Naomi Chiaki - Minato Ga Mieru Oka

Japan Original Pressing.

A haunting 1985 Japanese vocal masterpiece — pre- and postwar Showa songs reimagined through new wave, art-pop and noirish late-night arrangements, carried by Naomi Chiaki’s extraordinary voice.

Minato ga Mieru Oka is far more than a collection of old Japanese standards. Naomi Chiaki takes songs from the 1930s to the early postwar era and places them inside a distinctly mid-’80s sound world — cool synthesizers, spacious rhythms, unusual textures and arrangements that often feel closer to new wave or art-pop than traditional kayokyoku.

Members of the Moonriders circle bring a particularly adventurous edge, while Chiaki’s restrained, deeply expressive vocal keeps everything timeless. “Hoshikage no Komichi” feels almost weightless, the title track is smoky and cinematic, and “Seishun no Paradise” turns an old popular song into something surprisingly sharp and modern.

A strange and beautiful meeting point between old Showa popular music and the Japanese avant-pop sensibility of the ’80s — and one of Naomi Chiaki’s most fascinating late-period LPs.