Keiichi Tomita -- Tomita Keiichi WORKS BEST 〜beautiful songs to remember〜

One of my recent acquisitions that I managed to get my hands despite the rotating strikes at Canada Post. I was definitely looking forward to hearing this BEST work by songsmith Keiichi Tomita（冨田恵一）, aka Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）. A number of songs that have been crafted by him on this March 2011 compilation have already been given their own individual due, but there are still plenty of tracks that have yet to be covered.

1. Tomita Lab feat. Maaya Sakamoto -- April Fool 
  2. Yumi Matsutoya -- Kaede（楓）
  3. Ken Hirai -- Ring 
  4. Mika Nakashima -- WILL
  5. Tomita Lab -- here it comes
  6.  m-flo loves Crystal Kay -- REEWIND! (Tomita Lab. Remix)
  7. Tomita Lab feat. Hanaregumi -- Nemuri no Mori （眠りの森）
  8. Tomita Lab feat. CHEMISTRY -- Zutto Yomikake no Natsu （ずっと読みかけの夏）
  9. Tomita Lab -- high noon
  10. Fantastic Plastic Machine -- Why Not? (Tomita Lab. Remix)
  11. AI -- ONE
  12. Youmou & Ohana -- falling
  13. Tomita Lab -- color them green
  14. RIP SLYME -- Mata Au Hi made 2010 ~ Tomita Ryu（マタ逢ウ日マデ2010～冨田流～） 
  15. Kirinji -- Aliens （エイリアンズ）
  16. Tomita Lab feat. Motohiro Hata -- Parallel（パラレル）

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Yumi Matsutoya's（松任谷由美）contribution to the album so we're gonna start off with Ken Hirai's（平井堅）"Ring". His 17th single from November 2002, it was written and composed by the singer with Tomita handling the arrangement, and yep, the Tomita touch of groovy and soulful strings is in there along with some gospel. As you can see from above, "Ring" was the theme song for the NTV drama "Psycho Doctor"（サイコドクター）about a dedicated psychiatrist played by Yutaka Takenouchi（竹野内豊）and looking at that perpetually hangdog expression on his face, I kinda wonder if he needed help.

Hirai had another hit with "Ring" as it went to the top of the charts, going Platinum and becoming the 39th-ranked single of 2003.

m-flo teams up with Crystal Kay for its 14th single, "REEWIND!" and then puts it through the Tomita filter. So we've got the Tomita groove mixed in with the fast-paced tumble-dry style of m-flo. The original single came out in June 2003 and got as high as No. 9, and it's also a track on the group's 3rd album "Astromantic" from May 2004. That album went up to No. 2 and became the 42nd-ranked album of the year.

I had never heard of the acoustic duo Youmou & Ohana（羊毛とおはな）but I'm happy to make their acquaintance through their "falling" which was on their 2nd album "Konnichiwa"（こんにちは。...Hello.）from January 2008. Tomita arranged and produced both song and album, and it looks like he let Kazunori "Youmou" Ichikawa（市川和則）and Hana "Ohana" Chiba（千葉はな）fully show their own sound which I'm happy about. "falling" was originally written and composed by Corinne Bailey Rae, et al with Chiba providing the Japanese lyrics. Sadly, Chiba passed away in 2015 at the age of 36.

Welcome aboard, RIP SLYME! Tomita gave his own layer of glam to the hip-hop group's "Mata Au Hi Made 2010 ~ Tomita Ryu" (Until We Meet Again 2010 ~ Tomita Style) as its 17th single. The original version of "Mata Au Hi Made" was RIP SLYME's final single in November 2000 (lyrics by the band and music by Fantastic Plastic Machine/DJ Fumiya) as an indies unit before making their major debut the following year. The Tomita-arranged version of the song came out in June 2010, and though I'm not a hip-hop fan per se, this one is pretty fun. Plus, I do like the video for a few reasons which include the fact that it reminds me of the trailer for the 50th anniversary special for "Doctor Who". The 2010 version hit No. 10 on Oricon. I will have to take a look at the original version later on.

My final song is Tomita's 6th single "Parallel" (September 2009) featuring singer-songwriter Motohiro Hata（秦基博）, and it seems to make for a fine "good night" song to finish up the proceedings. Tomita composed the song with Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）providing lyrics, and hearing Hata, he and the song remind me of some of the soulful contributions by Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善）and Sing Like Talking. "Parallel" hit No. 11 which makes it Tomita's most successful single to date.

Along with Matsutoya's track, I couldn't find AI's "ONE", but otherwise, including the songs that I had already covered in past articles, I believe that I've provided everything from this BEST compilation by Tomita. Looking at his list of songs that he's had a hand in providing to other artists on J-Wiki, I think, though, there are still many gems to be unearthed, and certainly, I won't be stopping at this album when it comes to him. Incidentally, "〜beautiful songs to remember〜" peaked at No. 77.

Yui Murase -- Perfect Smile

The other day, I think I was talking about some songs that aren't specifically Xmas songs but would make for some nice listening while making up that Xmas lunch of Eggs Benedict (I was watching a cooking video on YouTube...maybe it was Gordon Ramsay).

Perhaps this song might fit. This is Yui Murase's（村瀬由衣）"Perfect Smile" which came out as a single and as a track on her 3rd self-titled album in June 1994. Yes, I realize about the spring/summer release but still, I think that it's happily jaunty so making that Hollandaise sauce on December 25th will go all the more smoothly.

This would never happen in any of my family Christmas gatherings but cocktails may be the thing for the Yuletide, and I think "Perfect Smile" is quite the well-blended musical libation. It's got a bit of AOR and Latin  and maybe even that hint of sophisticated pop to spice up the melody, and though it may not have done all that well on Oricon (don't know how it ranked). it's pretty nice to listen to. Eriko Imoto（井本えり子）took care of the lyrics while Akira Jimbo（神保彰）from Casiopea composed the music.

Yukari Usami -- Aoi Takanki（蒼い多感期）

Ahhh...behold the aidoru of days gone past who blew in and out like a breeze, but still manages to retain that pocket of popularity. There are probably a fairly large number of these maboroshii teenyboppers and off the top of my head, I can remember someone like Hiromi Koide（小出広美）from the early 1980s.

Some time ago, I also discovered an aidoru who hails from Okinawa named Yukari Usami（宇沙美ゆかり）. She had a brief but, I think, fairly intense time in show business between 1983 and 1985. She had been scouted through a talent audition by the entertainment company Sky Corporation, after which she passed an audition to star in the live-action version of the manga-turned-anime "Miyuki"（みゆき）.

Usami released her first of 6 singles in March 1984 called "Aoi Takanki" (Blue Emotional Time). It got bookmarked by me because of an interesting synthesizer intro, and as an aidoru, Usami's voice didn't sound too bad at all. Written by Masao Urino（売野雅勇）and composed by Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤次利）, "Aoi Takanki" is a fairly brisk aidoru tune with some Ginsu-knife strings about a young girl who just seems to be chomping at the bit at not being able to confess her love to that boy and wondering why the fellow won't make the first move.

There is no record of the Oricon rankings for any of her singles or three original albums, but from what I've read from of her short history on J-Wiki, it looks like her management company may have been pushing her too hard too fast, even for someone in the assembly-line aidoru industry. Maybe the powers-that-be had seen something of star potential in Usami. The singles were coming out at a rapid-fire pace and there were offers coming out for her to appear in various dramas which ended up bottle-necking her schedule (and apparently, she ended up having to reject two major starring roles according to a Weekly Asahi Geino article). In any case, it wasn't too long before the aidoru/actress pulled up stakes and disappeared from the geinokai.

Vickeblanka -- Slave of Love

After first hearing about singer-songwriter Vickeblanka（ビッケブランカ）through his super-catchy anison for the show "Double Decker" and writing an article about "Buntline Special" in late October, I started getting rather curious about the fellow and his work judging from some of the thumbnails for his music videos on YouTube. Then, last Tuesday, one of my other friends who also has his own passing interest in anime even mentioned that he wouldn't mind getting his hands on a copy of that very song himself.

So I decided to check out those other videos and have been pretty impressed thus far. I mentioned in the "Buntline Special" article that he's been influenced by artists such as Elton John, Michael Jackson and Billy Joel. Somewhat like Joel, especially early in his career, Vickeblanka has been somewhat of a musical chameleon. I've gotten hints of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" from "Buntline Special" while a couple of his other songs have revealed mellow middle-of-the-road guitar-based J-Pop along with a danceable tune as well.

Then, there is "Slave of Love", which is the title track for his 2016 album which has shown to me Vickeblanka's apparent love of "Killer Queen". I actually chuckled with some happy glee at the singer's take on Freddie through his high-toned vocals and the guitar solo. Judging from the fun video as well and one other video of his, Vickeblanka does like to dance around. He may not be a Michael Jackson but he does have the "Glee"-ful spirit of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly within him, I believe.

I'm going to be looking forward to his future stuff on stereo and screen.

Kiyoshi Hikawa -- Seiryu/Suzaku/Tora/Genbu (青龍/朱雀/白虎/玄武)

Somewhere along my midnight music video hunts - I believe, for some reason, I was looking for the MV of Kiyoshi Hikawa's (氷川きよし) "Choito Kimagure Wataridori" (ちょいときまぐれ渡り鳥) - I stumbled upon this website that is quite the treasure trove in the way of downloadable music and videos that one can't find on YouTube. This is the website: www.170hi.com. It's in Chinese, but in a way, it feels reminiscent of the late music163 site, so you guys can try checking things out there - it could be useful.

columbia.jp/artist-info/hikawa/discography/COBA-4722.html

Anyway, my point is that I found the full MV and a whole lot more Hikawa stuff on this 170hi, like his other full MVs and even Kohaku performances. And while going down the rabbit hole, I came across this set of 4 videos that were linked by way of one of the enka prince's concerts; I later found that they came from his annual concert in 2007, " Kiyoshi Hikawa Special Concert 2007 Kiyoshi Kono Yoru Vol. 7" (氷川きよし・スペシャルコンサート2007 きよしこの夜Vol.7). His outfit was bizarre to say the least, but what caught my attention were the titles of the songs: Seiryu, Suzaku, Tora, and Genbu.

These creatures, collectively known as the Four Symbols, are Chinese constellations that have also made it's way to Japanese and even Korean culture. For example, they were used to label the different factions in the Aizu military troops during the Boshin War (when Japan was trying to fight to stay in its feudal system).

Being a fan of mythological creatures like these, I couldn't help but listen what Hikawa had to say about them. I listened to all of them and found them all interesting in their own right, so, I would like to share my opinions about each of them. I also decided to lump them all together in one article because these creatures are always associated with one another, and on looking through the meanings of these tunes, they more or less revolve around the topic too, which is that of of striving to achieve one's goals with the heart and soul of the titular being - o-enka songs.

Before beginning, I would like to say that all of the lyrics and melodies were brought to you by Koyomi Asa and Sotaro Mori (麻こよみ . 杜奏太朗) respectively. With that said, let's get the ball rolling. (By the way, to watch the videos, click on the numbers like "432P", etc. after you've clicked on the links here.)

http://www.170hi.com/tool/jiexi/?id=408919

Seiryu

Whenever the Four Symbols are mentioned, the first in line tends to be the Seiryu, or Azure Dragon, which represents the East and the season of Spring. In the song itself, I would say that the dramatic and abrasive score accurately depicts a fierce and powerful dragon, with rumbling electric guitar and crashing cymbals reminiscent of thunder. And with a voice that is probably as loud as the roar of the dragon, Hikawa proudly proclaims that he'll fearlessly hold on to and chase his dreams. On his crazy chimera of an outfit, the Seiryu seems to be the most prominent with its overall bluish green, long trailing tail and scales. "Seiryu" was the first of Hikawa's Four Symbols series, being released on 1st September 2004 as a track in the album "Enka Meikyoku Collection 4 ~ Banba no Chutaro ~" (演歌名曲コレクション4〜番場の忠太郎〜).

http://www.170hi.com/tool/jiexi/?id=408921

Suzaku

After the dragon comes the Vermilion Bird, or Suzaku. And unlike what I had initially assumed, the Vermilion Bird and the Phoenix are not the same creature. Anyway, the Suzaku represents the South and the season of Summer. "Suzaku" sounds gentler with more focus on smooth and languid strings, which I suppose can be likened to the bird gracefully gliding through the skies. However, it sounds just as regal. Here, Hikawa sings about pursuing what he believes in a (comparatively) softer and controlled manner, even if setbacks come in to threaten the stable beat of his "wings". The Vermilion Bird can be seen via the long feathers on one of Hikawa's shoulders, although I kind of wonder if the coat tail equates to the birds own tail. "Suzaku" flew out on to the shelves via the "Enka Meikyoku Collection 6 ~ Ikken ~" (演歌名曲コレクション6〜一剣〜) on 28th June 2006.

He's wearing a black and white striped shirt - it counts.

http://www.170hi.com/tool/jiexi/?id=408918

Tora

Roaring into the scene quite literally is the White Tiger, or Byakko, which represents the West and the season of Autumn. Despite being known as Byakko, the song was titled a simpler "Tora", and with it we're back to the boastful style similar to "Seiryu" but less ostentatious and a stronger air of dignity. As he proudly struts about our protagonist has faith in his ability to charge forward no matter the distance towards his goals with the heart of a tiger. The huge salt and pepper shag carpet on Hikawa's shoulder is what I believe to be the Byakko part of the costume...? It really looks like it belongs on the floor of someone's house. "Tora" had actually stepped out into the scene earlier than "Suzaku" on 23rd November 2005 in "Enka Juu-Ni Ban Shoubu! ~ Omokage no Miyako ~" (演歌十二番勝負！〜面影の都〜).

http://www.170hi.com/tool/jiexi/?id=408922

Genbu

Finally, we have the Genbu, also known as the Black Tortoise (that has a snake as a tail), which represents the North and the season of winter. Up to this point, the Four Symbols have been rather majestic creatures, but the last doesn't exactly fit into the "majestic" mold, does it? A tortoise is slow and lumbering, which can be heard from the heavy, rhythmic beats of the melody to "Genbu", but then again, one could turn it these traits into stability and being sure-footed. And I think that's what the lyrics are trying to get at: While, yes, there are times when there's nothing you can really do, the best thing you can do is stay firm in your beliefs. Now, while the dragon up to the tiger is pretty obvious on Hikawa's garb, I have some problems in seeing where the tortoise lies. I suppose it's the long dangling chain from his hip that's meant to look like the Genbu's snake...? At this point, I've given up on dissecting this Frankenstein's monster suit. "Genbu" took its time in making an appearance, coming out 3 years after "Seiryu" on 19th September 2007 in "Enka Meikyoku Collection 7 ~ Abayo . Kiyoshi no Sora Bushi ~" (演歌名曲コレクション7〜あばよ・きよしのソーラン節〜).

That about does it for this article. I hope you've enjoyed the odes to the Four Symbols as much as I did. If I had to pick a favourite, it'd be between "Seiryu" and "Tora". What would yours be?

P.S. Hikawa's record company really knows the words "Fan service" front and back because all his albums come with lots of photos of him in a myriad of poses. That said, I kind of wonder why they don't venture into other memorabilia like pins or key chains. Those would definitely sell like hotcakes, and I wouldn't mind getting a pin with him on it either.

Kimiko Kasai -- Very Special Moment

"Very Special Moment" is a Kimiko Kasai（笠井紀美子）song that I found in one YouTuber's Xmas City Pop collection.

I'm not quite sure whether I would agree that "Very Special Moment" was especially made for Christmas, but for those folks who are getting tired of all of the traditional Yuletide tunes from Japan and abroad, I wouldn't mind listening to this funky and jazzy tune while cooking away in the kitchen on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. And the title has got the right thing in mind for the Holidays in any case.

The song has got a lot of that downtown coolness factor thanks to the funky saxes by Takeshi Muraoka（村岡健）and Masafumi Yamaguchi（山口真文）...I hope that I've gotten the names right for both of them...along with the rest of the horns. And then, there is a great trumpet solo by Terumasa Hino（日野晧正）. "Very Special Moment" is a track on Kasai's 1977 album "Tokyo Special" which also includes "Vibration". It also has some pretty big names behind its creation with Kazumi Yasui（安井かずみ）on lyrics and Yutaka Yokokura（横倉裕）on music.

Greeeen -- Yuki no Ne（雪の音）

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to December! It's amazing how rapidly 2018 has sped by, but here we are. November was a pretty good one when it came to this blog since we not only achieved the largest number of articles (81) for any month in the history of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but we've also surpassed the entire count for 2017 (mind you, there were those two trips to the Caribbean and Japan last year) and it looks like we may exceed the total for 2016 (808) which is the largest number of articles for any one year since KKP started in 2012.

Anyways, that's enough of the braggadocio...

It's December 1st so let's start off with a J-Xmas tune. Mind you, going through the lyrics of "Yuki no Ne" (Sound of Snow) by the band Greeeen, there isn't anything in there that specifically refers to the jolly season, but it's got the jingling bells, the happy sing-song melody, a wintry setting, and romance, and that's good enough here.

This is the first song by Greeeen that I've heard proper, let alone put it up as their first entry onto the blog. However, I've known about this pop/rock band for years because of that spelling in their name. And it turns out that the 4 e's represent the number of band members who are HIDE, navi, 92 and SOH. Plus, they are Japan's most musical secret dentists, according to what I've read about Greeeen on Wikipedia.

I found out about Greeeen's 18th single "Yuki no Ne" from December 2012 through one of the YouTube-placed J-Xmas compilations that I've encountered. I've already played it a few times as I write this which is a darn good sign for my ears and Xmas memories. Written and composed by the band, it was also used as the commercial song for the annual JR SKISKI series by East Japan Railways. As I've said, "Yuki no Ne" is the first Greeeen song that I've listened to, but I've got the impression that it's combined their sound with a cheerful Xmas toy march.

"Yuki no Ne" peaked at No. 6 on Oricon and is also a track on Greeeen's 5th album "Ii ne!"（いいね!(´・ω・｀)☆...Great, Ain't It!）from June 2013. That album went as high as No. 3 and placed at No. 44 on the 2013 charts. As I indicated above about their media shyness, they've never revealed their true names nor their faces on TV, and apparently go to great lengths to maintain their anonymity as you can see in the above interview from 2016. I had been wondering as well about how they take care of this during concert tours; well, my curiosity was answered at 3:57 in that video. I guess dentists are a really shy bunch in Japan.

Ah, one other trivia tidbit that I gleaned from Wikipedia is that Greeeen's sound production is handled by HIDE's older brother, JIN, who is a former guitarist from the band Pay money To my Pain which already has some representation on the blog.