Favorite J-Pop Singles: Yoshino Kimura: “Iruka no Natsu”

As we go into season two of the lively buddy cop comedy drama “No Activity2” and are reunited with Yoshino Kimura as the brash and outspoken Police Dispatcher Satomi Misato, I thought it might be fun to harken back to 1998 and reminisce when Yoshino was moonlighting as a sweet, singing IDOL, and on Pony Canyon, no less!

Though her vocal career was brief, one of her songs really caught my ear and became one of my favorite songs of that summer: The song was “Iruka no Natsu” (Dolphin Summer), and I might have missed it altogether if not for my friend Golden, who included it in one of his many J-pop mixes! With its' jangly guitars and solid backbeat, it instantly captivated, and my first thought was, “EHH? That chick from Riso No Joshi can SING????” 

Yep, up until that point I’d only known her from acting in "The Ideal Boss" with Yuriko Ishida and Yasuko Matsuyuki (and Kyozo Nagatsuka as the titular boss), color me impressed when I found that she was a capable singer, belting out a tune that I had to grab for myself!

I had no idea where this song came from or what it was promoting, watching this youtube upload of the Iruka no Natsu MV, seems it was the CM song for some Instant Cream Spaghetti mix, huh, who knew?!

From here Yoshino would go on to star in dramas like "Over Time" and "(Not so) Perfect Love", among others, assuring her ascent into superstardom!

Thoughts On Yuganda Hamon

 Just finished Yuganda Hamon, a drama with a very thought-provoking analysis of journalism as it used to be presented and where it is going. A story through the eyes of journalists from the olden days of critically high-held newsmakers to the young, hot shot online reporters, it tackles the idea of false information, sensationalized stories, the (perhaps misguided) fervor it drums up, and how it is taking over true research.

We see how false reporting can hurt individuals but also see how succesful a fake headline can be. We see how the trendy online news blogs get all the endorsements while seasoned vets must do their investigation under meager budgets. We see how people can lose their way while looking for the truth as well as people rediscovering their purpose.

Truthfully it depressed me because I think it’s true when they say that as the old news institutions die out and the faceless online gossip-type journalists take their place, there will be more and more untruthful news, more and more deception and more people following and purporting it.

It paints a pretty sad picture of the future of journalism. But at the end Matsuda is there to remind us that as long as there are people who care for each other, people who care about their town and their neighbors, there will ALWAYS be journalists and reporters out there dedicated to finding what is real and factual to inform us as diligently and cohesively as possible.

It was that final passage that gave me some well-needed optimism back!

Power of The Press: Yuganda Hamon

 
Masahiko Sawamura (Ryuhei Matsuda) is a news journalist working for a newpaper which has enough power to influence people and make things happen. But at the moment, he is a mere reporter who is going through a slump.

He is given a scoop by his immediate superior Nakajima (Masa Katsumura) about a hit and run murder that happened a few months back. It seems the car that hit and killed the man may have been driven by his own wife! Their chief journalist Kirino (Michitaka Tsutsumi) tells Sawamura there’s no need to verify the details as it’s been checked out, so Sawamura goes to confront the widow.

When he gets there he is met by the widow, Atsuko Morimoto (Fuka Koshiba) who is still shaken by the events and doesn’t want to talk to anyone. But when sawamura tells her he’s trying to solve the case, she reluctantly agrees to see him.

She meets him a a cafe and tells him the details of the day, pouring her heart out as she cries tears of frustration. 

But then Sawamura reveals that he is there to accuse her instead of help her, showing her a photo and asking if this isn’t HER behind the wheel of the car who killed her husband.

This devastates the woman and she leaves in tears. Her silence only furthers to prove to Sawamura that she must be guilty, and though he feels bad for her, this scoop is too huge to pass up.  The next day amid bigger political news, the story of how Atsuko Morimoto was driving the car and hit and killed her husband hits the streets. 

The media runs with it, attracting the attention of Kunio Mitazono (Kenichi Matsuyama), a colleague of Sawamura’s  running an online newspaper, who, sensing foul play,  tells Sawamura to dig deeper into the story.

When he talks to the original investigators on the scene, he is shocked to find the proof of the widow’s guilt  fabricated. This destroys Sawamura, who can’t get the hurt look of the widow out of his mind. Realizing his error, he tries in vain to make things right, first by confronting his superiors and then trying to make contact with the widow....

This may be more than a simple mistake as there are sinister things swelling within the ranks of the journalists’ and their former superiors. Was the fabrication part of an elaborate misdirection? Was he used as a fall guy? There are so many questions unanswered. And when one of the old team suddenly commits suicide, it opens a whole can of suspicions and dark secrets…

This is an older drama from 2019 which has just been picked up! So far seems like just another one of these scandal newspaper dramas which seem to be fairly popular nowadays, but with great leads in Ryuhei Matsuda and Kenichi Matsuyama and an amazing performance by Fuka Koshiba as the grieving widow (ther first real serious role I’ve seen from her), this is already a cut above and I’ll certainly be tuning in to see what happens next!