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

Woman from IshinomakiKoji Kitami

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.

Chasing SendaiMakoto Higashiyama

Chasing to Sendai / Higashiyamajō (PV with karaoke-style lyrics captions)

The person singing is Mr.

Higashiyamashiro, who produced the song, and it seems like this is a demo tape for Mr.

Isamu Fukushima, a singer based in Miyagi Prefecture.

I listened to it carefully.

When I first heard the Tsugaru shamisen in the prelude and interlude, I wondered, “Tsugaru in Miyagi?” but the more I listened, the more it made sense.

The “northbound plane” is a flight to Sendai, and the song is about going to see an unforgettable woman.

It’s an enka number with a somewhat nostalgic feel.

Longing for the Hirose RiverYukiko Noji

Hirosegawa Yearning by Yukiko Noji

This is a local song about a woman who shared her sorrows along with the Hirose River and her faint first love.

The relaxed melody, combined with Yukiko Noji’s outstanding vocal ability, further enhances the song’s emotional depth.

In the Showa era, the true star of Sendai was the Hirose River—it was indispensable in songs.

Song of Sendai MisoWeekly 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.

Naruko Resort OndoMasamichi Matsui

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.Shoei Yazawa

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.

Ishinomaki BluesAkira Kajiwara

Sendai Rhapsody / Funaki Bin

The name “Hiyoriyama” that appears in the song is the name of mountains found all over Japan, said to be hills sailors would use to judge whether to set sail.

The Hiyoriyama that appears in this Ishinomaki Blues refers to the mountain located in Ishinomaki City.

Though it’s a blues number, it also features powerful kobushi vocal ornamentation in places, and the song is set in the port of Ishinomaki—where departures overlapped with farewells as ships set out to sea.