Introducing Classic Songs About Shizuoka: Local Anthems and Popular Hits [2025]

The Woman from Ōmiya I Parted with in ShuzenjiBeat Takeshi

The Woman from Ōmiya I Parted With in Shuzenji

This is a song by Takeshi Kitano whose wistful vocals and melancholy melody really sink into the heart.

I’ve heard it was created as the ending theme for a late-night TV show in which Kitano himself appeared.

The story is set in Shuzenji, Izu, and depicts a painfully bittersweet scene in which the narrator brings someone all the way there only to say goodbye.

The image of wandering through the hot-spring district at night without proper lodging or a decent meal conveys both a lack of planning and a poignant atmosphere.

Kitano’s plainspoken singing voice perfectly matches the image of a clumsy, slightly comical man, and it tightens your chest before you know it.

A slightly capricious migratory birdKiyoshi Hikawa

Kiyoshi Hikawa / A Slightly Capricious Drifter [Official]

This is a heartwarming matatabi enka whose breezy, clear-as-the-sky vocals by Kiyoshi Hikawa feel delightful.

Released in 2014, it became a popular song that ranked high on the Oricon charts, and the call-and-response with the audience has become a staple at live shows.

Its travel-rich worldview, which tours Shizuoka’s famous spots like Amagi Pass in Izu, the Suruga Road, and Miho no Matsubara, invites listeners into beautiful scenery.

The protagonist likens himself to a slightly fickle migratory bird, his heart fluttering at the encounters he has on the road.

That cheerful, warm narrative pairs perfectly with Hikawa’s free, soaring vocals, doesn’t it?

Chakkiri-bushiMichiya Mihashi

Chakkiri-bushi

This is a new folk song themed around Shizuoka, with lyrics written by Hakushū Kitahara.

It has been performed by various singers, including The Peanuts and Mieko Hirota; this video features the version sung by Michiya Mihashi.

Also, the National Chakkiri-bushi Championship is held every May.

Nihondaira Calling YouColumbia Rose

Nihondaira Calling You / Columbia Rose

When it comes to local songs celebrating Nihondaira, the beautiful scenic spot in Shizuoka, this is the one! It was released in 1961 by the first Columbia Rose, who took the country by storm as a masked singer.

Set to a bright, lighthearted waltz, the song portrays a tour-bus worker who pours herself into her job with hope in her heart and develops a faint crush on the people she meets along the way.

The first Columbia Rose’s clear and charming voice perfectly matches the protagonist’s earnest feelings.

You can almost see the tea fields spreading below and the glitter of Suruga Bay, and the song wraps you in a rising excitement that swells with the promise of a journey.

Sataro of IzuKokichi Takada

Sataro of Izu

One of Hiroyoshi Takada’s signature songs that gloriously marked his postwar comeback, “Sataro of Izu.” Set on the spring-hazed roads of Izu, this classic matabi-kayō (itinerant traveler ballad) portrays a wanderer returning to his hometown.

After crossing the Amagi mountains, which emerge faintly like ink wash painting, the protagonist finally reaches familiar soil.

Yet he wavers—should he meet old acquaintances, or slip away as he is? That inner conflict intertwines exquisitely with Takada’s stylish, resonant vocals and the wistful tones of the shamisen, seeping deeply into the listener’s heart.

By the time the song ends, you’re enveloped in a bittersweet, abundant feeling, as though you had watched a full period drama on film.

Three Men in Traveling AttireDick Mine

Three Men in Traveling Attire

It’s a song by Dick Mine released in 1939.

It’s about three chivalrous outlaws—Ishimatsu of the Forest, Omasa, and Komasa—who are known as followers of Jirocho of Shimizu.

This video, with its visuals, really captures the atmosphere.

Many singers, including Hachiro Kasuga and Hibari Misora, have covered it.

Izu ShowerYuji Kitagawa

Izu Shower

A wistful song beautifully rendered with deep emotion by veteran enka singer Yuji Kitagawa.

Released in 2018, this piece is a lyrical enka number where the rain-veiled scenery of Izu intersects with a helpless yearning for love.

As the gentle intro begins, it feels as if a cold autumn drizzle, a shigure, is pouring into your heart.

Perhaps it is a journey retracing memories of a love that has passed.

Kitagawa’s rich, warm voice blends exquisitely with the imagery of the Amagi mountains and the lonely coastline, tightening the listener’s chest.

Many will likely see themselves in the protagonist who, burdened by heartbreak, wanders alone through Izu.