I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Man, what a day and night! Got plunked with a huge mound of files to translate so I was literally working in my steamy room for almost 12 hours. I did take my lunch and dinner breaks and kept myself hydrated so that I didn't end up needing to call 911. Can't complain, though, since it does mean more income that way.
Up to now, the only articles that I've written about Keiko Kimura（木村恵子）have dealt with the tracks from her debut album "Style" from 1988 which I would put across as a City Pop/Pop endeavor.
Well, I recently came across this number performed by Kimura which actually leads off her 2nd album"Ambiva" from 1989. The article by kaz-shin on his "Music Avenue" mentions that the singer-songwriter goes deeper into the pop vein this time, and first track "Natsu no Antenna"(Summer Antenna) illustrates that.
Even the cover for "Ambiva" shows Kimura in a different light when compared to the atmospheric visage she gives in "Style". There she is driving in style with her partner.... Pingu? In any case, "Natsu no Antenna" even has her singing style sounding a bit brighter as she takes thing from the city and onto the highway bombing toward the coast as a different form of that sophisticated pop with which I've often associated some female singers in the latter half of the 1980s. I'm usually not all that crazy about synths emulating jazz, but here it doesn't sound bad at all. Kimura apparently composed 8 of the 10 tracks on the album so it's likely that she's taken care of this one.
The first time that I saw the title "Chikashitsu no Party" (Basement Party) as performed by actress/singer Mariko Fuji（藤真利子）, I received some rather bad vibes in terms of the implications of that location. Yes, I realized that a lot of my friends when we were all younger had parties in house basements that all seemed to have that mandatory pool table, bar and couch. However, I couldn't help but go "Hmmmm...".
Listening to this ballad, though, the red alert was almost instantly canceled. "Chikashitsu no Party" is something along the lines of classy Fashion Pop/City Pop with Fuji singing ironically and sadly about being in this underground cafe with no windows all alone as she muses about the lost guy. And I was actually in a Renoir cafe in Tokyo which was indeed an establishment in the basement with no windows...and lots of cigarette smoke.
With the bluesy sax and mellow keyboards in there, images are conjured up of sighing most dramatically while nursing a drink for a few hours in the big rainy city. Singer-songwriter Satoshi Kishida（岸田智史）wrote and composed this track on Fuji's 2nd album"Romantic Game"（浪漫幻夢）from March 1981. He actually found fame for his "Kimi no Asa"（君の朝）back in 1979 which kinda goes to show that trend back then of folk singers finding their inner urban contemporary music.
Not sure if I will ever be able to enter those high rooftop hotel bars, one of those venues that I often associate with City Pop, but when it comes to cafes, underground or otherwise...heck, I spent half of my life in Japan in those places.
Ah, yes....my days and nights in Gunma Prefecture as a fledgling English teacher. My time there provided me with plenty of experience in teaching and how to live without my family for an extended time for the first time in my life. It also taught me how to drink beer. Basically, even as a teacher, there were the seasonal obligations of going out with the other teachers and occasionally the PTA for dinner and much imbibing. It wasn't easy and I didn't do my clothes and my teachers any favours one evening when there was a "backblast" effect of sorts when I tried to do ikki nomi with a dai jokkii of Sapporo (they made me do it).
I did finally get it down pat after many enkai and bouts at the karaoke bars and boxes during the two years in Gunma. And it did help when I started my second stint in Japan from 1994. At least, I wouldn't ever need to explain why I had to only drink cola or those cute cocktails with umbrellas in them. Still, perhaps having someone like comedienne/singer Mai Ooiribukuro（大入袋舞）could have helped me in navigating the boozier avenues of life.
Actually her manager contacted me earlier today to ask if I could talk about her client's first single"Sakeyake no Onna" (Scotch-Drinking Girl) which was released in August 2017...and, no, I'm not making any kickbacks here. I just happen to enjoy the song and the video which was shot in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district. Ooiribukuro wrote the lyrics while Taka Amemiya（雨宮高）came up with the snazzy 21st-century Mood Kayo arrangement.
Through the words and video, Ooiribukuro gives her comical impressions of the fantasy and reality of being a barfly in Tokyo. It almost seems like all of the usual tropes of Mood Kayo and associated karaoke videos were generously put in there. The singer even mentions about how drinking copious amounts gave her voice a huskier quality.
The club singer character of Mai Ooiribukuro was the creation of Mai Ito（伊藤麻衣）from Gunma who was one-half of the comedic duo Two Carat（つーから）. A couple of years after the act broke up, Ooiribukuro was born with her first live performance in February 2011. As the years passed by, it seems like Ooiribukuro was becoming quite the popular character, even becoming an ambassador for the All Japan Snack Federation earlier this year. Actually the sunakku refers to the many tiny bars that populate the entirety of Japan, and Ooiribukuro has performed her concerts in a lot of those places. I can only hope Ms. Ito has the same level of tolerance for alcohol that her alter ego seems to have.
To finish up, I don't have that level of drinking ability and still won't touch any of the hard stuff such as scotch or brandy. My liver has sent me thank you cards annually.
LOOK, MA! Someone below 45! And my mother pretends to be enthusiastic over this recent turn of events when she is already numb to my unhealthy obsession with geriatric and deceased enka singers.
Yes, I have finally found some modern day enka-yo singers to actively follow now, like Kiyoshi Hikawa (氷川きよし), Junretsu (純烈) and Kohei Fukuda (福田こうへい). I think you guys have more or less figured out that I've become a fan of Hikawa in the past year or so, as for Junretsu and Fukuda, they're more of recent favourites. That doesn't mean my fervor for the likes of Mae-Kiyo and Hachi has waned one bit; it does, however, give me many more opportunities to look forward to music shows like "Uta-Kon" or "Nodojiman", especially since the older crowd tend to not appear on stage as often anymore - I'm still waiting for Ikuzo Yoshi (吉幾三).
Anyway, earlier in the year, I mentioned my growing interest in Fukuda via the "Michi Hitosuji" (道ひとすじ) article, but I feel that the official seal of approval was given when "Tenryu Nagashi" hit my ears.
"Tenryu Nagashi" was released on 25th April 2018 and is Fukuda's 8th single. In terms of its score, it has a similar vein to "Michi Hitosuji" with its powerful edge and a sense of grandeur, though I feel that "Tenryu Nagashi" has a more fluid flow to it and the strings are more dramatic and the drums a little more threatening. Come to think of it, composer Akito Yomo (四方章人) had probably made it so to represent the Tenryu river the song was based on. After all, this river that flows through Nagano is known for its fierce rapids, which I would say can be represented by the deep strings and the drums. But at the same time I see that this beautiful waterway has got its calm and languid portions, which can be represented by the simply shakuhachi flute.
Besides in its melody, "Tenryu Nagashi" is also a manly man song in the way of its lyrics, which was brought to you by Takashi Maki (万城たかし). From what I understand, our hero is most likely is a sendo-san (boatman) who travels up and down the temperamental river in rain or shine. It's risky and tough work, but he seems to thrive on the danger, much to the ire of his beloved. Looking at it from a different perspective, I wonder if the song is using the Tenryu river as an allegory for life itself - with its many trials and challenges that one has to power through... if that's the case, I believe I'm currently mentally somewhere in the rapids of the river. Ah, well. Time to grab the oar and push forth instead of spinning about aimlessly. Noelle from 12/7/18: Looks like our hero isn't a sendo-san, but is actually a logger who brings logs cut from Nagano to Shizuoka via the Tenryu. That's actually more dangerous than being a boatman, if you ask me, considering the violent rapids. Credits to Hanibo who clarified this in the comments.
On a lighter note, I had actually reached Japan on the day that "Tenryu Nagashi" had been released, and I was pretty thrilled over the idea of getting the single fresh out of the store. I did purchase it a few days later when in Utsunomiya, and while I'm aware that fellows like Hikawa would push out freebies with singles/albums like stickers or plastic folders, somehow I wasn't expecting Fukuda's merchandise to have that. So I was gleefully surprised when my CD came with the official "Tenryu Nagashi" pen. I also got Hikawa's "Shoubu no Hanamichi" (勝負の花道) Type A single, which also came when a gigantic sticker of him. Too bad Junretsu's "Propose" single didn't come with any freebie. But, still, as what the three bears from one of my favourite cartoons "We Bear Bears" yelled when they got a free haul from a garage sale, "FREE STUFF!".
Nice to hear a mellow J-Pop song from the 1990s. And this one is one that I haven't heard in a very long time so it's nice making a re-acquaintance with "Shiawase ni Naritai" (I Want to Be Happy) by singer/actress Yuki Uchida（内田有紀）. Released in January 1996, this was written and composed by Kohmi Hirose（広瀬香美）who knows something about creating some energizing high-tempo tunes and cuddly mid-tempo ballads like this one.
Although I know that Uchida appeared in the later movies of the "Odoru Dai Sosasen"（踊る大捜査線）franchise, I still see her more as the 1990s It Girl with the tomboyish streak. Her singing career was arguably less known than her time as an actress, but whenever I do think of it, it's usually either "Shiawase ni Naritai" or "See The Sky" that comes to mind.
"Shiawase ni Naritai" was Uchida's most successful single (her 5th) as it broke into the Top 10 at No. 6 and later becoming the 59th-ranked single for 1996. The song was also included in her 4th album"nakitakunalu" which was released in October that year. It peaked at No. 18. The song was also the theme for the TBS drama "Campus Note"（キャンパスノート）which starred Uchida herself.
It's a pity that I couldn't find a whole version of Hirose's cover of "Shiawase ni Naritai" but I could find an excerpt at iTunes. That was a track on her BEST album"Love Winters" from November 1998. For some added Hirose goodness, there is another song of happiness in her song list.
Considering that I had just written about the incredibly zany "Back Street Girls ~ Gokudols" yesterday, the story of three unfortunate male gangsters-turned-popular female aidoru, it's hard for me not to imagine a link between that anime and the topic of this song, although "Kanashiki Aidoru"(Sad Idol) is as far from aidoru music as anyone can get.
In fact, "Kanashiki Aidoru" is the product of singer-songwriter Yudai Suzuki（鈴木雄大）, a Tokyoite who has his heart deep into the groove of City Pop/J-AOR. Indeed, after listening to this cool song a couple of times, I've put on my music sommelier's cap on and sensed some TOTO (the American band, not the toilet company) along with a bit of Sing Like Talking through Suzuki's singing (and yes, I know that SLT had just debuted).
Suzuki's lyrics seem to hint at a man's love for his favourite singer while cradling that nighttime glass of Chablis and perhaps he feels that his heroine is a pretty lonely and sad sort in her business. Well, if it's anything that the Gokudols Niji-gumi（ゴクドルズ虹組）have been going through in just their first episode, then he may have had quite the premonition. Then again, the aidoru phenomenon was in full swing in the 1980s and with him being in the music industry, he may have had some firsthand insights about that part of the industry.
"Kanashiki Aidoru" was Suzuki's 10th single from August 1985 and was also a track on his 4th album"La Shissa" from June of that year. I really do like that arrangement with the keyboards so I will see if I can get my hands on the album sometime in the future.
I believe that next to cockroaches (which seem to elicit the same fear as seeing Hannibal Lecter offering lessons on sharpening knives), crows are probably seen as the worst urban bane in animal form in Japan. They are large, they like picking at your garbage and they may even decide to swoop down and attack you. My neighbourhood in Ichikawa was no different as they were out there roosting on the fence. Sometimes as I passed by, I would make eye contact with them and they would make eye contact with me. I imagined John Williams' "Duel of the Fates" from "The Phantom Menace" playing as we locked eyes on each other. "Hey punk! You want some?" As their titanium beaks shone in the sunlight, I wondered if at least one of those dark birds had tattoos under its feathers.
Alright, having said my piece on crows, let's go to something a bit cuter when it comes to Corvus corone. "Minna no Uta"（みんなのうた）comes on before the NHK Morning News at 7 on TV Japan and last week, I saw another adorable number called "Kaa Kaa Karasu no Kansaburo" (Caw, Caw, Kansaburo The Crow) about a vagabond samurai crow walking the byways of Japan.
The video that I saw for that number was an animated one made just for "Minna no Uta", but the above is a shortened version of the official music video featuring child actress/tarento Rio Suzuki（鈴木梨央）in summer festival mode. I have seen her on TV before so I'm wondering if she has taken up the mantle of beloved child actress of Japan that used to be on Mana Ashida's（芦田愛菜）shoulders a few years ago.
In any case, this was Suzuki's 2nd single from November 2016 which peaked at No. 62 on Oricon. "Kansaburo" was written and composed by Kyoko Matsumiya（松宮恭子）and it got its turn on "Minna no Uta" in October 2016 before getting another spell on the show a year later. One would hope that there would be more "heroic" crows like Kansaburo, but I'm afraid that the best we can ask for in Japan are the usual birds with the Loki-type of humour.
