Kazuki Tomokawa - Le Petit Papier Important & Detaramena Yoru (2010)

Kazuki Tomokawa (友川かずき, or in recent years more often with his first name in katakana: 友川カズキ) is a Japanese folk singer, songwriter and poet. He's also a painter, a bicycle race fanatic, occasional actor and, reportedly, quite the skilled drinker. Born in the same year as Kan Mikami (三上寛), 1950, he too debuted in the first half of the 1970s, and over the years created a highly personal, very passionate style, accumulating a vast œuvre and eventually being picked up by PSF Records (originally a psych rock label, as the name - Psychedelic Speed Freaks - indicates). They have recorded together, too: a shared live album entitled 御縁 ('Goen', meaning 'Fate', but with a play on the word for '5 yen coin') was released in 1994; there was also a video cassette of the event. More video material was released in 2004: a live DVD entitled ピストル：渋谷アピア・ライブ ２００３ ('Pistol: Shibuya Apia Live 2003'); a great concert, unfortunately not the greatest sound.

With Vincent Moon's documentary on Tomokawa ('La Faute des Fleurs', referring to the 1993 album 花々の過失, 'Hanabana no Kashitsu' aka 'Fault of Flowers') doing the rounds at film festivals and in art theatres, Tomokawa's profile is finally on the rise. To tie in with this, a lavish book containing all (well, most of, I noticed some omissions) his lyrics from 1974 to 2010 has been published along with his new album 青いアイスピック ('Aoi Aisupikku', 'Blue Ice Pick'). It is entitled 'ユメは日々元気に死んでゆく ('Yume wa hibi genki ni shinde yuku'), which was already the title of a 1998 album (except there the kanji for the word 'yume' was used, rather than the katakana characters: 夢) and was translated there as 'Dreams Die Blithefully Day by Day'.

The book, released by Million Shuppan (ミリオン出版) is housed in a cardboard slipcase that also contains an extra folder with a DVD inside: 大事な小さい紙／出鱈目な夜 ('Daiji na chiisai kami / Detarame na yoru', or as it is also labeled on the cover: 'Le Petit Papier Important & Detaramena Yoru'). The first part refers to 61 minutes of live recordings made in 'Kingdom of Belgium', France and Switzerland in 2006; the second part to a 47 minute concert recorded 7 August 2010 at a place called Cafe Gati. On top of this, there's an interview (in Japanese, no subtitles) of about 20 minutes.

The whole package can still be obtained through various Japanese sources, but will cost you 69$ outside Japan. For us gaijin, this is perhaps a bit steep, considering that the book is entirely in Japanese. Since the DVD is not available separately, you can have a look here.


Tracklists: below you'll find the Japanese titles, followed in the case of the European recordings with date and location of recording; a transliteration of each title followed by the translation as given on Tomokawa's site; and the album on which each track was first featured.


大事な小さい紙 (Le Petit Papier Important) 27 Oct - 9 Nov 2006


1. サーカス (rec. 28 Oct, Ghent, Belgium) (Saakasu / The Circus)
from: 俺の裡で鳴り止まない詩~中原中也作品集~ / Ore no uchi ni de nariyamanai uta - Nakahara Chūya sakuhinshū / Poems That Won't Stop Crying From Within Me (1978)

2. ジャン・ジュネに訊け (rec. 31 Oct, Bourogne, France) (Jan June ni kike / Ask Jean Genet)
from: エリセの目 / Erise no me / The Eyes Of Elise (2001)

3. おじっちゃ (rec. 2 Nov, Marseille, France) (Ojitcha / Grandpa)
from: 肉声 / Nikusei / A Natural Voice (1976)

4. ぜい肉な朝 (rec. 3 Nov, Lyon, France) (Zeiniku na asa / Fat In The Morning Light)
from: ぜい肉な朝 / Zeiniku na asa / Fat In The Morning Light (1996)

5. 似合った青春 (rec. 4 Nov, Geneva, Switzerland) (Niatta seishun / A Fitting Adolescence)
from: 肉声 / Nikusei / A Natural Voice (1976)

6. ピストル (rec. 6 Nov, Metz, France) (Pisutoru / Pistol)
from: サトル / Satoru / Satoru (2003)

7. 訳のわからん気持 (rec. 7 Nov, Strasbourg, France) (Wake no wakaran kimochi / Can't Comprehend The Meaning Behind These Emotions)
from: サトル / Satoru / Satoru (2003)

8. カラブラン (rec. 9 Nov, Nantes, France) (Kara Buran / Kara Bran)
from: 青い水　赤い水 / Aoi mizu akai mizu / Blue Water, Red Water (2008)

9. グッドフェローズ (rec. 4 Nov, Geneva, Switzerland) (Guddo ferōzu / Good Fellows)
from: 一人盆踊り / Hitori bon-odori / Dance A Bonodori Alone (1995)



出鱈目な夜 (Detaramena Yoru) 7 Aug 2010
(the title is hard to translate, something like 'An Evening of Nonsense')
subtitled in the cardboard folder: 欧州ツアー秘録 (Ōshū tsuā hiroku / European Tour, Secret Notes)


1. 花あそび (Hana-asobi / Flower Trumps)
from: 青いアイスピック / Aoi aisupikku / Blue Ice Pick (2010)

2. 三種川 (Mitanegawa / Mitane River)
from: イナカ者のカラ元気 / Inakamono no karagenki / A Bumpkin's Empty Bravado (2009)

3. 海みたいな空だ (Umi-mitai na sora da / Look At The Sky, It's Like The Ocean)
from: 無惨の美 / Muzan no bi / Beauty Without Mercy (1986)

4. 顕信の一撃 (Kenshin no ichigeki / A Blow By Kenshin)
from: 顕信の一撃 / Kenshin no ichigeki / A Blow By Kenshin (2002)

5. シシャモ (Shishamo / A Smelt-Fish)
from: エリセの目 / Erise no me / The Eyes Of Elise (2001)

6. 先行一車 (Senkō Issha / Senkô Issha)
from: 青いアイスピック / Aoi aisupikku / Blue Ice Pick (2010)

7. 青い水　赤い水 (Aoi mizu akai mizu / Blue Water, Red Water)
from: 青い水　赤い水 / Aoi mizu akai mizu / Blue Water, Red Water (2008)

8. 絵の具の空 (Enogu no sora / Pigment Sky)
from: イナカ者のカラ元気 / Inakamono no karagenki / A Bumpkin's Empty Bravado (2009)

9. 明るい耳 (Akarui mimi / Bright Ears)
from: 青いアイスピック / Aoi aisupikku / Blue Ice Pick (2010)

10. 赤いポリアン (Akai porian / A Red Polyanthus)
from: 赤いポリアン / Akai porian / A Red Polyanthus (2000)

11. 生きてるって言ってみろ (Ikiteru 'tte itte miro / Say With Conviction, I Am Alive)
from: 千羽鶴を口に咬えた日々 / Senbazuru o kuchi ni kuwaeta hibi / Clenching A Senbazuru In My Mouth Day After Day (1977)

12. ワルツ (Bonus Track) (Warutsu / Waltz)
from: 無惨の美 / Muzan no bi / Beauty Without Mercy (1986)

*NOTE*
Newly uploaded files, November 2011. The original zipped folder has been freshly cut up into 5 new chunks, so don't combine these with any original parts you may have - will not work!

1 2 3 4 5