Eight tracks by a Japanese children's choir three Japanese junior choruses. I can't read Kanji, so I have no idea what they're called. (Update: see comments and listing below.) I bought this while stationed in Japan from (let's see) 1982-1985. 600 yen--about the price of a fast-food meal. I remember the small record shop I found it in--it was on the third story of a tall shopping center/mall. Lots of buildings were built high in Japan, because of the general shortage of usable land. Lots of rocky surface in Nippon.
This is a 33 and 1/3 seven-incher, and I can identify all of the songs except the last two. They're all Western Christmas hymns and pop songs. When I was in Japan, there was a trend of placing American words on clothing--words whose only requirement was to be American. There were phrases that didn't make sense, plus words that seemed to have nothing to do with the apparel they were sewn onto. Speaking of American (or British) phrases, you'll notice that, in this version of Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, "Melly Christmas" is inserted prior to each "Santa Claus weez comink to tahn." Looking up the lyrics, I see no "Merry Christmas," so we can conclude that some liberties were being taken. Which is fine with me. I'm sure they were taken tastefully and in the proper Christmas spirit. And I shouldn't be making fun of the accents (which you have to admit are cute), since I can't begin to speak Japanese. I suspect my attempts would be pretty hilarious.
If anyone can identify the numbers titled "?," please let me know. Enjoy...
UPDATE: And please see the recording details in the comment section, which I will now incorporate into the listing. A million thanks for this data!! My Santa be extra nice to the kind souls who help out with my posts--this one, especially!
DOWNLOAD: Japanese Children's Choir--Christmas carols
Jingle Bells
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (Japanese text: Kanbe Tako. Thanks, Scott!)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Silent Night
Joy to the World
?
?
#1 Yumi Baba and Toei Junior Chorus
#2 and #4 Naomi Kasuga and Toei Junrio Chorus
#3 Yukari Jo and Toei Junior Chorus
#5 and #6 Hidenori Goto and Suginami Junior Chorus
#7 and 8 Yasuko Koura and Wakakusa Junior Chorus
(Track credits from a Japense fan. What a wonderful gift--a zillion thanks! And click here for a complete translation of Kanbe Tako's words for Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town!)
(Victor KVC-213)
Lee
16 comments:
Love this stuff, Lee! Thanks!
And the personal stories behind finding it make it even better!
Hi Lee, not crazy about children singing, but I quite like this one. Maybe, because I do not understand it. But then again, Flower Drum Song is my favorite R and H musical. Anyway, it is a pity you did not post this 2 + weeks ago. We have a Japanese student in my school class. But, classes are now stopped because of Covid. I tried on my end to see if I could copy and paste the names of the songs. No luck. What about you, could you somehow do it? Then maybe a rough translation through Google translate. Google Translate is getting rave reviews now as the best or near the top translater. They have come a long way. Bryan
Ernie,
You're welcome! Or, Dōitashimashite!
Bryan,
I gave it a quick try, and it didn't work. If I can find some way to convert my images to PDF, or some other format accepted by GT, I might have some luck...
Hi Lee, Thanks for your idea. I printed out the image of the side 2 disc. Then put it in my Canon Pixma scanner. Then transferred it back to my Lenovo laptop. Then converted it to a PDF. Then tried without luck to copy and paste it. I could not even get the type to highlight. Maybe, you will have better luck. I am not well versed in computers, printers, etc. Bryan
I can't wait to see what weirdness you post next. What a Christmas!
I asked a friend who has lived in Japan and he translated:
#7 is お正月 (OSHOUGATSU) / “New Year’s Day”
#8 is 一月一日 (ICHIGATSU ICHINICHI) / “January 1st”
Diane,
A canine chorus just arrived!
Geoconno,
Thanks much! And I've been alerted to a downloadable translator that can scan Kanji characters. Of course, there will be syntax issues and such...
Hi, Lee,
The Japanese lyrics for "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" are completely different. I believe they were written by Kanbe Takao. Like a lot of Western songs, they were re-written to fit the original tune. A basic re-translation of the first verse is:
Merry Christmas from you
Merry Christmas from me
Santa Claus is coming to town
Takao's lyrics are the standard translation, but I believe there are a couple others out there. You'll occasionally get someone coming up with their own translations, or trying to come up with something closer to the original English lyrics, but most of the Japanese lyrics are pretty standardized now.
Scott,
Wow! Thanks for the information. Looks like you're completely correct--I found this page: https://sailormusic.net/lyrics/christmas/santa-claus-ga-machi-ni-yatte-kuru/
Hi Lee-san, happy holidays from Japan. I have been a fun of your blog for a while, but never imagined to find a post with the language of my country, so I want to thank you for this great gift and want to add an extra information.
The artists are
#1 Yumi Baba and Toei Junior Chorus
#2 and #4 Naomi Kasuga and Toei Junior Chorus
#3 Yukari Jo and Toei Junior Chorus
#5 and #6 Hidenori Goto and Suginami Junior Chorus
#7 and #8 Yasuko Koura and Wakakusa Junior Chorus
Suginami Junior Chorus has been active and popular since its foundation in 1964.
I cannot find any information regarding Toei Junior Chorus and Wakakusa Junior Chorus on my casual googling, but it seems Toei JC was a part of Toei film production.
#7 was published in 1901, and I think this is THE most popular song about New Year's Day in Japan. Rentaro Taki, who composed this song, is best remembered for 'Kojo no tsuki', which Thelonious Monk and Roland Kirk recorded. #8 was published in 1893 and is also popular.
Thank you again for this great stuff.
Thanks a million for the artist information, and for the nice words! Great to know I have a fan in Japan. It's wonderful to find out who the performers are on this disc--I didn't realize there singing groups involved. Happy holidays to you, as well, from the US! Thanks for posting!
Oh, and a rave notice from me for your superb English skills!
There are a couple copies of this up for auction right now on one of the Japanese sites. I don't generally get children's albums, but there are a few older picture disks I might pick up at some point. If I manage to get them, I'll have to send you a copy.
Scott,
Thanks!
Love it when the commenters come to the rescue with info about a post! :)
Hi Lee, It is so wonderful to know there are so many out there who have helped to fill in the missing pieces to this album's mystery. I just noticed something. Whether it is by chance or by design, I think by design, but the selected songs are in the order of a story. The first song's situation leads to the second song's situation and so on. I used to make CDs for myself. For several of those, I programmed the songs, song to song, to tell a story. Bryan
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