Monsieur Kamayatsu: Top 5 songs

Monsieur Kamayatsu

ムッシュかまやつ
Musician   Bitten by the rock'n'roll bug back in the 1950s, by the '60s he'd joined The Spiders. The band released a slew of hit songs, including 'No No Boy', 'Bang Bang' and 'Furi Furi.' In September 2009 he released a new album called Rockin' with the Monsieur with Blues The Butcher, a band including members such as Nagai Hotoke Takashi and Takashi Numazawa.

Hibari Misora: Ringo Oiwake
『リンゴ追分』
'The five songs that I have chosen are musical compositions that my foreign friends are into. This song, released in 1952, is one of Hibari's most famous. She's like a queen in the world of Japanese popular song. This record was released as the theme song of a radio program called Ringoen No Shojo, commemorating the anniversary of the radio station. Sales reached 700,000 copies, the biggest post-WWII seller.'

National anthem: Kimi Ga Yo
国歌『君が代』
'It's the national anthem of Japan.'

Nursery rhyme: Nanatsu No Ko   童謡『七つの子』
'The lyrics were written by Ujo Noguchi, one of the three major nursery rhyme writers, and the melody was composed by Nagayo Motoori. This is a major song, released as a collaboration. The song still attracts attention across a wide range of generations. It was chosen as one of the best 100 Japanese songs by the Education and Culture Ministry and the Parent Teacher Association of Japan.'

Nursery rhyme: Zou San   童謡『ぞうさん』
'The lyrics were written in 1948 by Michioga Mago, a poet. Ikuma Dan, the composer that turned the folk tale Yuduru ('Crane at Dusk'), written by Junji Kinoshita, into a major Japanese opera, added melody to the lyrics.'

Nursery rhyme: Inu No Omawari San   童謡『犬のおまわりさん』
'The lyrics were written by Yoshimi Sato, a nursery rhyme writer, while Megumi Onaka, a composer that wrote classics such as 'Sacchan' and 'Onaka Ga Heru Uta', added the tune. This song was also chosen as one of the best 100 Japanese songs.'