Enthralling mood kayō: A collection of classic Showa-era songs
Suddenly, but what kind of image do you all have of “mood kayō” (mood ballads)?
If you’re from a younger generation, you may not have even heard of the genre “mood kayō” in the first place.
Born in the postwar era, mood kayō is, as the name suggests, a form of kayōkyoku (Japanese popular song), but its definition is actually quite ambiguous.
You could say it’s a genre that values sentiment—indeed, the very “mood”—more than strictly musical elements.
This time, we’re focusing on this uniquely alluring, adult music born of the Shōwa era—mood kayō—and have gathered some representative classics.
Whether you’re a young music fan curious about Shōwa-era kayōkyoku or someone who lived through those times, please enjoy!
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Enthralling mood kayō: A collection of Showa-era masterpieces (51–60)
Loving is scary.jun & nene
This is a song released in 1968 by the female duo Jun & Nene.
It’s a pure love kayōkyoku that expresses the frustration of feeling more afraid to be alone the more deeply you love someone.
Many women may find themselves relating to these sentiments.
Tokyoyashiki takajin
It was released in 1993 as Takajin Yashiki’s 20th single.
The song won the All Japan Cable Broadcasting Award’s Yomiuri TV Grand Prize and the Special Prize, and became Yashiki’s biggest hit.
Although the title is “Tokyo,” the lyrics are in Kansai dialect, and the song served as the catalyst for Yashiki—who had been most active in the Kansai region at the time—to be accepted for the first time in the Kanto area as well.
atonementTeresa Ten
Released in 1984 as Teresa Teng’s 14th single.
It became her first song to enter the top ten on the Oricon charts, and at both the 17th Japan Yusen Awards and the 17th All Japan Yusen Broadcasting Awards, she achieved her first East-West Yusen Grand Prize, winning the top honor in both.
It is a classic that continues to be sung as one of Teresa Teng’s signature songs.
SachikoNikku Nyūsa
This song by Nick Newsa, whose husky singing voice splendidly conveys a man’s ruggedness and melancholy, gained popularity with the unusual twist of repeatedly chanting the specific name “Sachiko” in the chorus.
Because it’s a straightforward, non-flashy name, it’s easy to sing.
Don’t look back.hanī naitsu
Released in 1970 (Showa 45).
In a sense, it was like a local song and was used for many years as the commercial jingle for a certain cosmetics company’s rinse and shampoo.
At the end of the commercial, they would insert the local place name and sing “The Woman of XX,” and in those days it wasn’t staged—they actually interviewed passersby live.
Since the product was rinse and the like, they wanted to evoke hair, so they interviewed women from behind.
A classmate from my high school happened to be interviewed back then, and it aired in the commercial, so there’s no mistake about it.