Leaving Finance Behind: Pursuing a Dream in Street Performance
Different from a live house
Under the elevated tracks in Yurakucho, there’s a food alley called “Yurakucho Sanchoku Yokocho” with 11 restaurants. Every day, someone comes to perform as a street musician, and on this day, it was “Uwasa no Harumi,” a street performer with just over a year of experience.
She is currently 57 years old. Harumi has been singing in various ways, including gospel and in a Beatles band, while working at her job. As retirement approached, she started thinking about how to live the rest of her life. Then, when an unexpected job transfer came up, she decided to quit without hesitation and dive into this new career. Why did she choose to become a street performer?
Travelers from NY
As I started making my way through the alley, occasionally talking to customers, I was quickly approached. The first group to place an order was a party of four, consisting of a couple from New York and a friend who was acting as their tour guide.
While looking at the list of my signature songs, the guide, a woman, offered suggestions, saying things like, “This song is the theme song of a Hayao Miyazaki anime,” or “How about some city pop?” They requested a song with a beautiful melody, so we decided on “Hanamizuki.”
“They have stages and streets in America, but it’s rare for singers to walk around and sing while interacting with the audience. This is my first experience as a street performer,” they said, taking pictures of my performance and listening intently. After the song ended, they applauded and expressed their admiration, saying, “Beautiful voice.”
Harumi’s family home is in a rural town in Fukui, where they run a movie theater and a small shop. The shop has a jukebox, and she grew up listening to Showa-era songs from a young age. She moved to Tokyo when she entered university, and after starting her job, she continued to sing as a hobby while leading a salary woman’s life. Although her work was fulfilling, it involved a lot of overtime and made for a rather heavy daily routine.
“When I quit my job, I thought I wanted to live a life where I could focus on doing only the things I truly wanted to do” (Harumi, known for rumors, from here on referred to as the same).
She wanted to continue singing, but what path could she take to ensure she could keep singing forever? While struggling with this question, a flyer for a nearby food stall village arrived in her mailbox. It mentioned that a street performer would be coming. She invited her friends to go and, for the first time, saw the street performer, Paris Nakayama.
“Even the next day, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was completely different from the music I had been doing. Unlike my own live performances, where the audience is already welcoming, here you have to approach people without knowing if they will welcome you or not. There was a hurdle, and I felt uncertain, but I believed that meeting him here was fate, so I contacted Mr. Nakayama.”
