### The Melody that Illuminated the Night of the Boogie: The Creative Trajectory of Shizuko Kasagi and Ryoichi Hattori (1947, Nishiogikubo)

### The Melody that Illuminated the Night of the Boogie: The Creative Trajectory of Shizuko Kasagi and Ryoichi Hattori (1947, Nishiogikubo)

Born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1914 and raised in Osaka, Kasaoki Shizuko - real name Shizuko Kamei - became familiar with singing and dancing as a young girl and joined the Shochiku Gakugeki Club at the age of 13. She soon became a strong presence on the postwar stage, armed with her rare vocal ability and physical expression.

In 1947, she had a fateful encounter with a composer, Ryoichi Hattori. It was with the composer Ryoichi Hattori. One night, while riding a crowded train near the last stop on the Chuo Line, he had an epiphany over the din of the train. A light, bouncy melody came to Hattori's ears, as he was determined to "create music that would blow away the gloom of the world.

As soon as he got off the train at Nishiogikubo, he rushed to his favorite coffee shop, took a napkin out of his pocket, handwrote the staves, and wrote the notes in one stroke. The musical score was the prototype for "Tokyo Boogie Woogie.

Hattori visited Kasagi with this napkin score. At first, she shook her head and said, "What is this, an imitation of Western music? But once she started singing, the rhythm fit her body beautifully. Hattori carefully adjusted the tempo and key of the song while taking advantage of the bouncing of her voice and the way she sang the verses, and the result was a bright and free music that had never existed in the traditional Japanese songs.

The resulting "Tokyo Boogie Woogie" quickly swept across Japan, bringing vitality to people in the midst of the pain and confusion of defeat. The following songs, "Kaimono Boogie" and "Jungle Boogie," sang the joys, sorrows, and joys of the common people over the light, stylish rhythm of the boogie, and Shizuko Kasagi rose to the position of national star as the "Queen of the Boogie.

As an actress, Kasagi played the role of a cabaret singer in Akira Kurosawa's "Drunken Angel" (1948), and performed "Jungle Boogie" in the film. The following year, she starred in the film "Ginza Kankan Musume," which was a big hit.

Later in 2023, NHK's television series "Boogie Woogie," based on her life story, was broadcast, bringing her back to the public's attention.

As Hattori said, "Shizuko's voice is the energy that rises up the whole of Japan," and her songs continue to light up the hearts of people throughout the ages. The origin of her songs can be found on the Chuo Line near the end of the last train and on napkins in a small coffee shop in Nishiogikubo.