One night years ago, a whole bunch of us who were fervent J-pop aficionados made our was down to the local japanese Karaoke place- this time, a room situated in the Hilton Hawaiian Village (the name of the place is lost to me), and the ten or twelve of us squeezed into a room and each of us began belting out his or her favorite tunes.
The great thing about this was that you got to share what you liked and got to learn a whole bunch of new songs as well! At this point, I’d just started liking Chisato Moritaka with her latest single “Futari Wa Koibito” and wasn’t too familiar with her back catalog, so when Ray (yes, a guy!) started singing one of her older tunes called KIBUNSOKAI, it was my first time hearing the song, and had no preparation for what was to come next!!
As Ray sang the catchy, very Beatle-sy tune, suddenly he sang out “Beer de KAMPAI!” and everyone in the room shot their right arms up in a “toast”, and as the song went into the chorus, everybody began waving their hands back and forth to the beat of the song- Eh?????? I was flabbergasted! Talk about being the kid left out of the gag! I had to laugh as another friend explained to me that the song was about drinking a toast, and in the promotional video, everyone holds up a glass and toasts to the beat of the song during the choruses… Then when Chisato began performing it on shows like Music Station, everyone in the AUDIENCE would shoot out their hands and sway along, too! Oh my gosh, this was such a happy, fun song, and I had to have it!
Of course, acquiring this single was no easy task, as it was an older single, and so I trekked on down to that old CD rental store (the same one where I found my copy of Eri Hiramatsu’s single) and was rewarded with my very own copy of the song!
Next, I rented a few older Music Stations and got two performances of Chisato doing Kibunsokai, and sure enough, whenever it got to that rousing chorus, everyone in the audience got their toasting” arms up and swayed in unison…I even remember one time TOKIO (those jokers) happily swaying along in the artist bench, much to the irritation of those sitting around them!
Kibunsokai (Fine Feeling) was written by the guys of L<->R , and the song is about Chisato celebrating and drinking with her friend because her friend’s gotten the guy of her dreams- the twist is, Chisato’s liked the guy, too, but strangely enough, is happy for the both of them, and wants her friend to celebrate!
“Tomorrow, You’ll have a date with him.
Hold hands and walk side by side - (Darn You!)
Tomorrow, I’ll be all right…
Strangely enough, I feel really fine!”
It was quite a scene to see the entire audience do the wave on the Music Station Christmas special, but then came what I feel has to be the most incredible performance ever, when Chisato opened her 1996 tour concert at the Yokohama Arena with Kibunsokai, and saw the ENTIRE ARENA swaying their arms in unison…in was just awesome to see! Wow! What an Opening!
On a subsequent Music Station Special, Chisato was one of the guests who were part of a campaign where fans could send in postcards, voting for their favorite songs from their favorite artists. The artist would then perform his or her latest single, and also perform the song fans voted their favorite. I think Chisato’s latest song at the time was “So Blue”, but then came the countdown to her fan fave songs, and the song voted as her most beloved song was, of course, KIBUNSOKAI!
A “Fine Feeling” Indeed! This is a song guaranteed to make you smile!
A cute NG moment singing Kibunsokai: