*Runs to Spotify to compile a playlist of everything you mentioned here in hopes I can find more clearly enunciated Japanese lyrics that are also groovy to listen to because right now I still only have Asako Toki on repeat*
Im def gonna have to dig into Takeushi now. As for someone who just fell down a rabithole of city pop this year and keen on getting them on vinyl, this was an insightful read.
I remember the so called sukiyaki song from when I was a boy in Australia 1961 - it went to number 2 - sung by Sakamoto Kyu "Ue o muite arukō..." He died in the JAL Flight 123 crash in August 1985. And AZUSA Michiyo - "Konnichi-wa Aka-chan" in 1963 - another big hit in Australia. Like you Hiroko I would not have thought them "J-Pop". Those two Christmas favourites which led me to your walk down Memory Street "Last Christmas" and what I always thought of as Silent Night, Holy Night take me directly back to the Japan of the 1990s and 2000s in Japan and shopping centres - almost playing on a loop it seemed - along with other more traditional carols and songs. I used to subject (?) all my classes (middle school, senior high and university) to a telling of the Christmas story - in its traditional (and totally non-Biblical) version and the Santa Claus version - and then into singing a selection I had printed out for them (and some actually sang along with me)! Language and culture together - right. Some of my students dubbed favourite songs for me - or even whole albums - and I began to find some for myself. But the other thing for me - by this time I was in my 40s and through my 50s was the songs given to me - the singers - was not so much my choices as a search for a whole variety of familiarity with music in Japan - so it ranged widely. I'm going to list some - which you may recognise beyond your adolescence - or smile at. And this is just a sample of the CDs on my book shelves...
One of my university students (Hidekazu - he later headed off to the US and I lost track of him) dubbed tracks from Southern All Stars, L'Arc-en-Ciel, Glay, UTADA Hikaru (Automatic) , Misia, Mr Children (with two cassettes from another student I once drove around Shikoku for a week with both Mr Children cassetes on a kind of loop playing in my car) and TAKENAKA Masayoshi (Smoother). Visiting the elderly aunt of an old friend - in Dorset - she showed me an ancient 78 brought back from Japan in 1937by her merchant seaman father. I was able to dub it and back in Japan it was identified for me - from the 1930s sung by Kusunoki Shigeo & Michi yakko "Uchi no nyōbo ga hige ga aru" a kind of music hall bit of fun... And then early on - during an official exchange teaching post in Shimane-ken a friend introduced me to - and I fell in love with - NAKAJIMA Miyuki (especially her East Asia album. She later became the face of Japan Post and New Year cards for some years. Justy Nasty - Jesus & Craze, Chage & Asuka, Kitarō (Silk Road - one of my homestay family's sister was married to the NHK producer of the Silk Road TV series), Bubble Gum Brothers Great Best album) , A friend in Australia - regarded as the Father of Australian Folk - Gary Shearston - Peter Paul & Mary recorded one of his songs - he had a huge hit with a cover of Coler Porter's "I get a Kick out of You" - spent time in the UK/Ireland - returned and became an Anglican Priest (Episcopalian to those in the US) had been inspired by Koto genius ETŌ Kimio (1924-2012 - who played at Carnegie Hall) and was a student of MIYAGI Michio. (In whose honour I made several visits to Tomo-no-ura - where Miyagi Michio (1894-1956) is said to have been inspired to compose the Japanese New Year's signature tune of "Haru-no-Umi". Gary Shearston asked me to track him down (via one of his two sons (US mother) - Steve ETO (and Leonard ETO- a remarkable percussionist - and Gary sent him a piano piece he had written evoking the sound of the koto. ETŌ Kimio's music had, he told me, sustained him during a difficult time in his life. Jay Walk (especially "Yuki Onna" on nights driving back to Ube from a Thursday (for a full term teaching at The Junior College in Hamada on the eve of it becoming a prefectural university). I taught a number of young people from Okinawa - so found traditional Okinawan music - but also Ketsu-Meishi "Ketsu-no-porisu3". ZARD (!0th Anniversary Original Album. I understood she recorded that or some of her songs at least in Australia. During one of a couple of holiday visits to Okinawa with my wife - we stayed at a beautiful resort north from the main city at Busena Terrace Hotel - just south of Nago-shi. Each evening at sunset MORITA Yasuaki came and played "Sound of Sunset" on his clarinet? trumpet? some beautiful pieces - his own compositions included. I'll mention just one more - the beautiful harmony singing of two sisters singing children's songs - "Ano Toki, Kono Uta" (I can't read their names - one with given name Saori, the other family name YASUDA.) Thanks for inspiring me to list these... Beware of George Michael - It's December 1st in just a few hours! I'm looking forward to reading your book!
This has been such an interesting read! I’ve listened to a few of Mariya Takeuchi’s songs and have been wanting to dive deeper into city pop so I instantly loved your recommendations. But more than that, as someone outside of Japanese culture, this has been simply fascinating and I learned a lot! I love how you explore all of this through your personal connection too—thank you for sharing!
I was first in Japan in June 1976. Then in 1990 - then for most of the period 1991-2009. Enka appealed when I was taken out by people my age (in their 40s+) - the kind of blues of nostalgia for those long ago days and lost loves and opportunities - the music - but at the same time I was teaching and my students (adults, university, high school) were teaching me their favourite singers of that era - Chage & Aska, Nakajima Miyuki, Doriko? (Dreams Come True) folkloric music from Okinawa (some of my students nephews or friends from some noted singers/groups from there) - so many tapes were dubbed for me - and all of it helped me get the kind of feel for for Japan I really needed to feel it - beyond "konnichi-wa aka-chan" or the early 20th century (I hope I get it right): "Uchi no haha hige ga aru" or all the children's songs - tunes brought back from Scotland and other places set with Japanese words - ANNO Mitsumasa did a marvellous picture book with the lyrics and printed music I worked with during my time in Shimane-ken as an exchange teacher from Australia - the other end of the prefecture from Tsuwano where Anno Mitsumasa was born - and further away from Ube-shi in Yamaguchi-shi where he did his secondary and university studies...in fact I taught the daughter of one of his cousins...and exchanged a couple of letters with him. "Akatonbo" among others - "Furusato" - the heart of a child's early years swells with those "nursery rhymes".... So my time was the 1990s and the 2000s - though enka appears almost timeless - with a foundation of the late 19th and early 20th-century children's songs - preparing me for the kind of J-Pop/ballads - Takahashi Mariko? and others... about whom/which you have written so well... (I'm in Coffs Harbour on the north coast of NSW for three days - a contemporary's 70th birthday party this coming Saturday. Walking to the nearby surf beach I got into conversation with two young couples - two vehicles - preparing a barbecue dinner in the local car park. From Japan - here already six months - after time in Queensland - now gradually moving south to finish up in Tasmania... From Ōsaka...but they knew well the Nichinan surfing coast of southern Miyazaki-ken - the region of some of my Japanese kinfolk connections!) Jim
Mahalo for sharing your experiences in such an interesting article! 🙂
I didn't know Enka is mostly associated with the Boomer generation in Japan. Enka was my grandmother's favorite music, and she was born here in Hawaii in the 1920's, though her parents were born in Japan
Perhaps she was an unusual example, or maybe it's just Japanese-Americans in Hawaii, but I had always associated Enka with her generation
My father is a Boomer, and most of his peers liked American music. Though "Sukiyaki" is a sentimental favorite of his
Ha, I remember that sake commercial like it was on TV yesterday. The music of that period will forever stay with me. Some of the music reminds me of people that mattered to me during that time, other songs give me a feeling of relaxing in summer.
*Runs to Spotify to compile a playlist of everything you mentioned here in hopes I can find more clearly enunciated Japanese lyrics that are also groovy to listen to because right now I still only have Asako Toki on repeat*
Thanks for another great dive Hiroko!
Im def gonna have to dig into Takeushi now. As for someone who just fell down a rabithole of city pop this year and keen on getting them on vinyl, this was an insightful read.
I’m in the exact same boat! Down to looking up vinyl records, haha
I remember the so called sukiyaki song from when I was a boy in Australia 1961 - it went to number 2 - sung by Sakamoto Kyu "Ue o muite arukō..." He died in the JAL Flight 123 crash in August 1985. And AZUSA Michiyo - "Konnichi-wa Aka-chan" in 1963 - another big hit in Australia. Like you Hiroko I would not have thought them "J-Pop". Those two Christmas favourites which led me to your walk down Memory Street "Last Christmas" and what I always thought of as Silent Night, Holy Night take me directly back to the Japan of the 1990s and 2000s in Japan and shopping centres - almost playing on a loop it seemed - along with other more traditional carols and songs. I used to subject (?) all my classes (middle school, senior high and university) to a telling of the Christmas story - in its traditional (and totally non-Biblical) version and the Santa Claus version - and then into singing a selection I had printed out for them (and some actually sang along with me)! Language and culture together - right. Some of my students dubbed favourite songs for me - or even whole albums - and I began to find some for myself. But the other thing for me - by this time I was in my 40s and through my 50s was the songs given to me - the singers - was not so much my choices as a search for a whole variety of familiarity with music in Japan - so it ranged widely. I'm going to list some - which you may recognise beyond your adolescence - or smile at. And this is just a sample of the CDs on my book shelves...
One of my university students (Hidekazu - he later headed off to the US and I lost track of him) dubbed tracks from Southern All Stars, L'Arc-en-Ciel, Glay, UTADA Hikaru (Automatic) , Misia, Mr Children (with two cassettes from another student I once drove around Shikoku for a week with both Mr Children cassetes on a kind of loop playing in my car) and TAKENAKA Masayoshi (Smoother). Visiting the elderly aunt of an old friend - in Dorset - she showed me an ancient 78 brought back from Japan in 1937by her merchant seaman father. I was able to dub it and back in Japan it was identified for me - from the 1930s sung by Kusunoki Shigeo & Michi yakko "Uchi no nyōbo ga hige ga aru" a kind of music hall bit of fun... And then early on - during an official exchange teaching post in Shimane-ken a friend introduced me to - and I fell in love with - NAKAJIMA Miyuki (especially her East Asia album. She later became the face of Japan Post and New Year cards for some years. Justy Nasty - Jesus & Craze, Chage & Asuka, Kitarō (Silk Road - one of my homestay family's sister was married to the NHK producer of the Silk Road TV series), Bubble Gum Brothers Great Best album) , A friend in Australia - regarded as the Father of Australian Folk - Gary Shearston - Peter Paul & Mary recorded one of his songs - he had a huge hit with a cover of Coler Porter's "I get a Kick out of You" - spent time in the UK/Ireland - returned and became an Anglican Priest (Episcopalian to those in the US) had been inspired by Koto genius ETŌ Kimio (1924-2012 - who played at Carnegie Hall) and was a student of MIYAGI Michio. (In whose honour I made several visits to Tomo-no-ura - where Miyagi Michio (1894-1956) is said to have been inspired to compose the Japanese New Year's signature tune of "Haru-no-Umi". Gary Shearston asked me to track him down (via one of his two sons (US mother) - Steve ETO (and Leonard ETO- a remarkable percussionist - and Gary sent him a piano piece he had written evoking the sound of the koto. ETŌ Kimio's music had, he told me, sustained him during a difficult time in his life. Jay Walk (especially "Yuki Onna" on nights driving back to Ube from a Thursday (for a full term teaching at The Junior College in Hamada on the eve of it becoming a prefectural university). I taught a number of young people from Okinawa - so found traditional Okinawan music - but also Ketsu-Meishi "Ketsu-no-porisu3". ZARD (!0th Anniversary Original Album. I understood she recorded that or some of her songs at least in Australia. During one of a couple of holiday visits to Okinawa with my wife - we stayed at a beautiful resort north from the main city at Busena Terrace Hotel - just south of Nago-shi. Each evening at sunset MORITA Yasuaki came and played "Sound of Sunset" on his clarinet? trumpet? some beautiful pieces - his own compositions included. I'll mention just one more - the beautiful harmony singing of two sisters singing children's songs - "Ano Toki, Kono Uta" (I can't read their names - one with given name Saori, the other family name YASUDA.) Thanks for inspiring me to list these... Beware of George Michael - It's December 1st in just a few hours! I'm looking forward to reading your book!
This has been such an interesting read! I’ve listened to a few of Mariya Takeuchi’s songs and have been wanting to dive deeper into city pop so I instantly loved your recommendations. But more than that, as someone outside of Japanese culture, this has been simply fascinating and I learned a lot! I love how you explore all of this through your personal connection too—thank you for sharing!
I was first in Japan in June 1976. Then in 1990 - then for most of the period 1991-2009. Enka appealed when I was taken out by people my age (in their 40s+) - the kind of blues of nostalgia for those long ago days and lost loves and opportunities - the music - but at the same time I was teaching and my students (adults, university, high school) were teaching me their favourite singers of that era - Chage & Aska, Nakajima Miyuki, Doriko? (Dreams Come True) folkloric music from Okinawa (some of my students nephews or friends from some noted singers/groups from there) - so many tapes were dubbed for me - and all of it helped me get the kind of feel for for Japan I really needed to feel it - beyond "konnichi-wa aka-chan" or the early 20th century (I hope I get it right): "Uchi no haha hige ga aru" or all the children's songs - tunes brought back from Scotland and other places set with Japanese words - ANNO Mitsumasa did a marvellous picture book with the lyrics and printed music I worked with during my time in Shimane-ken as an exchange teacher from Australia - the other end of the prefecture from Tsuwano where Anno Mitsumasa was born - and further away from Ube-shi in Yamaguchi-shi where he did his secondary and university studies...in fact I taught the daughter of one of his cousins...and exchanged a couple of letters with him. "Akatonbo" among others - "Furusato" - the heart of a child's early years swells with those "nursery rhymes".... So my time was the 1990s and the 2000s - though enka appears almost timeless - with a foundation of the late 19th and early 20th-century children's songs - preparing me for the kind of J-Pop/ballads - Takahashi Mariko? and others... about whom/which you have written so well... (I'm in Coffs Harbour on the north coast of NSW for three days - a contemporary's 70th birthday party this coming Saturday. Walking to the nearby surf beach I got into conversation with two young couples - two vehicles - preparing a barbecue dinner in the local car park. From Japan - here already six months - after time in Queensland - now gradually moving south to finish up in Tasmania... From Ōsaka...but they knew well the Nichinan surfing coast of southern Miyazaki-ken - the region of some of my Japanese kinfolk connections!) Jim
Mahalo for sharing your experiences in such an interesting article! 🙂
I didn't know Enka is mostly associated with the Boomer generation in Japan. Enka was my grandmother's favorite music, and she was born here in Hawaii in the 1920's, though her parents were born in Japan
Perhaps she was an unusual example, or maybe it's just Japanese-Americans in Hawaii, but I had always associated Enka with her generation
My father is a Boomer, and most of his peers liked American music. Though "Sukiyaki" is a sentimental favorite of his
Ha, I remember that sake commercial like it was on TV yesterday. The music of that period will forever stay with me. Some of the music reminds me of people that mattered to me during that time, other songs give me a feeling of relaxing in summer.