30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Mainichi
Fukuoka music festival marking century since start of Showa era takes visitors back in time
FUKUOKA -- A music festival held in this southwestern Japan city on Showa Day on April 29 took visitors back in time with a series of classic songs from the Showa era (1926-1989).
The "Showa 100 Year Bayside Song Festival" was hosted by the Bayside Place Hakata entertainment complex in Fukuoka's Hakata Ward on a specially prepared outdoor stage in front of visitors who reveled in the nostalgia.
Performers included the big band Dan Ishida & Newbricco, based at the Acros Fukuoka concert hall, and others with numbers including Megumi Asaoka's "Watashi no Kare wa Hidarikiki," Masako Mori's "Sensei," and Agnes Chan's "Sogen no Kagayaki," which drew enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Toshio Fujinaga, 55, a civil servant visiting from Kitakyushu, remarked, "All the songs are ones that are still great to listen to. During the Showa era, everyone gave it their all." His wife Shinomi, 54, added, "I love Seiko Matsuda and still go to her concerts."
Showa-era goods and records were also sold at the venue and a DJ event was held by the retro "kayokyoku" karaoke bar "Spotlight," enveloping the area in Showa memories.
