Gugi Akiyama: Top 5 songs

Gugi Akiyama

秋山具義
Art director extraordinaire
Creative brain behind Parco’s commercial 'Isso Bijin Ni (better being beautiful)', Sharp’s 'Ecology Class de Ikimasho (let's go on an ecology class)', En Japan’s 'Tenshoku Ha Shincho Ni (better being prudent when moving to a new company)', and Kirin’s 'Kirin Zero' drink. Unsurprisingly, he has won plenty of prizes, too.

Seiko Matsuda: Seifuku
松田聖子『制服』
'It's about the high school graduation ceremony, so important to Japan. The lyrics, written by Takashi Matsumoto, are beautiful, as is the melody composed by Karuho Kureta (known as Yumi Matsutoya). The arrangement of Masataka Matsutoya, particularly the introduction, is especially great. I think everyone will really like this one.'

Hiroko Yakushimaru: Tantei Monogatari
薬師丸ひろ子『探偵物語』
'Hiroko, who was famous as an idol as well as an actress at the time, was also great as a singer. I think the beauty of her voice would probably be attractive abroad, too. She sings the lyrics written by Takashi Matsumoto and the melody composed by Eiichi Ohtaki beautifully.'

Eiichi Ohtaki: Kimi Ha Tennenshoku
大滝詠一『君は天然色』
'It sounds like the most innocent and clean song in Japan! The lyrics and melody, as well as Eiichi's voice, are perfectly “transparent”. I think foreigners will feel the freshness of this song even though they may not understand Japanese.'

YMO: Kimi Ni Munekyun
YMO『君に、胸キュン』
'The lyrics of this one have the strongest impact of YMO's songs, well-known internationally, I think. The lyrics are simple and foreigners will be able to sing along, too. The song hasn't dated.'

Shinichi Mori: Fuyu No Ribiera
森進一『冬のリヴィエラ』
'For foreigners, enka songs that focus on the sentimental feelings of Japanese may be a difficult genre to be attracted to. However, I think that the enka songs of Shinichi Moro express a different type of sentimental feeling, drawing a distinction between this and other songs of the genre. I like to think their beauty would be attractive to everyone.'