Second Chance - Larry Chan

This is the continuation of The First where I talked about my first Japanese song that got me into Japanese music.  Technically, it's not a single song but rather Akina Nakamori (中森明菜) herself.

Departure

As I progressed through secondary school, I rarely listened to Japanese music. I would sometimes listen to that Akina tape that I made back in my cousin's home in the summer of 1984. And as the Hong Kong music scene grew, I paid more and more attention to Hong Kong singers. DJs rarely played Japanese songs anymore. If I remember right, there's probably one hour per week on Radio Hong Kong dedicated to Japanese music. But I wonder if that program survived after a few years. I knew no friend in my secondary school who listened to Japanese music.

In the 80s, Japanese songs were covered left and right by Hong Kong singers. I looked up the year 1985, the Top Ten Chinese Songs of 1985, sponsored by Radio Hong Kong, registered 7 songs of foreign origin, 6 of them were Japanese songs!  I always joke that Hong Kong should give Kisugi Takao (来生たかお), Tamaki Koji (玉置浩二) and Tokunaga Hideaki (徳永英明) a Hong Kong Lifetime Music Award as they really contributed greatly to Hong Kong music :)  Naturally, one may think that I would go behind the cover song and seek the original Japanese song. But I didn't. Somehow I had no interest.

I still got entertainment news from Japan from time to time, like Akina's attempted suicide, but these are passive information that I got while reading the entertainment section. In the 90s, I went to Madison Wisconsin for my undergrad and that further insulated me from Japanese music. Not just Japanese music, but anything Japanese.

First Japanese Album Owned

In 1996, something happened. There was a "must see" Japanese drama among my Hong Kong friends -  Long Vacation, starring Kimura Takuya (木村拓哉) and Yamaguchi Tomoko (山口智子).  Well, I guess the "must see" crowd mainly consisted of girls who found the drama extremely romantic.

As I mentioned in The First, I never bought any Japanese music.

And I did not buy my first Japanese album, it was more like a gift.  Also, it was not from a singer or a group, but a sound track!

In 1996, I met the future founder of YesAsia by chance (friend of friend). In 1997, when he's just started his business, he told me that my first order would be free over lunch.  And so, I ordered the original sound track of Long Vacation. Looking back, I was surprised at myself that I got that CD.  I think I ordered it out of fashion at the time.  I liked the piano piece played by Kimura in that last scene in the drama, but I didn't really like the rest of the music. I probably played that album once or twice, and a few years ago, I donated it to the local library, upon finishing the Marie Kondo exercise.

After Long Vacation, there was a period of a few years when I watched quite a number of Japanese dramas including Love Generation, Hitotsu Yane no Shita (ひとつ屋根の下) etc., and I even went back and watched the legendary Tokyo Love Story. But still no Japanese music in my life.

First Japanese Album I Bought

In 2009, I asked a friend of mine to download the Japanese drama Galileo for me.  It was adapted from various short detective novels from Higashino Keigo (東野圭吾), starring Fukuyama Masaharu (福山雅治) and Shibasaki Kou (柴崎コウ).  When he gave me the DVD, he said he downloaded a "bonus track" for me. It turned out to be another detective drama called Triangle, starring Eguchi Yousuke (江口洋介, Moriyama Chisato's 森山千里 husband), Inagaki Gorou (稲垣吾郎, he's a SMAP), and Hirosue Ryouko (広末涼子).

I love Triangle, especially the first half, when it kept me guessing about what happened, and the story was unfolding at a fast pace.  The latter half of the drama was slow and there's too much back and forth. The ending is surprising though.  I highly recommend the drama.

Not only did I found the drama exciting, I also love the music and decided to buy the sound track from Amazon Japan.  In my experience, most of the sound tracks are disappointing because you can't listen to it alone. It's meant to be an accompaniment to the movie or drama.  But Triangle is different. Its music can stand on its own.  It's so rare that I love every piece of music in there.  Every piece is my favorite.  I also want to note that the theme song is called Sayonara wa Iwanai (さよならは言わない) by Koda Kazumasa (小田和正).  I like the song too.  Too bad they can't put that into the sound track (I downloaded it later from the Internet). Maybe I can write about it sometime.

So, like my first Japanese Album, my first "paid" Japanese album is also a sound track.

Studying Japanese

In winter 2009, I took a trip to Hokkaido, visiting Sapporo (札幌)  and Biei (美瑛), among other places. This was my 2nd time in Hokkaido, and my 6th time in Japan. In Biei, I stayed at a family owned bed and breakfast place called Jacatra.  The best part of this b&b is that you can request a paid photography tour, where the owner would drive you to all the scenic spots around Biei and take photographs.  I took the tour with 3 other Japanese residents, all of them serious hobbyists, if not professionals.  They're shooting wide format (120) color slide films with their Pentax 645s.  It was very very memorable.  This is a photo I took during the tour:

I highly recommend this b&b if you are staying in Biei.

After the trip, I had an unusually strong urge to study Japanese. I guess the trip was so fun that in the back of my mind, it'd be super exciting if I could speak the language, especially during the photo tour.

In April 2010, 4 months after the trip, I decided to enroll in Beginning Japanese at Foothill College.  Initially, I thought my enthusiasm would die down quickly, but now I've been studying Japanese for 7 years already and still going!

Back to Akina

Shortly after I started my Japanese studies, I decided that I need to find something Japanese that I'd enjoy.  This was the lesson I learned when I was studying English.  English was part of the curriculum and I was forced to do it. That's why it was so tough because I never found anything related to English that I enjoyed reading or listening.  This time, I decided that I need to find something Japanese that I  would regularly read, watch, and listen. What better place to start than listening to Japanese music, I thought. And what better place to start than picking up where I left  off in that summer of 84, when I stumbled into Akina.

So, I was searching on YouTube fanatically.  At that time, there were a lot of Akina's live performances, mostly on TV like The Top Ten.  I found myself rediscovering Akina in a whole new way.  First of all, I realized how good she was when  she sang live.  Many idols, regardless of era, do not perform well live.  They're called idols for a reason, I guess.  And I always wonder if the TV appearances of AKB 48 had a prerecorded track to make them sound better than they are .  Akina's live performances, on the other hand, sounds authentic -  authentically good.  Second, I like that Akina doesn't hide her emotions when singing live.  I'm mostly talking about her TV appearances singing Nanpasen (難破船) and Yokan (予感) in her concerts .  In one video, I saw her hands trembling upon finishing her performance of Nanpasen.  In another, I can see tears coming from her eyes while performing it .  And in one concert, she bursted  into tears at the end of Yokan, as she was singling the last line: もう疲れたの (I'm already tired) , as if it invoked her  painful  memories with Kondo Masahiko (近藤真彦).  Unlike most celebrities, Akina feels close because I can see her human side.  Last but not least, Akina can really dance, compared with most idols around her time.  It just made her so much more special.

I have a bad feeling that in a few months, these videos would have been erased by YouTube police.  But I'll still post them here for you to enjoy, albeit for a short period.

Akina Yokan Live
https://youtu.be/xWlQeth-wVg

Akina Nanpasen Live
https://youtu.be/srBusfN4C3c
https://youtu.be/6e1bJ05a__s

So, to answer J-Canuck's question, "Which song triggered my final plunge into Japanese music?" - my answer is Nanpasen.  Not only the song itself but Akina's stunning live performance as well.

First Japanese Song Album

By now , you would have guessed that my first Japanese song album is from Akina.  And yes, it's Akina Ballad Best 25th Anniversary Selection.  Interesting enough, there're 2 versions - the Japanese version vs the rest of Asia version.  I have the latter only and so I can't confidently say there are no differences, but the list of songs are definitely the same.  However, the price doubles for the Japanese version!  So if you want to go for the cheap, you should get it from YesAsia or something like that, or maybe get a 2nd hand CD in Japan.  Like J-Canuck said, 2nd hand CDs  from Japan are usually very good deals.

Last Words

Japanese music entered my life in a weird way.  If not because of my Japanese study needs, I probably would not have discovered Japanese music. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it.  I also learn quite a lot of vocabulary through song  lyrics. It just shows how unexpected life can be.  I never thought I already sowed the seeds of Japanese music in 1984 for myself in 2010.  It's fascinating!

Tatsuhiko Yamamoto -- Saijoukai （最上階）

Well, I plunked some more yen into the coffers of CD Japan since there were a couple of albums that I wanted to peruse. One of them was a compilation album "70s & 80s Best" by Tatsuhiko Yamamoto（山本達彦）who I have written about in the last year starting with his single "Last Good-Bye" from 1982.

As with a number of singers in the City Pop genre, there isn't a whole lot of information on Yamamoto. For one thing, the J-Wiki article for him has only deposited the singles and albums that actually scored relatively high in the rankings which means that only his 80s output is listed. It would be easy to make the mistake of assuming Yamamoto debuted in that decade as a solo singer (he had been with the band Orange in the mid-1970s). Plus, his website is sorely lacking in material, including any sort of discography which has been categorized as "under construction".

However, I managed to find out that Yamamoto started his solo career in 1978 with his album "Toppuu〜SUDDEN WIND"（突風）. One of the tracks from that release and the first track on "70s & 80s Best" is "Saijoukai" (Top Floor) which was composed by Yamamoto and written by Ayumi Date（伊達歩）. It's a melancholy if hopeful ballad about a man standing on the top floor of a building sometime around the Holidays while paying tribute to the love of his life who may in fact have died tragically. My impression is that instead of wallowing in eternal grief, the protagonist is coming out of his mourning and thanking her up in heaven for the good times they had together.

The one thing that got my interest about Yamamoto was that from listening to some of his other songs on YouTube, he wasn't just another singer specializing in the City Pop genre. He started to come across as a pop balladeer. The piano also seemed to be an extension of himself with that symbolism further reinforced with the faded picture of the instrument on the front cover of "70s & 80s Best". I gather that he was the Piano Man of Japan, somewhat comparable to the Piano Man of the USA, Billy Joel, who is also very popular in Japan.

"Saijoukai" is definitely not City Pop but it is somewhat wistful 70s New Music to me. In a way, he rather bridges the gap between two other Japanese balladeer-songwriters, Junichi Inagaki（稲垣潤一）and Takao Kisugi（来生たかお）. Yamamoto isn't quite as nasal as Inagaki or dips quite as deep as Kisugi in terms of his voice (although this isn't to say that Takao is a basso profundo by any means); he occupies the middle between those two fellows. Another insight is that when listening to Disc 1 of "70s & 80s Best" last night, Yamamoto struck me as a singer who may be quite comfortable in the pop realm but, like Inagaki and Kisugi, hasn't minded going a bit rock or even jazzy at times.

Will be listening to Disc 2 later on tonight. But this one is definitely a keeper.

Ritsuko Okazaki/Hiroko Kasahara -- Sora no Mukou ni （空の向こうに）

As I mentioned back in August 2013 when I wrote about the lovely ballad "Ame de Musique"（雨のmusique）, I never played the computer game, "Symphonic Rain", which it came from. However, I didn't need to play it to know how wonderful it sounded as sung by Masumi Okano（浅野真澄）who voiced one of the characters and the late Ritsuko Okazaki（岡崎律子）who had created the song.

Comparatively though, my anime buddy hasn't played "Ame de Musique" during anison hour as often as he has this other ballad and the actual opening theme from the game called "Sora no Mukou ni" (The Other Side of the Sky). But I don't blame him for his choice because it is also a wonderful song in my estimation. This is another Okazaki creation which shows right from its opening notes that perhaps the singer-songwriter had been a fan of those 80s power ballads by folks like David Foster. The arrangement is such that I could've easily imagined Chicago or TOTO tackling this one. If I'm not mistaken, the above is the Okazaki version from "For Ritz", her 7th album from December 2004.

I read the information today on the J-Wiki article about the album but supposedly this was to have been released in June of that year but with Okazaki's sudden passing the previous month, the decision was made by production staff to hold off on the release for several months and even change the initial title to "For Ritz" in tribute to her.

Supposedly the above video here is the rendition by seiyuu Hiroko Kasahara（笠原弘子）who played the character of Phorni in "Symphonic Rain" but I just found the renditions so similar that I'm kinda wondering if it is also Okazaki here as well. Corrections are welcome.

Masahiro Ikumi -- Say, My Love

Sigh...next time I visit my old stomping grounds again in Chiba Prefecture, I really ought to take more photos of Urayasu（浦安）. The above was the only one I took in October 2014 and that was from my friend's car and it was a rainy day.

To give you some geographical perspective, I lived in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture which is an eastern bedroom city for Tokyo. Urayasu is the city that is between Tokyo and Ichikawa. The Tokyo Metro's Tozai Line runs through my old station of Minami-Gyotoku（南行徳）and the one before it, Urayasu Station.

The above video (and I thank you, peakysaltsy for the remembrance of my old neighbourhood) shows the area which I like to call Old Urayasu. Just surrounding Urayasu Station, it has that look of a sub-city centre, and yep, I got off here once or twice a week to teach at my friend's juku which was about 10 minutes away on foot. You may notice the Seiyu Department Store right by the station? I went there fairly often since there was a CD store and also a local MUJI. Another reason is that there was a family restaurant up on the 2nd floor where I ate frequently enough so that I would get some knowing smiles from the staff there whenever I entered. I believe one of the waitresses must have thought on seeing me come in that I would be responsible for helping out the restaurant coffers immensely when I ordered my meal.

To give credit where credit is due, this video is by toki-toki and it is of the area that I call New Urayasu. Although Old Urayasu is the area that I was more familiar with, I actually made the effort to take a bus to visit the new and gleaming part of the city time and again, and it definitely couldn't look more different. With the palm trees, modern condos and a fancy-schmancy shopping mall characteristic of this area by Tokyo Bay, it positively demands a City Pop album.

Well, come to think of it, I did find one some months ago. The above video is of part of the 1983 album "uLAyasu" by jazz guitarist Masahiro Ikumi（幾見雅博）. I'm not sure what the really big caps of "LA" in the title are all about but I can speculate that he had wanted to bring some of that LA sound into the Chiba city. Since the new part of Urayasu probably hadn't been developed at the time of the album's release, I don't think Ikumi was inspired by that for his album although New Urayasu looks like a really nice beachside district of Los Angeles.

Anyways, the first track, "Say, My Love" sounds like something that would make for a nice musical accompaniment for another video of New Urayasu. For those who aren't in an aidoru or enka frame of mind, this is a nice gin and tonic to go with that glass of Perrier chaser. Artists like him, Casiopea and The Square were making some fine fusion back then.

As I said, the information on his website isn't particularly comprehensive but Ikumi is also a composer, arranger and producer who has produced a lot of commercial music for companies ranging from Coca-Cola to JAL. Plus, he has had his hand in making anime music and scores, including the one for the 1998 movie "Perfect Blue". He originally hails from Shizuoka Prefecture.

Well, what do you know? peakysaltsy was even able to put up a video of my old neighbourhood around Minami-Gyotoku Station, or as the locals call it, Nangyo（南行）! Ahh...good times.

Mika Nakashima -- Hi no Tori （火の鳥）

Back in 2004, NHK produced an anime based on one of master comic artist Osamu Tezuka's（手塚治虫）greatest works, "Hi no Tori" (The Phoenix). According to Wikipedia, "Hi no Tori" was never finished due to Tezuka passing away in 1989.

I remember catching it on Sundays on the network following the 7pm news and although I couldn't understand the majority of what was going on, I couldn't deny the beauty of the animation and the fact that the story jumped back and forth among different eras in history.

I also couldn't deny the wonder of the ending theme of the show which was also called "Hi no Tori" as performed by Mika Nakashima（中島美嘉）. This was her 12th single released in June 2004. Unfortunately, the video above is for the short version but to hear Nakashima's voice even in a truncated format is better than nothing. Still, to see the ending credits for the NHK anime while the song was playing was truly marvelous...too bad that I haven't been able to see it on YouTube.

Written by veteran songwriter Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）and composed by Hidekazu Uchiike（内池秀和）, "Hi no Tori" was arranged by Keiichi Tomita（冨田恵一）, although I have used his project name, Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）, to identify him in the Labels. Knowing that Tomita was on the case was my reassurance that this would be a splendidly soulful ballad. And I think fans were aware of that, too, since the song broke into the Top 10 and peaked at No. 9.

It was also included in Nakashima's 3rd album "MUSIC", released in April 2005. "MUSIC" hit No. 1 and went Double Platinum, becoming the 16th-ranked album of the year and selling over half a million copies.

Noboru Kirishima & Misao Matsubara (Miss Columbia) -- Ippai no Coffee kara （一杯のコーヒーから）

Had the usual talk with my anime buddy last night over the phone. It's not new news but he complained again about the poor quality of coffee in Japan. My taste buds aren't nearly that refined so I am perfectly fine with the Japanese java, and frankly that was good, since especially when I became a freelance English teacher in my later years there, those coffeehouses were absolutely necessary for places to teach. I was pretty good with any place ranging from the 80s-style Renoir franchise to the newest Starbucks branch.

However for the discerning palate, I think, really, folks like my friend will need to go to the Mom & Pop places in Tokyo operated by coffee connoisseurs. They look like very fashionable bars with shelves of many kinds of coffee beans, and they serve their cups starting from about a little under a thousand yen. Good coffee, good atmosphere...they cost.

Now, that I've got you in the mood for a cuppa joe perhaps, I can talk about the song du article here. Actually, I got the idea to talk about it from doing the previous article regarding the lineup for the 1982 Kohaku Utagassen earlier today. One of the customs for the Kohaku shows from way back is that both the Red and White teams got together during one segment in the broadcast to do some of the beloved old kayo from decades past. You might say that it's like a mini-version of the regular NHK kayo shows.

Although I remember such a segment from the 1981 show, I don't remember the kayo segment from the 1982 edition. But J-Wiki has diligently put up the schedule for that show and apparently there was that segment. Naoko Ken & Hiroshi Itsuki（研ナオコ & 五木ひろし）along with Harumi Miyako & Keisuke Kuwata（都はるみ & 桑田佳祐）did their bit by singing the ditty "Ippai no Coffee kara" (Over A Cup of Coffee).

The original "Ippai no Coffee kara" was released in March 1939 with the singers being Noboru Kirishima and Misao Matsubara（霧島昇・松原操）who at the time was known as Miss Columbia（ミス・コロムビア）since her record company, the current Nippon Columbia, was trying to promote the young singer from Hokkaido. Written by Koh Fujiura（藤浦洸）and composed by Ryoichi Hattori（服部良一）, the song told a story about love blossoming for a couple while enjoying the java at a café. "Ippai no Coffee kara" may have been rather prescient since Kirishima and Matsubara would end up getting married to each other the same year. It's also interesting to note that Matsubara passed away less than 2 months after Kirishima's death in April 1984.

The above video has Kirishima performing the song with actress/singer Chieko Baisho（倍賞千恵子）.

According to J-Wiki, when Hattori was coming up with the melody, it had been titled as "Ippai no Beer kara"（一杯のビールから）which was fine with him as someone who appreciated the golden brew. However, lyricist Fujiura who wouldn't touch a drop of alcohol was far more of a coffee fan, and somehow the title got changed to the final "Ippai no Coffee kara". Just my opinion, but I think there is something more romantic and right about love over a cup of coffee rather than a mug of beer.

Also I found out from the J-Wiki article that the song stood out for its modern, jazzy beat that was unusual for the times. No other details were given but I can guess that at the time, the Japanese government was probably pushing more for military marches with a nationalistic bent.

J-Wiki even pointed out as a final piece of trivia that in 1939, a cup of coffee cost a whopping 15 sen, and there were 100 sen in 1 yen. I could imagine folks back in the early Showa era doing a spit-take on their cuppa on finding out the costs of a cup of coffee in Tokyo in the late Heisei era.

1982 Kohaku Utagassen (33rd edition)

Can't quite believe that I gave that listing for the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen all the way back in 2012, but then again, I was probably filled with a lot of enthusiasm for telling about one of the sources responsible for me getting into popular Japanese music. Therefore, I'm now bringing this article in the form of its sequel, the listing for the 1982 Kohaku Utagassen（第33回NHK紅白歌合戦）.

If I'm not mistaken, this was probably televised in Toronto in January 1983 instead of New Year's Eve 1982...video technology and legal red tape as it was back then. That was also the case for the 1981 Kohaku. There were some distinct highlights that I still have in my brain from the 33rd edition such as Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美）rendition of "Madonna Tachi no Lullaby"（聖母たちのララバイ）as above, Seiko Matsuda's（松田聖子）pretty number and Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）cover of Bertie Higgins' "Casablanca". And Aming's（あみん）"Matsu wa"（待つわ）still goes into my Top 5 Adorably Cute moments from the entire history of the special.

Another highlight was watching Southern All Stars（サザンオールスターズ）performing "Chako no Kaigan Monogatari"（チャコの海岸物語）. I had never heard of Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）and his band before and their out-of-the-ordinary performance on the Shibuya stage had me wondering if these guys were seriously nuts (I think Kuwata was trolling NHK the entire time). My parents were even more unimpressed. However, things are now cool between SAS and me although that is most likely not the case between them and NHK.

Here is the list:

Red Team

Junko Mihara               Honki de Love Me Good! (1st appearance)
Naoko Kawai               Natsu no Heroine (2nd)
Aming                          Matsu wa (1st)
Mizue Takada              Glass no Hana (5th)
Seiko Matsuda             Nobara no Etude (3rd)
Kiyoko Suizenji           Daishobu (18th)
Sugar                            Wedding Bell (1st)
Naoko Ken                   Natsu wo Akiramete (6th)
Los Indios & Silvia      Como Esta Akasaka? (3rd)
Mina Aoe                      Isezakicho Blues (16th)
Chiyoko Shimakura     Kono Yo no Hana (26th)
Mieko Makimura         Kuchinashi no Hana (2nd)
Ikue Sakakibara           Nagori Yuki (5th)
Rumiko Koyanagi       Midaregami (12th)
Junko Sakurada           Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu (9th)
Miyuki Kawanaka       Anata Hitosuji (2nd)
Hiromi Iwasaki           Madonna Tachi no Lullaby (8th)
Masako Mori               Tachimachi Misaki (10th)
Sayuri Ishikawa           Tsugaru Kaikyo - Fuyu Gesshiki (6th)
Sachiko Kobayashi      Omoide Zake (4th)
Aki Yashiro                  Umineko (10th)
Harumi Miyako           Namida no Renrakusen (18th)

(The "top batter" Junko Mihara)

White Team

Shibugaki-tai               100%...Sou kamo ne! (1st appearance)
Toshihiko Tahara         Yuwaku Suresure (3rd)
Masahiko Kondo         Horeta ze! Kanpai (2nd)
Hideki Saijo                 Sei Shojo (9th)
Hiromi Go                   Aishuu no Casablanca (10th)
Haruo Minami             Chanchiki Okesa (25th)
Southern All Stars       Chako no Kaigan Monogatari (2nd)
Yoichi Sugawara         Ai no Sanka (16th)
Yuzo Kayama              Kimi to Itsumademo (9th)
Frank Nagai                Yurakucho de Aimashou (26th)
Masao Sen                  Kitakuni no Haru (10th)
Kenji Niinuma            Shinsetsu (7th)
Joji Yamamoto            Tabi no Owari wa Omae (2nd)
Toshiyuki Nishida       Aah...Ueno Eki (2nd)
Kenji Sawada              Rokubanme no Yuutsu (10th)
The Cool Five             Uwasa no Onna (11th)
Masatoshi Nakamura  Kokoro no Iro (1st)
Takashi Hosokawa      Kita Sakaba (8th)
Hideo Murata              Fuufu Shunjuu (21st)
Saburo Kitajima          Namida Bune (20th)
Hiroshi Itsuki              Chigiri (12th)
Shinichi Mori              Kage wo Maite (15th)

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

The other thing I remember from this Kohaku was that the younger singers did a Beatles medley in the early part of show. Quite good but still not quite as slick as their tribute to Quincy Jones' "Ai no Corrida"（愛のコリーダ）in a similar segment on the 1981 broadcast.

Being the immature nerd I was back then, I think I rather giggled at the intro of Mina Aoe's（青江三奈）magnum opus. However, the above video is from the 1968 edition of the show (no, it's actually not).

Sugar's performance of "Wedding Bell"