[Songs of Kanagawa] A showcase of classic masterpieces that sing of port-town scenes and the feelings of its people!

YOKOHAMA SING A SONGMatsuura Aya

Matsuura Aya – Yokohama Sing a Song

With stylish jazz tones and a slightly grown-up singing voice, this pop number lifts the listener’s spirits.

Included on the single “Sougen no Hito,” released in December 2002, the piece was created as a song featured in the musical “Sougen no Hito,” starring Aya Matsuura.

In the show, it was presented in three different arrangements—such as the opening and a jazz version—leaving behind stories of how it vividly expressed the work’s world.

Why not listen to this song while imagining the night view of Yokohama and soak in a romantic mood?

Yokohama SilhouetteNagayama Yōko

Yoko Nagayama “Yokohama Silhouette” Music Video

This is a classic kayōkyoku song that layers a sense of helpless longing for love onto the twilight scene of the port city of Yokohama.

Released in June 1996 as a single by Yoko Nagayama, it was produced as the third installment in her kayōkyoku-oriented direction following “Suterarete.” Drawing on the solid vocal prowess she honed in enka, the song gently portrays a woman bearing the loneliness of the city night and a heart swelling with yearning.

In this work, she sets aside her powerful kobushi ornamentation and, over a refined, pop-tinged melody, brilliantly expresses the protagonist’s delicate emotional fluctuations.

It’s a track you’ll want to listen to when gazing at the harbor nightscape, lost in solitary reflection.

Lane Change at 25 O’Clockkinmokusei

MAD/AMV killer7 × Kinmokusei 'Lane Change 25:00'

This is the fifth single by Kinmokusei, a band from Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, released in 2002.

The song is about National Route 16, which starts and ends in Yokohama and connects Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama, and Chiba.

It reached a peak position of 22 on the Oricon charts.

Yokohama TwilightItsuki Hiroshi

Yokohama Twilight

Despite repeatedly changing his stage name, Hiroshi Itsuki had not been blessed with a hit song until he released “Yokohama Tasogare,” staking his career on it.

The song reached number one on the Oricon charts and became one of Itsuki’s signature numbers.

Among Yokohama’s local songs, it is particularly well known.

Harbor Yoko, Yokohama, YokosukaUzaki Ryūdō

Harbor Yoko, Yokohama, Yokosuka

A classic Showa-era hit set in Yokohama and Yokosuka that portrays Yoko, a free-spirited woman.

Released in April 1975, it topped the Oricon charts for five consecutive weeks.

This million-selling song is known as one of Ryudo Uzaki’s signature works.

It was also featured in a Fujifilm commercial in 1997 and is loved by people of all generations.

The lyrics, deeply reflecting the exotic port-town atmosphere and the social backdrop of the time, are particularly striking.

If you visit Yokohama, Yokosuka, or other port towns, be sure to give it a listen.

Still in YokohamaKadamatsu Miyuki

Miyuki Kadomatsu / Even Now, Yokohama

Against the backdrop of Yokohama’s cityscape, Miyuki Kadomatsu’s new song paints a poignant portrait of unrequited love.

Known for her expansive, powerful vocals, she sings of lingering feelings over a gentle melody that seems to embrace Yokohama’s scenery.

Released in July 2024, this is her sixth single.

As you take in the sights and atmosphere of Yokohama, why not reflect on the bittersweet feelings of love that everyone experiences at least once? It’s sure to be a song that resonates deeply in your heart.

SAKURAikimonogakari

SAKURA – Ikimonogakari (cover)

It’s the major debut single by Ikimono-gakari, whose members are all from Kanagawa Prefecture, and the lyrics include a reference to the Sagami Ohashi bridge.

It stayed on the Oricon charts for 31 weeks.

The music video was filmed at Tomizu Station in Odawara.