"Isetan Men's Stroll," a popular series in which Isetan Men's buyers explore interesting spots with curators from various fields, returns for its seventh installment. This time, the guest is none other than Ken Mitsuishi, one of Japan's leading supporting actors, whose fashion and lifestyle also attracts attention. The buyer joining him is Takayuki Inoue, who also appeared in the fifth installment of the series, where he toured famous American traditional clothing stores. Together with Mitsuishi, who experienced the American traditional boom in real time, they strolled through the Yanaka-Nezu-Sendagi area, where old and new cultures intertwine. Following the first part, which took them to a hotel in Nezu, the second part takes them to BAR Hoshikuzu in Yanaka, where city pop music plays.

Click here for the first part of the article.

Immerse yourself in the world of city pop at 'BAR Hoshikuzu'.

Ken Mitsuishi (hereinafter, Mitsuishi) : Wow, there are so many interesting shops in Yanaka, I can't help but want to stop by. Oh, BAR Hoshikuzu. This is the one. It's kind of nerve-wracking to go into a bar for the first time, isn't it?

Takayuki Inoue (hereinafter, Inoue): I don't go to bars very often, so I'm extra nervous. But I was told about this place by an acquaintance, and apparently it's a place that only plays city pop from the 70s and 80s, and its Showa retro atmosphere seems to be popular with young people and foreigners alike.

Mitsuishi has a calm and stylish atmosphere. Wow. There are so many nostalgic records!

Mr. Mitsuishi Inoue, do you have a few favorite bars you frequent? I'd love to learn from your manners in places like this.

Mitsuishi : No, I'm a complete beginner when it comes to bars. I've been taken there by acquaintances before, but I don't really go to any by myself. When you think of a bar, you think of that, right? The kind where a beautiful lady smoothly brings out a cocktail and says, "This is for the gentleman over there," right? I could never do that (laughs). So I don't really know much about cocktails, and I always end up ordering whiskey and soda.

So, it's an Inoue Highball. In that case, I think I could order it without any hesitation. This restaurant only stocks Japanese alcoholic beverages, right?

Mitsuishi : Oh, you're right. They have a lot of Japanese whiskies too, it's really stylish. Back in the day, we didn't call it a highball, we just called it whiskey with soda. But I was a late bloomer when it came to drinking, and I've never been to a club in Ginza or anything like that, so I only know a bit of childish ways to have fun. When I was younger, I loved music, so I used to go to discos a lot. Even there, I didn't dance; I just listened quietly to what music would come on. Oh, well, I did look at the girls though (laughs).

Inoue: I'm not very knowledgeable about music, but I really admire the way that kind of fun can unfold from music.

Mitsuishi: I think I also went to a soul bar. There are always older guys in soul bars who teach you all sorts of things about music. One day I went wearing black-rimmed glasses and one of them said to me, "Oh, you're trying to look like David Ruffin today." And when I asked, "Who is that?" he kindly explained it to me. Speaking of surfing, in the lyrics of Yumi Matsutoya's song "Tenkiame" (Sunshower), there's a surf shop called "Goddess," and since we're country bumpkins, we immediately looked up, "What's Goddess?"

Inoue : Oh, I know Goddess! It's in Chigasaki, right?

Mitsuishi : Wow, they have an amazing selection of records here. These kinds of records are quite expensive these days. Tower Records in Shibuya also has an entire floor dedicated to records, and it always seems to be packed with customers.

Artists like Eiichi Inoue and Tatsuro Yamashita are experiencing a resurgence in popularity, aren't they? Illustrator Hiroshi Nagai is also enjoying a comeback.

Tatsuro Mitsuishi's early records have been reissued, you know. I really love Tatsuro, and I always listen to his radio show every Sunday. But the songs he plays are too obscure. I hardly know any of them.

Inoue sounds interesting. I'll give it a listen sometime.

Mitsuishi: Back in our day, our seniors taught us that you absolutely couldn't get your fingerprints on records, so when DJs started becoming popular, I was really surprised to see everyone grabbing records with their bare hands. It was a real culture shock.

Inoue sometimes rubs it, right? Does the sound change if you handle it roughly?

Mitsuishi: I think dust and grease get stuck in the record and ruin the sound. That's why, when I bought a record, I would first dub it onto a cassette tape and then listen to it in my car stereo (*). I kept my records carefully stored. I also made a ton of mixtapes.

Inoue: That's what we'd call a playlist these days. And considering that cassette tapes are also experiencing a resurgence, it really seems like 70s and 80s culture is making a comeback.

I made a special mixtape for Mitsuishi , intending to play it on dates, but you know, I'd stay silent because I wanted her to hear it. Then the car would be completely silent, but she wasn't interested at all, so she wasn't listening. And I'd be throbbing with emotion the whole time... And then she'd fall asleep. I can't count how many times that'd happened.

Were there any bittersweet episodes like that during your dates with Mrs. Inoue ?

Mitsuishi : Well, at that time, we did play cassettes and things like that.

Inoue (laughs).

Mitsuishi : Also, when answering machines came out, back then, landlines had a tape inside, and you could record a message you liked on it, and it would play when you were out. I wanted to be particular about that too, so I would take the phone to the cassette deck, press the record button, play my favorite song, and then turn the volume down again at the right moment, saying something like, "This is Ken Mitsuishi. I'm currently out." But I always wanted to let people listen to the song, so it would end up being long, and they would usually cut it off halfway through (laughs). The president of my agency would yell at me, "It's too long!"

Inoue, it's great how you incorporate so much playfulness into your life. I really want to emulate that aspect of you. Nowadays, everything is so convenient and individuals can do almost anything, but whether it's cassettes, Walkmans, or records, what attracts us now might be that playful aspect.

Mitsuishi: That's right. This album by Eiichi Ohtaki, "Niagara Moon." It's a masterpiece. The jacket is cool too. The photo on the back cover is also cool. Behind Ohtaki-san, you can see the studio wall, and there are lots of 7-inch records displayed there. I wanted to do that too, and I'm sure they're all really obscure records, but I was just going to display them, so I thought it would be a waste to use good ones, so I bought some enka records that were selling for 50 yen or so and tried to imitate it (laughs).

Inoue is definitely cool. Let's have him play this. Do you have any song recommendations?

I recommend all of Mitsuishi's tracks , but I especially love the sequence on the B-side: "Shakkuri Mama-san," "Tanoshī Yofukashi," and so on. It's just the best. Ah, the nostalgia! When I was in my twenties, I would listen to this every night while slurping ramen and drawing pictures, doing things like that all by myself.

Inoue: That's the best way to spend time! It's really wonderful to listen to music and watch the night slowly unfold. I don't really have any hobbies myself, so from now on I want to make sure I have more fun, not just work.

Return to Ken Mitsuishi's Yanaka-Nezu-Sendagi Walk [Part 1]

【CHECK☟】
Ken Mitsuishi's second essay collection, "Riverside Boys," is now on sale!

"Riverside Boys" (Sanei, 1760 yen/tax included)