"Sendō Kouta" (船頭小唄, "Boatman's Ballad") is a Japanese kayōkyoku song originally published as sheet music in 1921 under the common name of "Karesusuki" (枯れすすき, "Withered Pampas"), receiving its current title in 1922.[1] The lyrics were written by Ujō Noguchi and the melody was composed by Shinpei Nakayama.[2] It was popular throughout Japan from at least 1921 to 1923.[3]
In 1922 and 1923, several record companies recorded and released "Sendō Kouta". In the latter year, Yoshinobu Ikeda's low-budget film based on the song was released, adding to the song's popularity.[4][5] After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the song's popularity spread further throughout Japan to the point that the public blamed the song for the disaster.[6] The song was recorded by Victor Records in 1928.[7]
References
edit- ^ Saitō, Kei (2017). 1933年を聴く: 戦前日本の音風景 (in Japanese). NTT出版. p. 55. ISBN 9784757143531.
- ^ Tsuboi, Ken'ichi (2013-12-13). "童謡の作詞作曲家が流行歌も生んだ。「船頭小唄」から「東京行進曲」へ". Diamond Online (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-07-20.
- ^ "船頭小唄 (センドウコウタ)" Sendō kouta [Song of the boatman]. Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-07-19.
- ^ Minichiello, Sharon (1998). Japan's Competing Modernities: Issues in Culture and Democracy, 1900-1930. University of Hawaii Press. p. 251. ISBN 9780824820800.
- ^ Yano, Christine Reiko (2003). Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song. Harvard Univ Asia Center. p. 34. ISBN 9780674012769.
- ^ Miyao, Daisuke (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema. OUP USA. p. 300. ISBN 9780199731664.
- ^ Patterson, Patrick M. (2018-08-15). Music and Words: Producing Popular Songs in Modern Japan, 1887–1952. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 48. ISBN 9781498550369.