OMODAKA x Plum Song

HearJapan: Can you please tell us the reason you selected the four songs you did for tomorrow’s release of Plum Song?

OMODAKA: Our previous 6 releases were themed around boat racing. For this release we tried a new theme. This EPs theme was the red light district. For Plum Song I felt like making a song with the chord structure of “DeBarge – I like It”. For Tankou bushi I wanted to have a song that sounded lewd to match the theme. I also wanted to try switching up the tempo. For Hohai Bushi and Tawaratsumi Uta have nothing to do with the red light district but I thought they were interesting songs, so I tried working with them.

Note: OMODAKA takes traditional Japanese songs from hundreds of years ago and makes modern mixes of them. So all of the songs discussed are his versions of traditional songs. Below is a video of the bassline from DeBarge – I like It.

HearJapan: The video for Plum Song is set in the ancient red light district of “Yoshiwara”. From the perspective of the song writer, after watching the video what in particular did you take a liking to?

OMODAKA: Well I changed the scale of the original song to give it a more bright coat. Like some previous works like YOSAWYA SAN, I chose to not use minyo music, but Hauta styled music, which was the big city music of the Edo period (1603-1868). It was something that I hadn’t tried in a long time.

HearJapan: In the video there are many symbols represented by uniquely Japanese objects. Can you please explain what these objects and their representing symbolism is?

OMODAKA: OMODAKA’s family crest (emblem) was displayed in numerous forms. In addition to that, there are many symbols representing sex toys which were chosen by the director. I’m not sure exactly what all of them all are, but the users at YouTube have done a great job at finding the symbols and explaining them. They have saved me.



HearJapan: Did you have any hardships or interesting episodes with your first new release in three years?

OMODAKA: It was difficult coordinating the release with the video as it would took a long time to produce the video adding to uncertainty of choosing a release date. Despite that frustration, I am also extremely pleased with the final result that the director crafts. There was also one part of the video that I had to restrain the director from putting it in the final cut. One of the characters to appear in the video used imagery that was so direct it could be considered lewd by many. I discussed this with the director and it was subsequently edited out.