One hasn’t lived until they’ve experienced the force of nature that is Takio Ito’s voice. If you’ve encountered the soul stirring vocal stylings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cesária Évora, Jacques Brel, and James Brown, you’ve come close to experiencing the sheer power of Japan’s own “folk” icon. Takio Ito’s TAKIO-ソーラン節 is an undisputed classic of the Min’yō genre for a reason. Takio found a way to bridge a knowingly, closed-off Japanese tradition to the modern world and do so in such a way that both young and old couldn’t but help tip their hat to him. With the help of a few special guests — Midori Takada, Masahiko Satoh, and Eitetsu Hayashi — Takio shook off conventional wisdom and really went for something special. That guttural voice simply took you places it hadn’t gone before.
Takio Ito began his life, a few years after the end of World War II, in the tiny fishing village of Tomakomai found along the coast of Hokkaido, Japan’s most northerly island. The youngest of 12, Takio was born far from the city comforts of the booming Japanese culture. Takio was reared, as many poor rural people do, living day to day, working to make ends meet at the farm or fishing to help feed his family. Before he even knew who the Beatles, enka, and Rock’n’roll were, far from the reaches of modern conveniences like TV, radio, the only culture he encountered was through the songs of his father.
When they would go fishing, Takio’s father would sing to him all the traditional songs he’d heard passed on through generations, some dating back to the Edo period. Songs about fishermen, love, loss, nostalgia for the country life, all of these traditional folk songs of Hokkaido, Tsugaru, and some of the Ainu people had begun impressing on him a special influence. From a very young age Takio would take those songs to school and perform at parties, surprising people with his impressive vocal range and natural gift of interpretation.
For a brief time, Takio ventured into Tokyo to find a job in the city and to continue his studies. With time, though, he found the pull of his country life and of Min’yō too strong. At the age of 18, Takio came back and applied to become the youngest Min’yō certified teacher and practitioner. Quickly, he wowed his teachers and graduated shortly thereafter as a prodigal student, lighting a fire from his decidedly older class that he might in fact do something special with this. For three straight years he’d win nationwide Min’yō competitions.
In the beginning, Takio would follow the traditional route, performing on stage in cultural festivals, teaching at schools about the folk tradition, and largely performing the music as written (albeit with his booming voice soundtracking it). However, by the early ’80s, as he saw (and listened) to how rock, soul, jazz, and technological developments had revolutionized Japanese music, Takio began to felt that Min’yō had begun to run its course, stagnated by ultra-conservative adherents. Ultimately, Takio would quit the Min’yō association, freeing himself from their steep regulations.
Ignoring tradition, Takio decided to form a band that could help roll all sorts of modern musical experimentations into his world. A band consisting of electrified shamisen players, taiko drums, and a rock band setup, helped Takio dip his toes in the water of contemporary music. In the beginning, they simply adapted traditional Min’yō with a modern sound. With time, though, Takio realized that simply wasn’t going to cut it. They had to take it one step further.
1986’s TAKIO JINC found Takio working with musicians like Masahiko Satoh and Midori Takada, while folk-jazz producer Hitoshi Komuro would man the boards. Similar to this post’s feature, TAKIO JINC saw them exploring the realms of New Age, Free Jazz, and Prog as a means to carry Takio’s voice further out from Min’yō more minimal beginnings. Fans of his “traditional” sound were surprised. Some felt alienated. However, new fans who were decidedly more cosmopolitan heard something special.
1988’s TAKIO-ソーラン節 would be the culmination of the sound Takio wanted to capture. Originally released as part of Sony Japan’s “Sound Adventure” series, as part of that series, it tried to set up neo-traditionalists such as Tōsha Suihō and Mayumi Miyata (much like Taiko) with musicians in the jazz and experimental world to see what they could come up with by working together.
TAKIO-ソーラン節 highlights everything that makes Min’yō so special. You hear it in the intense call and response vocals, you feel it in the pounding percussion, you sense it in the sinewy dramatic vocalizations of Takio. If Noh is a personal drama, Min’yō should sound like this, a fiery burn to feel something. Min’yō opening itself to other global influences allowed Takio to take it even further.
The iconic titular track “ソーラン節(北海道) [Soran Bushi]” sets the scene for what will unfurl. A slow dramatic swell opens up to earth-moving charismatic chants Takio will. Japanese music isn’t know for its outward form of expression, in Takio’s music there is no holding back, you’re there for a journey. Eitetsu Hayashi drives this home as he pounds away on taiko drums with startling depth shifting the song into a different gear. This is Min’yō as boundary-less body music. That’s the change.
I’ll let you come to your own conclusions but I’d be remiss to not direct you to my favorite “猫の子(岐阜県) [Neko No Ko]” which roughly translates to “Cat Child”. Originally a child’s song from Gifu in Nagoya, Midori and Masahiko add phenomenal orchestration that instantly reminds me of Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s own molecular deconstruction and re-revolution of Japanese tradition. You might not know a lick of Japanese but there are other ways for them to express the powerful pull of their tradition. For Takio, it seems, this all begins in the belly, travels through the heart, and exhales out the throat.