History through Music

At the end of last month, I went to Fukuoka for a concert by a singer called Rekishi. He is a Japanese singer who, as his name suggests, sings songs related to Japanese history. His songs are based on historical figures as well events, places, and even sometimes traditional Japanese objects. They are generally upbeat pop songs but also include comedic elements. I had the chance to see him live last year at a summer music festival. He was my favorite performer at the event, so I wanted to go to one of his concerts.

The concert I went to was not a regular concert, however. Rekishi has collaborated with a lot of musicians throughout his career, including some quite famous ones such as Shiina Ringo. This tour was a collaboration tour with the famous jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara. This was their second tour together, though the first time was over 10 years ago. The theme of the concert was that Hiromi was interrupting his concert and making his songs into jazz pieces. Listening to his songs as jazz pieces was a unique experience, and it gave the songs a new fresh sound.

One of the most fun things about seeing Rekishi’s concert is getting to learn about famous people and places throughout Japanese history. He covers a huge range of periods of Japan’s history as well. While his music is very comedic, it is always fun to listen to it. When I talked about him to students, most had never heard of him. Yet he has been around for about 30 years and has many fans around the country. I think for most Japanese people, his lyrics would give them a good laugh.