Chie Araki was a nagashi roving singer serenading customers at many old-style bars in the Arakicho district of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, before the COVID-19 pandemic and a cancer diagnosis forced the suspension of her ativities. Now she is aming for a comeback.
Although Araki, whose real name is Chiai Miyamoto, had to pause her performing career, her regulars formed a fan club last year to support her and preserve the culture of nagashi, a term for people who play guitar, accordion or other musical instruments and sing for customers in bars and restaurants.
They are looking forward to her return.
Born in Nagoya, Araki is also a talented manga artist, drawing comics since she was a child. She even won an award at a young age from a publisher as the top newcomer.
She studied art at a school in Aichi Prefecture and a private institution run by Kazuo Koike, a mangaka known for "Kozure Okami" (Lone Wolf and Cub) and other works.
Araki learned about the world of nagashi in 2012 after she moved to Tokyo to work as a manga artist in earnest. On the recommendation of a senior mangaka who was also a drinking companion, she became an apprentice to the late Shintaro Hiratsuka, a guitar-playing nagashi working in Arakicho, whose real name was Tadayoshi Sakurai.
Araki, who shared her mother's love of kayokyoku (pop songs of the 1926-89 Showa era), also had experience of working as a vocalist in a band.
Although Araki had seen nagashi only in black-and-white movies from the Showa period, she learned the charm of nagashi from Hiratsuka, who cherished once-in-a-lifetime encounters with sozzled customers and made them smile with his light-hearted conversations and songs.
Araki became popular among the customers as soon as she began using her drawing skills to sketch portraits of them. Calling herself "Chie the singing mangaka," Araki began working as a nagashi alongside Hiratsuka.
--Singing alone
Hiratsuka, who had worked as a nagashi for about 60 years and was referred to as a "legend," died of cancer in August 2017 at 74. Without her master, Araki's situation completely changed. She had to go around from bar to bar deep into the night, performing and conducting business.
Araki practiced a lot on a unique custom-made five-string shamisen -- an instrument that normally has three strings -- to widen its range of playable notes. To broaden her customer base, she expanded her repertoire to include contemporary pop music and jazz, in addition to her playlist of Showa kayokyoku.
Araki embraced the increased publicity she received as a female nagashi and released her debut CD in July 2019, featuring the song "Nakanaiyo" (I won't cry), produced by singer-songwriter Kei Ogla.
As she gained confidence in becoming an independent singer, the novel coronavirus pandemic took hold in the Arakicho district.
To avoid giving the impression that she might be spreading the virus by performing at multiple venues each night, Araki decided to step away from her activities at the end of March last year.
-- Fan club
The hardships continued. She was doing a few portrait drawings at home, but her health began to deteriorate. In January of this year, she was diagnosed with rectal cancer.
"The pressure of not having a master was huge, and I was pushing myself too hard to meet the expectations of my customers," Araki recalled.
A group of Arakicho restaurant owners and others supported Araki in this unhappy period. Lounge owner Hisako Miyasaka, 62, established the fan club in June last year, during Araki's hiatus from singing in the district.
The club grew to about 50 members from across the country and was running a website took commissions for manga portraits to be drawn by Araki and created video messages of support for the performer.
Said Miyasaka: "Chie-chan is an 'intangible cultural asset' in this town. I want to keep supporting her."
Araki underwent surgery in February. The pain has subsided and she has recovered enough physical strength to venture outside. But she said singing, which requires abdominal strength, remains difficult.
Still, one of her fans, Kaichi Hashimoto, 76, who ran a restaurant in Arakicho until last year, said: "I want to hear Chie-chan sing Hibari Misora's 'Ai Sansan' when she gets better."
Araki holds the words of her master in her heart: "It's all about meeting people. What's important is to be liked by people."
Said Araki: "Nagashi is my vocation. I want to sing for the people who light up my place like a spotlight does."
While seeking ways to hold a members-only live performance for the fan club and perform other activities, she hopes that the day will soon come when she is again playing and singing around the district as a nagashi.
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