Tombo Times Article: Natsu-Mero For Dummies

Now that I'm in the Japanese countryside again, I figured I might as well make the best of it and get back in the habit of submitting articles to the "Tombo Times" (the monthly English publication for foreigners in Oita Prefecture). I had played around with submitting a few articles during my third year on the JET program, and I thought I'd start that up again as a way to help keep occupied while I'm out here in the boondocks.

Fortunately for me, I have a blog which contains long rambling posts about just about every subject imaginable, and I figured some of these could easily be retuned into articles. Therefore long time readers of this blog might recognize some of this article from previous blogposts "Japanese Music and Me" or "More thoughts on Japanese Music".

I'm told that after a two year holiday, Tombo Times has come back online. But I'm having trouble with the link, so I'm just reproducing my article below for those interested. (I also moved my previous Tombo Times articles onto one of my other blogs some time ago, so if anyone is interested you can read: "Tezuka Osamu: Astro-boy and Beyond", "Al Franken Book Review" and "Kimigayo Blues".)

Anyway, here is my article on Japanese oldies. For those back home who want to check out some of these groups, I do realize that it is almost impossible to track some of these groups down in the States. As I mention in the article, sometimes its hard enough finding them in Japan. But recently Youtube has been a good bet. I discovered how much Japanese music was on Youtube a while back, and I have since linked at one time or another to almost every group mentioned in this article. Of course, because of Youtube's copy right laws, most of those videos have been yanked. A few of them can still be found saved under my favorites, and you can always do your own Youtube searches as well.

Natsu-Mero For Dummies

I’ve always liked old music, for reasons even I am not sure about. Maybe I like imagining what life was like before I was born. Maybe I like listening to the words, and thinking about how much of human nature is essentially the same through the ages. Or maybe the philistine in me just likes the simple, undemanding Do-Wop melody.

For whatever reason, since I’ve come to Japan I have made a point of trying to seek out Japanese oldies. This is a difficult task, because old music gets no respect in Japan. In our home countries, it maybe quite acceptable to admit you listen to Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, or The Sex Pistols (depending on which group you hung with). And although Western oldies maintain a certain amount of marketability in Japan (heard anything by The Beatles lately?) a 20-something Japanese person would rather stab out their eyes than admit they know anything about old Japanese pop.

So don’t even bother asking your Japanese friends to recommend any Japanese pop classics to you. They won’t know, and they won’t understand why you would want to know. To the extent that old music exists in Japan, it is marketed entirely as nostalgia. Hence the Japanese word for pop oldies: Natsukashii melody or Natsu mero. You can sometimes see old performers singing their classic Natsu Mero on Sunday afternoon TV, or find Natsu Mero CDs in the bargain bin outside the local supermarket, but that’s about it.

Fortunately there is hope for the uninitiated. CD rental shops in Japan provide a relatively cheap way to build up your music collection. And if weave your way through the latest SMAP and Orange Range releases (or whatever the hell you kids are listening to now) and make your way to the back, there is always a small Natsu Mero section.

What’s more, most CD shops should carry the “Seishun ka nenkan” series, which chronicles the greatest hits on the Japanese pop chart on a year by year basis, from 1960 all the way to 1990. You might have to be a bit crazy to do this, but I actually went through and copied the whole series. I even had to go to several different rental stores to fill up the gaps in my collection. (I probably shouldn’t be admitting this.)

Once you’ve done this, you should be familiar with several names of old Japanese pop stars and the kind of music they do. And then can navigate the Natsu Mero section and rent artists according to your tastes. And then you’re on your way.

To help get you started, here’s a short list of some of my favorite artists and sub-genres in natsu-mero.

Boogie Woogie: During the post-war days and early 50s, Japan underwent a Boogie-Woogie craze. The most famous of these songs was “Tokyo Boogie-Woogie” (briefly featured in “Memoirs of a Geisha”), but there are several other notable songs like “Shamisen Boogie Woogie”, or “Kaimono Boogie Woogie”. Great songs to get your feet taping.

Sakamoto Kyu: Actually Sakamoto Kyu is the one person on this list who needs no introduction. If you’ve been in Japan for any length of time, you’re probably already heard his famous “Sukiyaki Song” several times by now. And you already know that this song has nothing to do with Sukiyaki, but that the Japanese title “Ue o muite arukou” was too difficult for American DJs to remember. So I won’t patronize you by recounting how Sakamoto Kyu was not only the sole Japanese artist to break into the US pop charts, but that his song made it all the way to the number 1 slot for two weeks in 1960, edging out “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.”

The Peanuts: This singing duo is most famous in the West for being the twin fairy priestesses in the “Mothra” movies. But they also had a string of hits on the Japanese pop charts through the 60s and into the 70s.

Kayama Yuzu: Japanese crooner and heartthrob. Perhaps equivalent to a Japanese Elvis, if you only count the slower songs in the Elvis cannon. I didn’t like him much on my first hearing, but he’s grown on me. Good music to have on during a date.

Suizenji Kiyoko: One of the first artists to cross over between Enka and pop. Most of her songs qualify as “Enka, but a really bouncy and fun type of Enka.”

Group Sounds: Group Sounds is the Japanese name generically applied to all the British Invasion rip-off groups in the mid to late 60s. This was the first time the Japanese domestic rock industry exploded, and as a result there are hundreds of different groups in this genre, each one a clone of the other. (The Tigers, The Spiders, The Tempters, The Jaguars, Lin and the Linders, etc). As most of these groups sound the same anyway, you might want to start out with a “Best of Group Sounds” CD. It’s not great art, but there are a number of catchy pop tunes in the Group Sounds cannon.

Folk Songs: During the early to mid 70s, Folk Music reigned on the Japanese charts. Not to be confused with traditional Japanese music, Fo-ku refers to Western influenced folk singer music. Most of this was electric or melodic folk, more in the vein of “Simon and Garfunkel” than Bob Dylan. This may come down to personal preference, but for my money this is when Japanese pop ceased being a cheesy rip off of the West and really came into it’s own.

Like Group Sounds, Japanese folk music is often available in compilation CDs. Also my personal favorite artists are Yoshida Takuro and the super group Kaguya Hime. Kaguya Hime includes Minami Kosetsu, native son of Oita prefecture, who later went on to have a successful solo career.

Finger Five: The Japanese response to (slash rip off of) the Jackson 5, this is J-pop at its cheesiest. And yet because of the energy behind these songs, Finger Five has had a surprising amount of staying power. Their songs are still used as background music in Japanese movies and variety shows. If you watch a lot of Japanese TV, chances are you already know a lot of Finger Five songs.

The Candies/ Pink Lady: These two girl groups were really popular in the 70s, the Candies in the early part of the 70s, Pink Lady in the latter part. Again, not high art, but fast paced bouncy songs that are great as guilty pleasures. Today both groups often remain popular among women in there 30s.

Hopefully this article is able to guide you a bit in your search for Japanese music. If nothing else, at least try casually dropping a few of these names in your office, and watch them collectively gasp: “How do you know about that?”

Update:　This article is online here.

Useless Wikipedia Fact
Rumors that Rage Against the Machine could reunite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were circulating in mid-January,[19] and were confirmed on January 22.[20] The band is billed to headline the final day of Coachella 2007 on Sunday, April 29.[21] The performance was initially thought to be a one-off,[22] but that was cast into doubt following Chris Cornell's exit from Audioslave.[7] Three more performances are planned as part of the Rock The Bells Festival with the Wu-Tang Clan[23] and will be played in New York as well as northern and southern California.
The reunion will primarily be a vehicle to voice the band's opposition to the "right-wing purgatory" the United States has "slid into" under the George W. Bush administration since RATM's dissolution.[24]

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