In Memoriam ’23]”Keep singing. Someday you will understand”…Shizuka Ijuin “Masahiko Kondo Reveals” the Essence of Relentlessness

Shizuka Ijuin
Died on November 24 at the age of 73

Shizuka Ijuin, a writer and lyricist, passed away on November 24, 2011, at the age of 73. He was a producer of TV commercials and directed concerts for Yumi Matsutoya and Seiko Matsuda. He was also active as a lyricist, and had a major hit with Masahiko Kondo’s “Gingira Gingira Gingira Sasashimi” (Gingira Gingira Gingira, casually). In the same year, he also made his debut as a writer with his novel “Satsuki,” which won numerous literary awards.

Singer Masahiko Kondo, whose signature song is “The Idiot,” for which Mr. Ijuin wrote the lyrics, recalls his thoughts at the time.

I finally came to understand the meaning of “The Idiot.
Masahiko Kondo, singer

I met Ijuin-san for the first time when I was 16 years old. It was in the recording studio for my debut song. The staff told me to be careful about my manners because a noisy teacher was coming, and I was bracing myself, but Mr. Ijuin was just so cool. He wore a long black coat tastefully and behaved smartly. After a short conversation,

If you ever come to Shonan, stop by.

Instead of his business card, he gave me a box of matches from the Nagisa Hotel, where he used to stay. I thought, “How cool! I thought.

I won the Japan Record Award in 1987 for “Foolishness,” for which Mr. Ijuin wrote the lyrics. But the lyrics were not idol-like and difficult to understand, and at the age of 22, I did not understand the meaning of the song. So I asked Mr. Ijuin about it. He said, “This is a song about a drunk in Shinbashi,

He said, “This is a song about a drunk in Shinbashi.

I was told, “This is a song about a drunk in Shimbashi,” ……. I thought, “There’s no way that’s true,

But he said, “Kondo-kun, keep singing. Someday you will understand.

But I was almost 60 years old. But now that I am almost 60 years old, when I sing this song, it touches my heart. When we drank together, Mr. Ijuin would sometimes talk about “parting with people. Since Mr. Ijuin was an incorrigible man, he had been in the company of “fools” and other men in his tumultuous and eventful life. He also experienced parting with them, and I think he expressed that in my songs.

I wonder if Mr. Ijuin sensed the atmosphere of unrequited love in me as well.　He also wrote several other songs about male friendship and parting. All of them are treasures for me. I will continue to sing the songs that Mr. Ijuin left me with great care.

From the December 29, 2023 issue of FRIDAY