A classic song about Miyazaki: a heartfelt ode to one’s hometown [2025]

Takachiho GorgeTakeshi Kitayama

Takeshi Kitayama / Takachiho Gorge

Takachiho Town in Miyazaki Prefecture is also famous as a place linked to Japanese mythology, and the name Takachiho itself comes from those myths.

This is a motivational song from the mystical Takachiho Gorge about a man renewing his resolve and moving forward toward his goals.

While the enka style is somewhat similar to that of my mentor, Saburo Kitajima, the voice quality is completely different, giving it a softer, refreshingly gentle enka feel.

Night in MiyazakiHiroshi Sonoda

Night in Miyazaki / Hiroshi Sonoda

The mood kayōkyoku sung in a sweet, syrupy voice was apparently released around the time when “Phoenix Honeymoon” was popular, so it’s likely a song from more than 40 years ago.

Back then, Miyazaki Prefecture, with its tropical ambience and limited transportation options, may have seemed like an unknown, aspirational destination.

The reason so many places include the name “Phoenix” is that Miyazaki’s prefectural tree is the phoenix palm—formally the Canary Island date palm—and many of them have been planted there.

Hietsuki Song of HomesicknessYuko Oka

Hietsuki Nostalgia Song / Yuko Oka Cover: Eiko Yamaguchi (Doenka Eiko)

Feelings for one’s hometown vary from person to person, and when asked what the most treasured memory is, it might be something you wouldn’t even notice if you had never left home.

Hietsuki-bushi originated in Shiiba Village, Miyazaki Prefecture, and the image of my father cheerfully breaking into song during his evening drinks is seared into my mind—yet if I had stayed, I might have thought no more than, “There he goes again, Dad’s drunk and singing.” Yuko Oka sings about regions all across Japan, but the key in this one is set rather low, isn’t it?

Umagase ShowerKaori Mizuta

Kaori Mizuta “Umagase Shigure” Released on April 6, 2016

Located at the southern end of the Nippo Kaigan Quasi-National Park, the sheer cliffs viewed from the Umagase Observatory make it a tourist spot that is both beautiful and powerfully impressive.

Even if you ring the bell in hopes of fulfilling your love, the cold spray from the Umagase cliffs and the winds from the Hyuga-nada seem to tell a tale of a sad ending—an evocative local song that superbly weaves this scenery into its story.

MimitsuTatsuya Kanoe

Tatsuya Kano ① ♪ Mimitsu [2021-12-07 6th You-Yu Live Mini Concert in Takadanobaba, Afternoon Session]

Mimitsu is a port town that prospered from the Edo period through the Meiji and Taisho eras as a hub of exchange with the Kansai region.

The song depicts the era when people traveled down the Mimi River using small, shallow-draft takasebune boats mentioned in the lyrics, portraying it as a place of parting.

From the chorus, the musical tone shifts, expressing feelings of lingering attachment along with anxious concern.

Woman of the capital cityAkira Otsu

This is not okay. #HigashiyamaVolley #Coach #Higashiyama #Volleyball #HarukoVolley #HarukoVolley2023 #HarukoQualifiers #Kyoto #KyotoQualifiers

It’s a cover of a song by Shunichi Sugi, and it’s really well done.

Miyakonojo is the second most populous city in Miyazaki Prefecture, so I hadn’t really associated it with tourism, but the cherry blossoms at Mochio Park that appear in the song are selected as one of the “100 Best Cherry Blossom Spots in Japan,” and Sekino-o Falls is also chosen as one of the “100 Best Waterfalls in Japan.” It’s a splendid local song that imagines scenes of parting with the scattering cherry blossoms and the flowing waterfall.

Tenkaichi Himuka SakuraMiyuki Nagai

Tenkaichi Himuka Sakura Nagai Miyuki

Along the Gokase River levee in Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Prefecture, one million rapeseed blossoms and 300 Kawazu cherry trees bloom in glory each year.

This love-song enka captures the happiness of a couple (in the song’s imagery, perhaps a married pair) savoring the arrival of spring at this famed spot, known as the Cherry Tree-Lined Road.