[Hiroshima Songs] The Heart of Our Hometown Passed Down in Song | A Curated Selection of Timeless Classics Loved Across Generations

REDB’z

B’z / RED

A cheer song written by B’z for pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who returned to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp after eight years.

Tak Matsumoto’s banjo in the intro evokes the image of a samurai making a comeback, and Koshi Inaba’s sincere playfulness—where the first letters of the chorus lyrics spell out “RED”—adds color to Kuroda’s entrance.

An Unfinished SongJunji Fujie

An Unfinished Song ☆ Junji Fujie [2017.07.22 @ Hiroshima Enichi]

Junji Fujie is a singer-songwriter based mainly in Hiroshima.

He has written many songs for other artists and is energizing Hiroshima’s music scene.

This song is widely known as the ending theme for the Hiroshima TV program “Susume! Sports Genkimaru.”

Shimanami LongingSelf-styled Tourism Association

Local Song of Hiroshima Prefecture: “Shimanami Melancholy” / Unofficial Tourism Association

This is a song by the duo of Jun Miura and Hajime Anzai.

The concept of the unit is their characteristically freewheeling approach of visiting various regions and creating local songs on the spot, and this track was released as part of that series in a Hiroshima version.

flower cartYoko Seri

Yoko Seri – Flower Wheel

It’s a song by Yoko Seri, renowned for million-selling hits like “Song of the Four Seasons” and “Album of Memories,” and it is performed as the theme song of the Hiroshima Flower Festival, which is held mainly along Peace Boulevard and around the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Rivers of HiroshimaChinatsu Nakayama

Hiroshima’s River Chinatsu Nakayama

Hiroshima no Kawa (The Rivers of Hiroshima), sung by Chinatsu Nakayama—who also served as a member of the House of Councillors—is a gentle song full of local flavor that, as its title suggests, introduces the rivers flowing through Hiroshima Prefecture.

Yet by the end, it also reminds us not to forget how the people of Hiroshima have lived and felt in the postwar years.

Symphony No. 1 (Hiroshima)Mamoru Samuragochi, Takashi Niigaki

Symphony No. 1 “HIROSHIMA / Contemporary Liturgy” (Complete Video Version) (Mamoru Samuragochi / Takashi Niigaki)

Composed under the name Mamoru Samuragochi and released in 2008, this symphony has been praised in some circles as a “symphony full of suffering.” Although those involved were embroiled in a series of ghostwriter controversies, the piece itself is a highly accomplished work, and I hope people will listen to it without preconceived notions.