in the city although I probably wouldn't classify it as City Pop in terms of melody. Written by Junko Sato（佐藤純子）and composed by Hitoshi Haba（羽場仁志）with Shimonari singing about a rather flirtatious lady with a devilish streak holding court in the dance clubs. Her J-Wiki profile also stated that she has contributed some anison so I figure this track could have been something played for a show such as "City Hunter".

"Yasashii Kaze"（やさしい風...Gentle Winds）is the original final track on the album and it's my favourite of her entries here. Sato also provided lyrics with Shimonari composing the song herself and it sounds quite inspirational. I only have one tiny pet peeve in that the usage of a "haunting" synthesizer near the final refrain makes it sound a little too dated. "Yasashii Kaze" was also her 15th single from June 1987, and it served as the ending theme for an NTV travel program "Watching Nihon Retto"（ウォッチング日本列島...Watching the Japanese Archipelago）.

My final contribution to the article here is "Haruka naru Shangri-La"（遙かなる桃源郷...Far-Off Shangri-La）, her 16th single from November 1987. It was placed as a bonus track on the original album to exhort the masses to travel to those exotic lands. Considering the Bubble was probably already in Japan or on its way, the song probably didn't have to push too hard to get folks buying those plane tickets. In fact, it was used as the campaign song for Japan Asia Airways that year. The aforementioned "Game" was the B-side on the original single. Ren Takayanagi（高柳恋）and Yasuo Kosugi（小杉保夫）created the song.

So "Keep In Touch" isn't a home run out of the park but I think as an example of where Japanese female pop singing and songwriting were heading from the late 1980s, I think this final studio album by Shimonari hits the spot. I always like to find some of these more obscure efforts.

The Peanuts -- Uwaki na Aitsu（浮気なあいつ）/ Yokogao （よこがお）

I guess if I had to come up with an overarching theme phrase for this article, it would be "All good things must come to an end". After starting their illustrious career with a sung version of a jazz song and then becoming kayo pop stars for the better part of two decades (including a stint as movie princesses providing a song to a gigantic caterpillar), the female pop duo The Peanuts（ザ・ピーナッツ）decided to call it a day, at least when it came to their time as recording artists.

So why not end things with a jazz song to complete the circle? Their final single was "Uwaki no Aitsu" (That Cheating Jerk) from March 1975. It was jazzy as heck but unlike the 1959 "Kawaii Hana"（可愛い花）which started off their career, "Uwaki no Aitsu" was something to let them go out with a bang. There is a mix of jazz and maybe rockabilly in there, and I even wonder if the material that the Manhattan Transfer was performing at about the same time had some influence. Yoko Yamaguchi（山口洋子）wrote the lyrics while Hiroshi Miyagawa（宮川泰）, the same fellow who arranged "Kawaii Hana" from the original as performed by saxophonist Sidney Bechet, composed the snazzy melody.

The same songwriting duo also came up with the B-side, "Yokogao" (Profile), a somewhat more sedate jazz number. I actually like this song even better than "Uwaki no Aitsu" since it has that comforting nightclub feeling, and I feel as if Miyagawa threw in some kayo influences and even a musical shoutout to "Blues in the Night" by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. I almost expect the Peanuts to say goodbye to the listeners at the end; it makes for a nice farewell to everyone.

I believe I mentioned "All good things must come to an end". Well, in keeping with that theme, I would like to recognize the fact that Adam West, the actor who first introduced me to Batman as a toddler passed away yesterday at the age of 88. Decades before we all got to re-acquaint ourselves with the superhero as the brooding Dark Knight through revamped comics, graphic novels and movies, I got to know him as the ever-faithful goody-goody good guy with Robin as they threw the fisticuffs every episode. The Bright Knight indeed. So long, ol' chum!

Akira Wakayama -- Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki（喜びも悲しみも幾歳月）

I've often used the above photo for a few articles on the blog for no other reason other than I couldn't find anything else suitable. However, I can finally say here that it fits perfectly for reasons that will soon become apparent.

On a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, there was a montage of the old kayo for one segment and I saw this one fellow singing most heroically on a kayo show from long ago. I had thought it was some sort of wartime song to bring cheer to the troops and citizens.

However, I was quite wrong there. Instead, "Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki" was the theme song for a movie of the same name which was translated as "Times of Joy and Sorrow" as it was titled in the USA and "The Lighthouse" in the UK. Released in 1957 and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita（木下惠介）, it was a years-spanning movie about a couple who start life together living in a lighthouse from the year 1932. As the American title will indicate, the movie goes into the ups and downs of their lives as they raise a family through the war and into the postwar years.

Just gleaning from the fact that those NHK morning serial dramas, which often feature stories spanning decades, have remained a TV staple all these years, I wasn't surprised to find out that "Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki" became a huge hit. The theme song also became one for singer Akira Wakayama（若山彰）. The Hiroshima-born singer had once aspired to go into the field of opera but after doing some work as part of a backup chorus, he decided to switch into singing regular kayo. Perhaps his training would explain those exhorting vocals.

Wakayama had been singing professionally for about 6 years when he recorded the theme song which made him an overnight success. In fact, he ended up making an appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen for 1957 and would appear 3 more times in a row. Director Kinoshita's younger brother, Chuuji Kinoshita（木下忠司）, wrote and composed the song; and he often provided the music for several of the elder Kinoshita's productions.

Yuki Okazaki -- Jamaican Affair （ジャマイカン・アフェアー）

One of our days on that cruise last month included a several-hour stopover in Falmouth, Jamaica. Couldn't have asked for a better day to go ashore and enjoy a walk around. I wouldn't have minded buying some of that famous rum...especially after having a double-shot rum and coke on board. Definitely was feeling mellow that night.

I found this B-side by Yuki Okazaki（岡崎友紀）recently so wanted to give this a highlight. For me, Okazaki will always be the one behind "Do You Remember Me?" (1980), the somewhat Swinging 60s-ish pop tune (apparently, the composer was inspired by The Ronnettes). Well, on the flip side of that single, this is "Jamaican Affair", a much more mellow affair with that bit of soft reggae thrown in.

The same folks behind "Do You Remember Me?" were taking care of this one as well, lyricist Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）and composer Kazuhiko Kato（加藤和彦）. I probably couldn't say that this was real reggae, of course...more like reggae-tinged New Music or J-AOR. However, I'm glad that I could get a second article on Okazaki on board (I put the first one up all the way back in 2012), so perhaps I should start exploring some of her earlier material since "Do You Remember Me?" was actually near the tail end of her singing career.