Yu-chan's Holiday in Hawaii

In 1967 Ishihara Yujiro (石原 裕次郎), Japan's premier male film star and enka singer, went to Hawaii to record an album, Holiday in Hawaii (裕ちゃんのホリデイ・イン・ハワイ). The cover features Yu-chan by the beach at Waikiki with a winsome local lady. Clear blue skies and coconut palms, lei necklace and ukulele, and... Hawaii!! An image of international jet-setting sophistication for aspiring and newly wealthy Japanese audiences back home.

The opening track, a Japanese language version of "On A Tropic Night" (南国の夜), clips along at a fair pace with bongos, ukulele and some blistering Hawaiian-style steel guitar from "Buckie Shirakata and His Aloha Hawaiians". Ishihara, in a reverbed Elvis-like croon, seems assured with the Japanese lyrics and uptempo rhythm. The album mixes such small group tracks with lusher numbers recorded with syrupy strings, marimba and perfunctory ukulele backing. The material ranges from Hawaiian standards sung in English ("Beyond the Reef" and a credible "Blue Hawaii") and Hawaiian to a reworking of an earlier enka hit "Kurutta Kajitsu" (狂った果実 or Crazed Fruit).

Despite those strings and a sometimes slurred accent, the album's vibe of Hawaii through a Japanese lens is ideal for relaxing on a warm night over a drink. Or play it before bed and drift off to sleep dreaming of some Japanesque Hawaiian holiday in the 1960s.