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FEATURE: Japan enjoys revival in songs from Showa days+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)OSAKA, Jan. 30_(Kyodo) _ Yukari Onishi, 41, called the "Queen of Showa Period (1926-1988) songs," lives in the Shinsekai area in downtown Osaka, near the famous Tsutenkaku Tower, which is modeled after the Eiffel Tower and surrounded by high-rise buildings. At the Tsutenkaku Song Theater, Onishi, wearing a stylish miniskirt, sang popular 1970s tunes such as those by Maki Asakawa, Seri Ishikawa and Mirei Kitahara, before an audience of all ages. "I like her unrefined songs," said a 53-year-old housewife from the city of Izumisano, southern Osaka Prefecture. "I feel calm as if I am listening to songs at an old shop." Her songs seem fresh to the young generation. "It is good that Onishi is singing songs according to her own interpretation," said Katsuhiko Numata, 36. The term "Showa Period songs" started popping up in the music industry around 2000, 10 years after the era ended. The Crazy KenBand and Ringo Shiina made their debut during these years, and their songs harmonizing Japanese melodies with rock 'n' roll, jazz and Latin music were part of this era. "In my case, influence from soul music, R&B and other black music is strong," Onishi said. In her teens, she spent her days in chasing the Shanels with the hit son "Runaway." She married a musician and opened a soul music bar in Kobe. "I lived a happy life with no difficulty. Without that day, I may have been living so even now." She was referring to 11 years ago, when the Kobe earthquake struck. She tried to get into her husband's bed so they could protect each other, but the husband shouted "Put a quilt over yourself!" and went his mother's room to confirm her safety. Since that time she realized what was important to each of them was different. Several years later, they divorced. "I became alone in my mid-30s and knew what I really wanted to do," Onishi said. She formed the Yukari Onishi and the Shinsekai band and began to sing 1970s Japanese hits. Her new album "Showa Zansho (songs from the Showa Period)" is a collection of songs by Akiko Wada, Michi Aoyama, Seri Ishikawa and other popular female vocalists. "They are dirty, rather than cute. I am attracted by their painful images," she said. In an interview, journalist Yoshifu Arita, 54, said, "We are a generation raised by listening to folk songs, and songs by Maki Asakawa and Carmen Maki on midnight radio programs. We were shocked by the world of singing emotional songs, and wondered 'whether the world of adults is heavy and deep like these songs'." "As there are only a few singers and composers having clawed their way from poverty-stricken lives, it is difficult for songs with persuasive power to be created," he said. But Arita said Onishi's songs are genuine. "She can express her way of life in music by singing with tears 'Yoito-Make-No-Uta.' a construction workers' song. If such talent can be dug up, I think Japanese songs have also a future." "Only at this time of the golden age of J-pop, Japanese songs at the opposite end can come back to life," said Noriaki Sakakibara, 57, a director at Teichiku Entertainment Inc., a long-established record company that is trying to revive songs by Kan Jani Eight. Sakakibara spent his youth during the golden age of Japanese music. "A stereo set was placed at the best place in a family house, and everyone listened to songs. Music was not a thing to hear with an earphone," he said. Sakakibara, who joined the company in 1971, remembered the days as a salesman in charge of Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture. "Akiko Wada's 'Doshaburi-No Ame-No Nakade (In a Downpour)' sold explosively in the district for unknown reasons." He asked the owner of a local record shop why, and the owner replied that "Girls employed by a spinning factory nearby are all coming to us to buy. Wada seems like a good elder sister to them." "There have been a few such national hits and stars. For Japanese, I want to take back Japanese songs," said Sakakibara. "As a baby boomer born in a good age, I want to do my last job." |