is the 82nd single released by Japanese singer

Harumi Miyako , born Harumi Kitamura (, ''Kitamura Harumi'') in Kyoto, is a Japanese ''enka'' singer. She made her debut in 1964. Her popularity has lasted: she makes frequent appearances in the annual television spectacular ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' and has ac ...

through the record label

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

. The single was released on 1 February 1980 and is considered one of Miyako's most famous songs, selling over one million copies.

Composition

"Ōsaka Shigure" is written in Miyako's signature ''

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than '' ryūkōka'' music, ...

'' style, and the lyrics are about a melancholic woman after a heartbreak. The title is a combination of the city

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and , which refers to light rain showers in late autumn and early winter. The lyrics reference , , and , which are all neighborhoods in

Kita-ku, Osaka is one of 24 wards of Osaka in Japan. Incidents and accidents 2021 Osaka building fire Notable locations Kita-ku, particularly the Umeda area surrounding Osaka Station, is one of the main commercial centers of Osaka. Kita-ku is also a fi ...

that are known for their bars and nightlife.

Impact

"Ōsaka Shigure" performed well on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In ...

. The single was the 49th best-selling single in 1980, and then outperformed itself by ranking 6th in 1981. "Ōsaka Shigure" also saw positive reviews from critics. The song was the winner of the "Best Vocal Performance" category at the

22nd Japan Record Awards The 22nd Japan Record Awards ceremony was held on 31 December 1980 at the Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, and was broadcast live in Japan through the Tokyo Broadcasting System Television network. The broadcast ran from 19:00 (JST) to 20:55 (JST). The 22 ...

. The lyricist of the song,

Osamu Yoshioka was a renowned Japanese lyricist. Vice-president of the Japan Lyricists' Association. Earlier he used the pen name "" (pronounced the same). Songs with lyrics by Yoshioka Kayōkyoku * Kazuhiko Shima * Sayuri Ishikawa , , , * Seri Ishik ...

, won the 13th

Japan Lyricist Awards is an annual set of awards sponsored by the Japan Lyricists Association, Japan Lyricists' Association. Awarded since 1968. Over the years the award ceremony has been produced by NHK General TV, NHK and Nippon Television, NTV and now, since the 27 ...

for this song. Miyako was also invited to the 31st ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK ne ...

'' to perform this song, a television show on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...

which is considered a major honor for a Japanese musician. This performance was Miyako's 16th time appearing on the show. The single is one of the six singles by Miyako that have sold over a million copies, at 1.14 million sold. Many other artists have included

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s of "Ōsaka Shigure" in their own albums. Notable examples include

Hibari Misora was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural icon. She received a Medal of Honor for her contributions to music and for improving the welfare of the public, and was the first woman to receive the People's Honour Award, which was conferred posthu ...

in her 1982 album and

Kaori Kozai is a Japanese ''enka'' singer.Keys to Japan: its language and its people 1993 "Such singers are referred to as "Endoru" (Enka + idol). Beautiful singers like Ayako Fuji, Kaori Kozai, Fuyumi Sakamoto, and Yoko Nagayama are examples of Endoru. Thes ...

in her 1995 album .

Miyuki Hatakeyama Miyuki is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Miyuki can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *, "beautiful fortune" or "beautiful happiness" *, "deep snow" *, "beautiful snow" *, "beautiful reason for history" ...

also sang this song in the 2020 album , an album released as a tribute to Miyako.

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osaka Shigure Enka songs 1980 singles Nippon Columbia singles