Amagigoe Monument in front of Joren Fall

"Amagi-goe" (天城越え Walk Over Amagi Pass) is the 45th single by Japanese singer

Sayuri Ishikawa is a Japanese enka singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history. Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Gas ...

. The song is written by

Osamu Yoshioka was a renowned Japanese lyricist. Vice-president of the Japan Lyricists' Association. Earlier he used the pen name "" (pronounced the same). Songs with lyrics by Yoshioka Kayōkyoku * Kazuhiko Shima * Sayuri Ishikawa , , , * Seri Ishikawa ...

as lyricist, Tetsuya Gen ( 弦哲也) as composer and Nobuyuki Sakuraba ( 桜庭伸幸) as arranger. The single was released on July 21, 1986, by

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

. The sleeve does not have the time of the song. Together with " Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyu-geshiki", the song is Ishikawa's most popular from her career. By the song, Ishikawa was nominated for the 28th Nippon Record Taisho Award ( Japan Record Award 日本レコード大賞) in 1986 but she did not win the award. As of 2020, Ishikawa has sung Amagi-goe twelve times at the annual NHK

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK netw ...

. There is a monument commemorating the song in front of the

Jōren Falls is a waterfall in the Yugashima district of Izu, Shizuoka, Izu city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, in central Izu Peninsula on the upper reaches of the Kano River. It is a Shizuoka Prefectural Natural Monument. It is one of "Japan’s Top 100 Wate ...

in Amagi, Shizuoka Prefecture. The song is not directly linked to the novella of the same title by

Seichō Matsumoto was a Japanese writer, credited with popularizing detective fiction in Japan. Matsumoto's works broke new ground by incorporating elements of human psychology and ordinary life. His works often reflect a wider social context and postwar nihil ...

nor to the movie of the same title based on the novella, which was released in 1983.

Other versions

Ishikawa has re-recorded Amagi-goe for her remix album ''Shunka'' (春夏) released in 1999 by

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affiliate ...

. This version is also included in the 40th anniversary box set released by

Teichiku is a Japanese record label, run by , that specializes in enka, kayōkyoku, and similar music. Teichiku is an abbreviation for , the former name of the company. Teichiku Entertainment also runs the record labels Imperial Records, Takumi Note, ...

in 2012. Time of this version is 4:56. Marty Friedman produced a Rock (heavy metal) version of the song, and played it with Ishikawa on TV.

Yumi Uchiyama is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Office Osawa. Biography Uchiyama signed to Arts Vision and made her debut in 2005. However, she retired and got a job when she was 20 years old while she was in college because of family circumstances ...

and Inori Minase (both in character) sung versions of the song, and are included in the original soundtrack compilations of Binbougami ga (under the title "Crossing Amagi") and Masamune-kun's Revenge (as an insert song in Episode 12) respectively.

B-side

The B-side song "Kakurenbo" (隠れんぼ Hide and Seek) is written by Osamu Yoshioka as lyricist, Tetsuya Gen as composer and Nobuyuki Sakuraba as arranger. The sleeve does not have the time of the song. Ishikawa's debut song bears the same title, but is a different song.

Album appearance

Amagi-goe is included in Ishikawa's studio album of the same title. The B-side song Kakurenbo is not included in any of her studio albums.

Credits and personnel

Tatsuo Watanabe ( 渡辺達生) is credited as photographer for the cover. The sleeve credits the disk as produced by Hori Music (ホリ・ミュージック).

Notes

{{authority control 1986 singles Japanese-language songs 1986 songs Sayuri Ishikawa songs