Longing For The Shadow: Ry​ū​k​ō​ka Recordings, 1921​-​1939Various Artists

• 1. 関種子 – Akemi's Poems
• 2. 楠木繁夫 – Longing For The Shadow
• 3. 田中彌生 – Sad Gull
• 4. 赤坂小梅 – Please Forgive Me
• 5. Ichimaru – If You Go Down The Tenryū
• 6. 根本美津子 – Cosmos Elegy
• 7. 藤山一郎 – Tokyo Daughter
• 8. 佐藤千夜子 – Skyscraper
• 9. 田中彌生 – The Dream Is Short Lived
• 10. 藤山一郎 – Is Sake Tears Or Sighs?
• 11. 音丸 – Yoneyama Sanri
• 12. 渡辺はま子 – I Don't Forget
• 13. 赤坂小梅 – Asama Smoke
• 14. 田端義夫 – Farewell Ship
• 15. 藤山一郎 – Farewell Youth
• 16. 小唄勝太郎 – Stand Up Tomorrow

Emerging during the early stages of the recording industry in Japan, the ryūkōka style adopted western classical, blues & jazz elements into traditional and classical Japanese music.

This collection of 1920s & 30s recordings follows on from the Kouta Katsutaro tape we put out a couple of years back, and further captures the hauntingly unique sound of a cultural merging that was starting to reflect itself via popular song, ahead of the widespread influence of western pop music during post-war US occupation.