Miyagi Songs: Popular tracks that celebrate famous sights and specialties, and timeless pieces filled with love for home

Song of Sendai MisoUikurī Sasaki

Song of Sendai Miso

Sendai is also a city with a diverse food culture, but for Japanese people, it all comes back to miso soup.

These days, many young people skip breakfast, so I hope they’ll listen to this song and feel like having a bowl of miso soup.

Sendai miso is a rice-based miso, a long-aged red miso with a dry, robust flavor, and its ingredient blend is said to date back to Lord Date Masamune.

Speaking of whom, Date Masamune was apparently quite the gourmet and a skilled cook.

Still, it’s a bit of a shame that this song only uses “Sendai” in the title and doesn’t go further.

Theme song of Yagiyama Beny LandTenchi Fusako

Theme song of Sendai Yagiyama Benyland

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but this is the song from Benyland, a beloved relaxation spot for Miyagi residents, which people say anyone from Miyagi has heard at least 100 times.

This song is also cherished as a parody cheer song used by the professional baseball team Rakuten Eagles, based in Miyagi Prefecture, during scoring opportunities.

I love it! Gyutan-tanmo-tan

I love it! Gyutan-tan

Speaking of Sendai, the nationally famous food has to be beef tongue! I’ve had it a few times, and it’s truly delicious.

Domestic beef tongue has a delicate flavor and tenderness—it’s a real treat, though it’s also quite pricey.

As for the song promoting beef tongue, for some reason the image character is a girl wearing a cow costume, and the singing style is made to sound somewhat childlike.

Woman from IshinomakiHokubi Kōji

The Woman of Ishinomaki / Kitaumi Koji (Full Version)

This song was released by King Records in 1967, then reissued by King in 1972, becoming a hit that sold 1.54 million copies.

The late Koji Kitami, who was from Higashimatsushima, continued to perform this song energetically in the disaster-stricken areas after March 11.

Originally, it is a song depicting a woman who endures while longing for the truth, but the lyrics also include the phrase “Let’s have dreams,” which turned it into an anthem of encouragement for people in the affected areas.

MasamuneDate Keiichi

Masamune / Date Keiichi

When it comes to Sengoku warlords from the Tohoku region, it has to be the One-Eyed Dragon, Date Masamune.

He was also the one who built Aoba Castle.

Despite battles and hardships, he may have enjoyed the happiest later years among the warlords.

With its majestic imagery, this piece evokes a hero who, even without seizing the realm, was unquestionably a great lord who unified Tohoku.

Naruko Resort OndoMatsui Masamichi

Naruko Resort Ondo

Ah, up to “Sore Sore” I was listening with a Bon Odori vibe in mind, but the whole piece is really a full-on Naruko Onsen PR song rather than a Bon Odori tune.

It’s a laid-back song singing, “Let’s relax in the hot springs! Naruko is a great place.” By the way, Naruko Onsenkyo is a collective name for five hot spring areas in Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture: Naruko Onsen, Higashi-Naruko Onsen, Kawarada Onsen, Nakayamadaira Onsen, and Onikobe Onsen.

Definitely a resort destination.

Sendai is a city of dreams.Tanizawa Shoei

Sendai, the City of Dreams / Shoei Yazawa

The interlude sounds a bit like Ikuzo Yoshi’s “Yukiguni,” doesn’t it? It’s a song that, while dragging along a dark past, returns to the hometown of Sendai and reflects on an unforgettable woman, weaving feelings of lingering attachment and love.

There aren’t many place names in the lyrics, but “Jōzenji,” now a defunct temple, was once located in the castle town of Sendai in the Mutsu Province under the Sendai Domain.

The lyrics mention a neon district, which brings to mind the well-known neon-lit area of Kokubuncho along the temple approach.