Aki Yatsushiro and the Beginning of Showa Songs - February 1975

Aki Yatsushiro and the Beginning of Showa Songs - February 1975

In the mid-1970s, the Japanese song world was entering an era in which the fate of singers was determined under the influence of the powerful media of television. Among these singers, Aki Yashiro was making her presence felt as an enka singer. She is known for her emotionally rich songs such as "Funauta" and "Ame no Mochi," but she was not in the limelight from the start, and behind her development was the presence of "Mitsunori Oida. The article mentions that this person nurtured Yashiro and emphasizes that a solid sense of rhythm and pitch, along with singing ability, are necessary qualities for a singer.

One of his best-known works, "Funauta" (released in 1979), depicts the melancholy of an adult in a bar in a port town, with lyrics by Toyohisa Araki and music by Keisuke Hama, and is a deeply emotional work. The song, with its motif of sake and the sea, became a milestone in enka, with Yashiro's low, lustrous voice fully expressing the loneliness of the common people and the depth of their lives. Ame no Moyo" (released in 1980) begins with the memorable phrase "Ame ame fure fure fure mo mo fure," vividly depicting the emotions of a woman who gives herself over to the rain. This song won the 22nd Japan Record Award, and was the decisive factor in Aki Yashiro's rise to become a national singer.

At that time, the music industry was in an era in which stars were created one after another by the power of TV stations and record companies. While singers with inadequate singing ability were marketed as idols, singers like Yashiro, who possessed both skill and emotion, shined as the mainstay of enka. Her success symbolized an era in which singers from rural areas were gaining national popularity through the city stage, and not just because of their individual qualities.

In the background was the end of rapid economic growth and the demand for enka, which represented the sentiments of the masses. The loneliness caused by urbanization and the nostalgia of those from rural areas were entrusted to songs, and Aki Yashiro's voice represented these sentiments. Through her development, the article's description reflects the structure of the 1970s entertainment industry, namely the presence of producers and the collusion of the TV and record industries. The steps taken by Aki Yashiro overlapped with the embryonic development of Showa music, and she was a symbol of the era itself.