A classic song about Nagano. The enduring spirit of our hometown passed down through song.

Karuizawa ConnectionYoko Oginome

TFMLIVE02-2 Karuizawa Connection.mpg

This is one of the tracks from the album “246 Connection,” which is themed around National Route 246 and summer retreats.

Yoko Oginome, who later scored a huge hit with “Dancing Hero” in 1985, was still a teenager at this time, and the songs portrayed a city girl image.

In the context of the album, this particular song is set in summer Karuizawa and, reflecting Oginome’s age, expresses the feelings of young people who “don’t want to grow up.” There is audio available, but no images.

Kiso-bushi SandogasaYukio Hashi

Kiso Bushi Sandogasa - Yukio Hashi

As the title suggests, incorporating the Kiso-bushi into a popular song was a novel idea for its time.

With his debut song “Itako Gasa,” a matabi-mono (wandering swordsman) number, he quickly became a star, and Hashi Yukio’s matabi-mono style gained widespread support.

As a result, a one-man show was scheduled early on, creating a need for more songs.

In particular, this “Kiso-bushi Sandogasa” was well received by many folk music fans.

Longing for the Chikuma RiverYujiro Ishihara

Yujiro Ishihara - Chikuma River Yearning

The Chikuma River sounds like a song that layers the images of Toson Shimazaki’s “First Love”—‘beneath the apple tree where the bangs had only just begun to be raised’—and “Chikuma River Travel Sentiments”—‘By the old castle in Komoro, the clouds are white and the wanderer is sad.

’ Mr.

Yūjirō also sang quite a few local-themed songs.

Evening Moon over ShinanoMichiya Mihashi

Shinano’s Evening Moon / Michiya Mihashi

Michiya Mihashi, who is also a folk singer, calmly speaks of an unfulfilled love to the flow of the Chikuma River from a gently rising hilltop; it’s a song of travel-worn melancholy, reflecting on the past while drawing solace from the mountains of his hometown in difficult times.

Perhaps the reason there are more songs about heartbreak than happy ones is that they turn the kind of nature that heals the heart into poetry.