Sachiko Kanenobu／金延幸子

A Pioneer of Female Singer-songwriters in Japan

Sachiko Kanenobu is a folk singer from Osaka, and considered a pioneer of female singer-songwriters in Japan.

Around 1966, she began her career in the folk music scene in Osaka. After joining The Folk Campers (a group formed by Tomoya Takaishi and Goro Nakagawa, and others) and The Himitsu Kessha XX Kyoudan(a group formed in 1969 by Takashi Nishioka, Isato Nakagawa, Ichizou Seo, Koichi Matsuda, and others. After Nishioka left, the group renamed “Gu”), she moved to Tokyo in 1971 and made her solo debut.

Her first work as a solo singer was the EP “Tokini-makasete / Hoshi-no-densetsu” (1971), which was arranged by Eiichi Otaki under the name of CHELSEA.

The following year, her first album “Misora” (1971) was released. It mainly featured folkish number that sung with the acoustic guitar.

After finishing the production of this album, she married Paul Williams, an American music critic, and moved to the United States before the album’s release. She left her music career for a while, but returned to it about 20 years later in 1993 with the release of “Seize Fire” under the name of SACHIKO & CULTURE SHOCK. This second album and the next work, “It’s Up To You” (1995), were both produced with musicians in San Francisco, and both featured English lyrics that emphasized the band sound.

In 1998, she released “Rare Tracks: Toki-ni-makasete”, the compilation album of valuable recordings from her solo activities prior to the Himitsu Kessha XX Kyoudan and “Misora”. In the same year, she visited Japan and released a new album, “Fork in the Road,” which was recorded at a studio in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The album was produced by Koichi Matsuda, her close friend. Furthermore, it contains new songs, which recorded with the member of Gu－Matsuda, Nakagawa and Seo.

In 1999, she released fifth album “Sachiko” that has an original musical style adopting world music. After that, the reissue editions of past works have been released several times, and in 2018, a live performance was held to commemorate the 45th anniversary of “Misora”. Even recently, she has been working energetically, with plans to have a Japan tour starting in November 2023!

Her debut album, and historical masterpiece “Misora”

Among Sachiko Kanenobu’s works, the aforementioned first album “Misora” is especially famous, and was released on URC Records with the full cooperation of Haruomi Hosono as producer, who was also involved in arrangements and recordings. In 1989, Kitty Records released the first reissue of the CD, which gradually led to a reevaluation of the work and a resurgence in its popularity.

One of the songs on the album, “Aoi Sakana,” was covered by the Japanese rock band GRAPEVINE in 1999, and it became popular among a new generation of listeners in Japan.

The song retains the laid-back atmosphere of the original, but has been transformed into a heavy sound with a distorted guitar.

■GRAPEVINE / “Aoi Sakana”

Recently, the song was used in the movie “Perfect Days” (Director: Wim Wenders / Leading actor: Koji Yakusho), scheduled to be released on December 22, 2023, and has become a hot topic.

Now, you can see how Sachiko Kanenobu’s works have been loved for so long, even after half a century has passed.