[78-L] Nobuko-san

[Hopkins/Kato]

I was amused to see Ken Matheson's mail about a popular auction site where
he said he set up a site for his wife's works. The mail was mainly off
topic, but, actually, "Nobuko-san" was the title of the first record by a
non-Japanese to become a hit in Japan. Sung by Barton Crane, who was a
newspaper writer assigned to Tokyo in the early 1930s, "Nobuko-san" was a
sing-along drinking song dedicated to his favorite waitress, Nobuko. Crane
had three or four more hits before he was reassigned and left Japan. The
novelty of a foreigner singing in Japanese has never been quite as popular
since, but there have been some efforts. (Betty Boop sings in Japanese in
one cartoon.)
David Hopkins
Nara, Japan