Yukio Hashi -- Nankai no Bishonen（南海の美少年）

 

When I posted the "Top 10 Singles for 1961" in the fading minutes of September 30th 2023, I couldn't help but notice the fact that singer Yukio Hashi（橋幸夫）had no fewer than four songs on the list. That was quite the achievement and the last time that I saw a single artist or band with as many as four songs on the Top 10 for a particular list was probably AKB48.

As such, I had to look into and write about at least one of those Hashi hits and so I went with No. 2 on the Top 10, "Nankai no Bishonen" (The Handsome Boy of the South Seas). Released in May 1961 as as his 8th single, when I first saw and translated that title, I envisioned some toned and tanned Polynesian kid having a ton of fun under the sun while wearing a grass skirt. But then, I heard the melody by Tadashi Yoshida（吉田正）and the lyrics by Takao Saeki（佐伯孝夫）, and realized that this was anything but a tale of tropical Nirvana.

Actually, the young man in the title refers to Shiro Amakusa（天草四郎）, a 17-year-old Japanese Catholic leader of the Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638), the biggest uprising against the Shogunate in Japanese history. Also calling himself Geronimo and Francisco, the rebellion in what is now Nagasaki Prefecture involved fighting back against the policies enforced by the daimyo of Shimabara which included prohibition of Christianity. In the end, the rebellion was defeated and Amakusa and his thousands of followers were beheaded. So, I can imagine the militaristic and mournful melody of this song which has also been given the subtitle of "Shiro Amakusa's Song".

The above has fresh-faced enka singer Shin Aoyama（青山新）performing "Nankai no Bishonen" in front of the original singer himself.

Mayumi Dan -- Say You Love Me/Hatsukoi Epilogue（初恋エピローグ）

 

I chose this single because I had never heard of Mayumi Dan（壇まゆみ）before and the arrangement of Side A grabbed my ears. Her J-Wiki profile has her listed as a former actress who had been born Mayumi Mitome（三留真由美）in Fukuoka City in 1962. She wanted to become a thespian and started out her entertainment career as a campaign girl for a local bank while in high school. Then her first foray into acting came about from an appearance on a NHK historical drama in 1980.

Her dip into singing was just that...a mere dip. She only released two singles; her debut single in 1981 was a cover of The Four Saints'（フォー・セインツ）"Chiisana Nikki"（小さな日記...A Little Diary）. Then later on in the year, her second and final single, "Say You Love Me" was released. Considering how short her singing career was, I probably wouldn't put her in the aidoru category even though her singing ability had me tempted me to do so. As well, "Say You Love Me" which was written by Akira Mitake（見岳章）and composed/arranged by Akira Inoue（井上鑑）has that sing-songy aidoru feeling although as I mentioned off the top, the arrangement with that country-sounding guitar and the way that the intro and outro go were enough for me to get my attention. At 4:15 is the B-side "Hatsukoi Epilogue" (First Love Epilogue) which was also handled by the Double Akira. Slightly sprightly and tropical, Dan's vocals fairly fly lightly over the ocean.

Dan retired from show business in 1989 and afterwards, she's been very busy by first starting out designing children's products with one company and then setting up her own. She's also gotten into corporate training, counseling and being a representative of the local Kyushu Actors' Club. As of now, her name has been Eri Ishimaru（石丸愛梨）.

Hiromi Go -- Anata ga Ita kara Boku ga Ita（あなたがいたから僕がいた）

 

In continuing for one more post following last night's writeup on Miki Hirayama & Maki Nomiya's（平山みき・野宮真貴） "Artist"（アーティスト）which was a part of the Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平） tribute on "Uta Con"（うたコン）last night, I have here another song by another guest on last night's broadcast.

Unlike "Artist" which was a recently newly-found song by the golden combination of lyricist Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）and composer Tsutsumi, Hiromi Go's（郷ひろみ）"Anata ga Ita kara Boku ga Ita" (I'm Here Because You Were Here) was released all the way back in August 1976 as his 18th single and as another Hashimoto & Tsutsumi concoction. I can already hear those deeper yet nasal tones that would represent the Go voice for me all these years. It's an upbeat tune about a man's gratitude toward his significant other for going through both the good and bad times with him.

Go had pointed out though in the talk segment before he performed "Anata ga Ita kara Boku ga Ita" that the message in the hit song could easily apply to his relationship with Tsutsumi. Basically, he said if it hadn't been for the legendary composer, he wouldn't be here. The song would peak at No. 2 on Oricon and end up as the 46th-ranked single of the year. Go would also perform it at the Kohaku Utagassen that year but before that he had accepted a Japan Record Award so he would be standing with his fellow Shin-Gosanke（新御三家）members, Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）and Goro Noguchi（野口五郎）with their own awards that night.

Miki Hirayama & Maki Nomiya -- Artist（アーティスト）

Good Free Photos

About a week ago, I noted that "Uta Con"（うたコン）was going to have a tribute to composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）who had passed away nearly three years ago. As such, I posted the debut single for Natsumi Shimai（夏海姉妹）, "Hotel Sabaku"（ホテル砂漠）which wasn't only released for the first time last month but it gained life as a long-gestating product of the golden combination of Tsutsumi and lyricist Jun Hashimoto（橋本淳）. 

Well, tonight, the tribute to Tsutsumi did happen on "Uta Con", so there were the cover performances of his timeless creations such as Judy Ongg's "Miserarete"（魅せられて）and Ayumi Ishida's（いしだあゆみ）"Blue Light Yokohama" （ブルーライト・ヨコハマ）. However, there was the revelation of a previously unrecorded song by Tsutsumi and Hashimoto, but it wasn't "Hotel Sabaku" which may have been a little too raunchy for the show.

Instead, we got a duet by veteran singer Miki Hirayama（平山みき）and Pizzicato Five's Maki Nomiya（野宮真貴）titled "Artist". It was released just today and in contrast with the stripperific Natsumi Shimai song, this one is a lot more palsy-walsy with Hirayama and Nomiya acting like good ol' buddies getting together for an old-fashioned pop tune with enriched beats for some reason. In fact, I'd say that there is a certain senpai-kohai relationship between the two.

Orangeade -- Watashi wo Hanasanaide（わたしを離さないで）

Good Free Photos

 

I've written about singer-songwriter Minami Kitasono（北園みなみ）a handful of times already on the blog, and I've enjoyed his works because of his style of bringing together a number of styles whether it be City Pop, Shibuya-kei and even Fashion Music. It's his own style since like a really desperate and fidgety little mouse, I can't manage to hold it down to one category. But that has been a good thing and it's been enough for me to get his 2014 album "Promenade" . The last time I wrote about him was back around Xmas 2020 for his "Hisan na Christmas"（ひさんなクリスマス）.

Little did I know that Minami Kitasono was a stage name for Kentaro Ohsawa（大沢建太郎）. During his time in the 2010s coming up with his own eclectic discography as Kitasono, he had a brief dalliance with Yosuke Kurosawa（黒澤鷹輔）and Nozomu Sato（佐藤望）of the duo caméra-stylo（カメラ＝万年筆）within a trio called Orangeade. The band lasted under that name from early 2018 to late 2019 after which it changed its name to conte with a new musical style.

During its Orangeade phase, Ohsawa and company released four singles. The first from February 2018 was a self-titled one that was only available online and at concerts, but the following has been considered to be their bona fide first one called "Watashi wo Hanasanaide" (Never Let Me Go) from later that September. It's an interesting title since Ohsawa/Kitasono released a December 2015 mini-album called "Never Let Me Go" although there was no title track.

Written and composed by Ohsawa, "Watashi wo Hanasanaide" is a smooth and happy-go-lucky tune with a certain UK 1960s pop feeling. I could almost say that it's like a Flipper's Guitar ditty without the overt Shibuya-kei influences. The site Spincoaster has even compared the group's work to that of Sugar Babe（シュガー・ベイブ）, Kirinji（キリンジ）and Happy End（はっぴいえんど）. Fine company, indeed.

Jun Shibata -- Ame（雨）

 

The following song was something that I first heard on the "Weather Music" segment that's become part of the Japan "Weathernews" broadcasts, and apparently the commenters under the YouTube video have echoed the same sentiment.

Pop singer-songwriter Jun Shibata（柴田淳）is someone that I have written about before when she recorded a cover of Hi-Fi Set's（ハイ・ファイ・セット）"Sky Restaurant"（スカイレストラン）for her 2012 compilation album "Cover '70s". There isn't a lot of information on her J-Wiki file aside from her discography (and that she's been called The Diva of the Blogs due to her positive writings online) but her website has been more forthcoming. Born and raised in Tokyo in 1976, she studied piano when she was three years old and got interested in J-Pop while in high school with her debut in 2001.

Well, that song that got featured on "Weathernews" was "Ame" (Rain) which actually came out on her 7th album from November 2009, "Ghostwriter"（ゴーストライター）. A non-single track, it probably slipped under the radar of anyone who hadn't already been a Shibata fan, but now that it's gotten its second look on a weather forecast, it seems to have gained some new fans. Starting off with an indies pop vibe, "Ame" involves a man who is walking in the rain, presumably without any umbrella as a way to punish himself over losing the love of his life. It's a laidback tune which is beautifully sung by Shibata and is definitely something to be heard while sipping some chamomile tea against a window spattered by the titular precipitation. "Ghostwriter" hit No. 9 on Oricon.

Hitomi Nishiyama -- Fuyu Hotel（冬ホテル）

 

My anime buddy and I had our usual talk earlier tonight, and once again we touched upon the topic of Ginzan Onsen located in Yamagata Prefecture. He and a couple of his friends had the opportunity to stay there a few years ago before the pandemic. Their timing was very good since they did go in the winter which is apparently quite the ideal time to visit. It's seen as prestige hot spring accommodations which are not easy to access so naturally folks are even more intrigued to visit.

I've been out most of today so I'm only able to put up the one article and so why not go with "Fuyu Hotel" (Winter Hotel) by enka singer Hitomi Nishiyama（西山ひとみ）. Written by Mami Takubo（田久保真見）and composed by Koji Tokuhisa（徳久広司）, the arrangement of electric guitar and strings creates the atmosphere of a windy and wintry snowscape where this titular hotel is supposedly located. Over there, a woman waiting for her gentleman friend to check in wonders how much longer their brief bubble of sin will last before it bursts.

"Fuyu Hotel" was the coupling song for Nishiyama's 2019 single, "Uragiri no Hana"（裏切りの花...Flowers of Betrayal）. According to her profile, she was born Hitomi Fujiki（藤木妃都美）in Kumamoto Prefecture, the daughter of a master rokyoku singer and began her career in the mid-1990s.