KAKKO-II.COM BLOG

Thirty minutes into the rain. A combination of heavy winds, and at intervals a far less aggressive breeze which, I should add, is just as deadly cold as the rougher ones leave me in a rather battered mood. Worst still, the train station is another five minute walk and my bags feel a little waterlogged. Not good then. At this point my main concern isn’t my own health, but rather my Laptop.

I reach the train station and drop my things; under my breath I whisper “good job” though I can tell you, it didn’t feel like it. I wipe the rain off my face with soaked hands and wonder what the hell to do next. You see, I rarely use public transport and will often avoid it like the plague. If I can walk it, that’s what I’ll do. It’s not so much the people I can’t stand; they’re just trying to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’. My problem lies solely on the transport system. With trains in particular, routes are often overly complicated with so many ridiculous changeovers it should be illegal. Secondly, whenever you think you’ve arrived to catch your train cleverly early you’re either too early or not early enough. Let’s just say I’ve yet to find a person who tells me they’ve found that happy medium. It figures then, that we’re all hopeless at being ‘on time’. I simply shrug and say “It’s the trains that are never on time”. Though a close friend of mine adept at travelling would, I’m sure, correct me by saying “well who’s responsible for the trains?” he wouldn’t be wrong there. I shouldn’t blame the trains, instead the people behind them. As far as I’m concerned though, it’s the same difference.

I proceed to the ticket counter and ask for a train pass that will serve my needs. Hopelessly I ask for the wrong thing entirely, and am quickly corrected that I need a saver-return ticket to Shrewsbury. “Twenty pounds” the woman says. I grab my wallet and hand her the correct amount. “She might as well rob me” is what I’m thinking, were trains always this expensive? Since I’m about 50 minutes too early, yep, that happy medium seems way off, I go to the seating area and wait out my time. A pretty lady or two walk by and take a seat. Whenever I have to sit around for long periods seldom of company I sometimes start small-talk with strangers to pass the time. Though I’m rather shy, when you’re bored out of your brains you’ll be surprised at what one can do, or what one thinks he can do. Looking like a battered war-veteran for the loosing side however, I decide it wouldn’t be in my best interests to ask a pretty lady “Is this seat taken” so I simply sit around in my damp clothes shivering my ass off.

My train number is finally up and I casually walk to the platform to catch it. I suddenly realise how rude everyone is. Maybe it’s not just the system that bothers me after all; maybe it’s the people using it to. As the doors open to let the passengers out there is no hint of give and take, pass and receive. The current is all one way I’m afraid. People trying to get off don’t stand a chance. Everyone hurry’s onboard without even thinking of letting anyone off. I quietly take a few steps back and let them get on with their thing. I must say that watching their etiquette for such matters was rather amusing, but at the same time sad and disappointing. “The train won’t reach its destination any faster” is what I wanted to shout. I finally hop on to find empty seats abound. The train waits a further 5 minutes for any late arrivals and then takes off.

I have plenty of time to kill here. Something I’ll be exacting in 1.30 hours on yet another train. Its 5 o’clock in the evening, so I figure that staring out into the distance to watch the buttons of light that come off the big city around me would pass the time. No luck however, as the light inside these carriages are bright to the point of unbearable. I guess my reflection will have to do then.

I’m finally at my next stop, the midway point in my journey home. The only things concluded from staring at myself for over an hour is that a) I need a shave and b) I could do with some new clothes. 10 minutes are spent desperately trying to figure out which platform I need to be on. All I have with me are the departure times. With a little bit of searching and a lot of standing in people’s way I finally get there, just. What started as a walk turned into a casual jog, which ultimately turned into a sprint to the finish. When a train starts to move you know you’re on tenterhooks. It’s impossible to run with heavy bags in a fashion that looks cool and I’m sure I didn’t win any points for style from the onlookers. But at the time it didn’t really matter. All that did was getting home for the week.

I know what you may be thinking, why didn’t I bring my mp3 player to listen to? Or some books? When I was halfway to the first station I was hit by a vision. It was of my Mp3 player bag sitting on my bed ready to be packed, which subsequently wasn’t. As for the books, I did bring a few reads for the ride but found I was too tired and warn out to do anything about them.

So now I’m doing the same thing I had been doing before. Sitting on a busier train this time thinking about all the J-pop/rock I could have been listening to. At this point I feel rather dejected. I’m wet, unshaven, tired with a host of other more important worries on my mind. I did find some joy though. A women sitting to the left of me had clearly done what a lot of women do when travelling. She had packed a horde of her personal belongings into not one or two good sized bags, but rather many small ones (I don’t mean to sound sexist, it’s just an observation). In front of her was a compartment to store such Items that would otherwise get in the way. As she opened it up to place in her belongings a thought popped into my head “Mari would fit into there” I quietly joked; thinking about Mari Yaguchi formerly of Hello! Project of course. I childishly looked at one of my own bags afterwards “what am I thinking, she’s not that small” I said. About half an hour to go I decided to just sit it out uniformly, which of course meant shuffling every five minutes trying to find the optimum sitting position. I never found it by the way. Maybe it’s something to do on the way back.

“I’m home” I thought when exiting the train for the last time ever, well, sadly not but at least I’d have the week to recover. I put on a brave face and walked outside into the car park looking for a green car with my mother in the driving seat. If she saw how I was really feeling, she’d think I’d just murdered someone. She wouldn’t be far off either, I felt like I had tortured myself for no apparent reason the last 4 hours. I searched around and finally found her. I waved with a smile and entered the car. We said our hellos, made some small talk and proceeded to the exit. You’ll be surprised, or maybe not? Drivers rarely care about other drivers when trying to get out of the hustle and bustle of traffic. This may just be how things are done but my mother although not a great driver is an honest one, maybe too honest. As a car quickly and dangerously tried to cut us off to get ahead I said to her “You should beep the horn at him”. My mum simply replied “I’ve been in worse situations before and not beeped” It’s just how she is.

Rooting around the car for something to put on, the radio rarely holds my interest; I remembered a cassette tape I had cleverly planted in the glove compartment some 2 months ago. A cassette I would soon cherish with all the warmth in my heart that clearly, was exhausted out of me within the day. Still, there was a little bit of happiness left in me. And it was about to be unleashed upon the world, or should I say, upon my mother in the most liberating fashion I could possibly muster up at the time. As mentioned, 2 months ago I left for university for the first term of my second year and I had made a mix tape to play on the 2.30hr drive it usually takes. Anyway back to my liberation. I picked up the tape that nestled neatly in a messy glove compartment and placed it in the radio lovingly, turning up the volume carelessly. I then sat back and waited.

Hitomi Yaida’s ‘Kodoku Na Cowboy’ from the brilliant album ‘Air/Cook/Sky’ began roaring out of the humble car speakers. I was finally free from the pitfalls of public transport and immersed in what I consider to be, the best representation of modern J-pop/rock that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. Hitomi Yaida takes J-pop by the ears, turns it on its head and does whatever she wants with it. The results are almost always breathtaking. Without straying too far from the safety of popular convention, Yaiko, as she is often called will consistently create something regular enough to be accepted, but utterly layered with individual touches and nuances of bright intervention. J-pop for me has never been so interesting. After the hypnotic ‘Kodoku Na Cowboy’ played out it’s fair ‘Go My Way’ had its turn. A recent single of Hitomi Yaida’s and one of her strongest efforts to date, this is what happens when the rock mentality of her guitar successfully merges with the limitations of pop. The orchestral parts are warmly welcomed and thankfully Yaiko knows how to keep up with tradition without sounding old.

The next song however, this is probably what scared my mum. ‘All for one and one for all’ kicked in. If I ever needed an anthem to carry me home, this was most definitely it. I turned the volume up even louder and yep, sang my bloody heart out. It turns out that when I’ve had a really rough day, I seriously don’t care what I do. Like the Japanese, work hard but play even harder. I was beginning to get it now. A crazy day manifests itself inside of you, and well, a tendency to go crazy yourself is highly possible and very rewarding. Without the Karaoke machine and the crowd of drunken on lookers, I guess my mum and the cassette box in my hand would make do, I sang with a smile on my face and a passion that was frankly scary. My mother looked at me a few times, thought about turning the volume down, but could see I was enjoying myself and let it be. I couldn’t tell whether it was my bad Japanese, my equally bad singing or just me in general, but my mum was left speechless through it all. After the song finished I turned down the volume and apologized. She smiled and said “Its ok, do you want to get some fast food?” though fast food isn’t exactly my cup of tea it was certainly welcome. I smiled back and replied “yeah that would be good”. ‘Yume No Naka’ was the next track, a rather fitting slower Morning Musume song that along with ‘Renai Revolution’, ‘The Peace’, ‘Love Machine’, ‘As for one day’ and ‘Usotsuki Anata’ soundtracked the rest of my car ride home. I felt like I had travelled all this way, gone through all this frustration, just so I could sit in this car with my mother, get some terrible fast food and listen to some of my favourite J-pop music. In the end was it worth it? Yes it was. The journey was tiresome beyond belief but the liberation was, liberating.

It’s been nearly a decade since they began their relationship, a romance filled with everything and anything you could possibly imagine. They’ve had their ups and they’ve had their downs, but behind the façade of Utaban and Morning Musume lie’s a real genuine affection for one and other, at least that’s how it used to be.

So without the affair to seal off this partnership, who’s at fault for disbanding the enterprise? A chemistry which seemed so real, you could hear television executives from across the globe shouting at their screens ‘why cant we have that?’. I’ll tell you why, it’s something you can’t buy or manufacture. This is, or was, a real friendship between two parties that quite literally ‘hit it off’.

The power of Ishibashi Takaaki

Utaban has been an integral part in promoting the image of Morning Musume and most importantly, creating the very myth and legend of our favourite Hello! Project idols. Try and Imagine a world without Taka-san (Ishibashi Takaaki), someone who has proudly and rightly so, positioned himself in close proximity with the girls, someone who has played out his arrangement in a smart monopoly of tact and care. He holds a cartel of respect over fans (male and female) who can only dream of having the opportunity to act as freely and carelessly around Morning Musume as he has. Without him, we’d certainly have less fond memories and less understanding of the girls we have supported all these years.

So how does he work his magic? Like all good hosts, being able to get the best out of your guests is something that should be required. And failure to do so will often result in a very placid, uninspiring and formal exchange of Ideas between the two. Taka-san is not only able to bring out the best in his guests, he is able to win over their respect and affection (Most of the time) and most importantly is able to gain their trust. By giving up apart of himself on Utaban and letting us into his world, as crazy as he makes it sometimes, he becomes relatable. This should come as no surprise considering his upbringing as a comedian, who wants a funny man that you can’t relate to? They just don’t exist nor should they. As most comedians are, Taka-san isn’t exactly subtle either. To describe his hosting etiquette most accurately one might say he’s a mixture of, to put it nicely, mean, terrifying, stubborn, sweet, gentle, naïve and caring. That actually wasn’t as straight to-the-point as I wanted it to sound, however I feel it best describes his decorum on the show.

Taka-san and Morning Musume

It’s fair to say that earlier generations of Morning Musume saw this ‘special service’ more than the current trend of members. This will be discussed nearer the end. But without going overboard with nostalgia I’ll try and keep this section quite brief as fans of Utaban and Morning Musume will know, you could easily wine and dine over the subject forever.

First of all, members joining Morning Musume will always come with a prospectus of their likes, dislikes, hobbies etc. These are easy pickings for the ever sneaky Taka-san and like lambs to the slaughter, he’ll exploit any and all of their quirks to the fullest. There’s a lot of personality, or should I say there was (for the cynical) in Morning Musume and I think Utaban should take a lot of the credit for nurturing something pretty uniform within a uniform industry, and making it appear as real as the business-end will allow. Whether Yuko Nakazawa is getting shouted at for being the oldest and giving as good as she gets, Kei Yasuda for being anything but conventional (we love you Kei-chan) or perhaps Mari Yaguchi for being lovingly pocket-sized, it’s the show’s attention to detail that we take to heart. Having new generations on for the first time are good examples of the above. 4th generation’s maiden voyage on the show saw Iida Kaori spacing out again, Yuko being picked on for her age as always, the newest members at that time being grilled by the panel and a game which revealed rather interesting thoughts on the older members, all in a days work.

The love of Taka-san

It’s not all about being picked on though, as some of the ex-members of Morning Musume will tell you. A select few have had the pleasure, or displeasure of trying to win over Taka-sans affections. Some of these include Maki Goto (his beloved Gomaki), Nacchi, Mikitty and of course Kei-chan. On face value, seeing a man of advancing years expressing himself around these girls the way he has may cause some concern. Of course, you can totally scarp that misconception straight away. Not only is it utterly absorbing to see a man in his position act out like a naïve school boy who’s been given the keys to the candy store, it’s made even better and genuinely heart warming that his Intentions are always good, to do right by them always. He knows it’s just a front for the show and they know it to, and although it’s a fantasy, both parties make the most of it.

I’m sure Taka-san harbours a warm spot for a few of them, who doesn’t? And all the crazy banter that goes on is truer than the producers could have imagined. Through a number of quizzes, compatibility tests and individual talks, Taka-san has struggled to choose who will be his number one Idol. Where would we be without him hopelessly failing to be compatible with Gomaki almost everytime? Apart from revealing more about the girls, it gives us a chance to see Taka-san’s naïve, deceptively innocent side. I think this is what reassures us the most that it’s ok for this guy to harbour a lottery of crushes. The girls certainly look up to him. If they didn’t, I don’t think we’d have that much to talk about. You don’t get this much attention unless your company is welcome.

Nakai-san, who’s he?

How can we forget Nakai-san (Nakai Masahiro) Taka-san’s other half? Outside of Utaban this guy is certainly bigger than Ishibashi-kun, SMAP ring a bell? But it’s easy to oversight him on the show. Almost all the set pieces are accommodated for Taka-san leaving Nakai out of the spotlight. This is certainly true with anything Hello! Project related. But he still holds a valuable contribution with his husky smoke ridden voice.

Taka-san isn’t the only one on the show who can pick on their guests, in fact sometimes Nakai-san is the harsher of the two. Let’s not forget the whole Yuko and Naki love saga which has been jokingly talked about since the idea started either. So he at least has some close connection to Morning Musume. I like to call him the unsung hero, whilst his other half is doing his thing Nakai keeps the ball rolling, a partnership and a friendship that works well.

Current state of affairs

It would appear as though the spark has simply fizzed out, and the enthusiasm between both parties to make an effort has wavered. I find it hard to place the blame on Utaban, who have had to welcome in seven generations in as little as nine years. At the same time it seems unfair to accuse Morning Musume for something they have little control over. It seems right then, to point the finger at the process. What I mean by the process in simple terms, is the constant revamping of the groups image to keep with the current fickle trends of the industry and the constant change in their line-up to keep the mother ship of H!P rolling. Taka-san and Nakai-san must be pretty exhausted by now. How many times do we expect Utaban to work their ‘magic’ on what is essentially the same thing done almost the same way every generation?

I don’t think they have it in them anymore to put out the effort required to turn these rough stones into rare diamonds. This is a huge shame and possibly one of the reasons why some of the 6th gen and 7th gen have seemed a little uninteresting. It goes to show how important Utaban are at outing the girls’ individuality but of course, it’s not all bad. Members that were left over from 4th and 5th gen still managed, and manage to draw a lot of smiles and laughs when they’re on the show. And one or two individuals from 6th gen are genuinely very interesting. It’s fair to say that Eri Kamei has seen some attention from Taka-san and rightly so, although he seems more angry than playful towards the present line-up nowadays.

Let’s not forget that Taka-san and Nakai-san are getting older and Morning Musume are getting younger. Are both sides becoming less relatable to each other? This could be a possibility.

NOTE: The Tokuban special aired on 23/03/06 is a lovely homage to both Utaban and Morning Musume’s time together. Nakai-san’s comment ‘No matter how you put it, Utaban has been a big part of Morning Musume’s history’ and Taka-san’s ‘How about the eight of you come here again some time? The current members are a bit weak for my taste’ spoken to the ex-members, are worth noting.

Also, the goodbye comments by Mari Yaguchi upon her resignation from Morning Musume done exclusively for Utaban is a good, if not sad watch revealing how she views Taka-san as a father figure and Nakai-san, well she has no memories of their time together LOL. Mari Yaguchi also mentions how Taka-san would often come to concerts and give encouragement during recordings. By look on his face I’d say he didn’t want people to know he was a nice guy.

There were some issues and observations I wanted to discuss with you last week, but a lack of writing vitality saw me revert to a rather personal story of me, cafes and Eri Kamei. I’ll admit that I felt a little guilty, but at the same time thankful that Café Kamei was received warmly by the few comments it managed to get. Sadly I still feel a little under the weather, so expect a filler entry this time round. Rest assured that normal blogging will resume as of next week.

Ayaya, Superb Soloist

Currently I have been listening to everything Aya Matsuura as I was able to get my hands on her music collection last week. All her classics have been on repeat for quite some time (not including a lot of her ballads); sorry I just don’t like them. I know I’m a little late on catching the Ayaya boat but I have to say, I’m glad I did. It would seem Tsunku has given her solo career a lot of love and care in the quality department over the years. Though many of her songs are for better, or for worse, rather camp… isn’t J-pop at its best this way? We’re not talking western camp here either. If there is one thing I have told myself, it’s that J-pop in general has a well crafted pop sensibility. Although the industry doesn’t always get the balance right, I believe Ayaya’s back catalogue reads well, very well. Her material can sometimes feel like it’s going nowhere, but the bridge or chorus will usually have a ‘killer hook’ to steer everything into focus.

An example would be the very catchy ‘Yeah! Meccha Holiday’, a song which always manages to place my thoughts onto the infamous Taka-san of the equally notorious yet delightfully funny Utaban show. If you’re a fan of MiniMoni then I think you’ll know what I mean. At first ‘Ne~e?’ played like something used by Christmas elves to seduce the opposite sex, it still does. But Ayaya’s voice is so cheeky and down right sexy it wont really matter, unless your Santa wondering where his band of little men have got to. ‘Dokki Doki! Love Mail’ is another favourite of mine and I’m sure Matuura loyalists out there would hunt me down if I thought any differently, though I did enjoy Nono’s version at a concert this year just that little bit more.

Other songs worth mentioning are ‘I know’, ‘Egao ni Namida ~THANK YOU! DEAR MY FRIENDS~’ and ‘LOVE Namida Iro’ all of which play a little more grassroots, something which is slowly becoming more of a rarity these days. Of course I’ll listen to a variety of well-loved Morning Musume songs, a recent surprise liking to Biyuuden ‘Naishin Kyaa Kyaa da wa!’ a B-side for ‘Kurenai no Kisetsu’ single is probably the best thing I’ve heard for a long time in H!P, its totally unlike Biyuuden and if you love Older Morning Musume songs, I suggest you give it a listen. Couple that with some J-pop/rock that aren’t H!P related and you have my current playlist.

Don’t overlook Nacchi

Wait! I almost forgot to mention Nacchi, there’s always room for her work on my MP3 player. ‘Koi no Hana’ and the lovely ‘Yume Naraba’ will have my feet tapping every time without fail. Working her image well, she is a perfect ensemble of beautiful looks, graceful voice and of course that killer smile. I’d certainly never be embarrassed to sing her songs at karaoke. Ok, that was a blatant lie, and anyone who has heard me sing will back me up on that. Give me a few drinks and a microphone however, and expect some rather odd renditions of all her best works, and even more odd renditions of the Japanese language.

Kamei-Chan you’re such a turtle, a cute one to ^_^

She has no solo career as of yet, though many people will agree that if she was removed from Morning Musume, her best move would be in Entertainment television hosting or co-hosting. I’m thinking maybe another talk show, a market that is utterly saturated nonetheless. Stick her with Taka-san of Utaban fame (good luck Kamei) and include a range of famous guests and on-location spots. It sounds eerily familiar and overly generic but it’s a combination of qualities that will always work. And I for one would love to see the relationship between these two unlikely heroes evolve as each week passes. Maybe dress Kamei-chan up as a turtle, though the play on words is less than Shakespearian and a cheap gimmick at best. Still, a jokes corner for Eri to let loose her latest discoveries, and a row or guards to hold Taka-san back after hearing them, I think you could have an entertaining partnership.