In September 1980, a young duo from Fukuoka released their third single. “Banri no Kawa” (万里の河), by CHAGE and ASKA (then known as Chage & Aska), became their first Top 10 hit in Japan.
The song
ASKA wrote both the lyrics and the music. He aimed for a commercial hit, and built the melody on Chinese-style phrases and an “oriental” vocal line. The lyrics follow a woman waiting for a lover who has left, using the endless flow of a river as a metaphor for longing.
The numbers
It reached #6 on the weekly Oricon chart and sold about 537,000 copies.
A TV moment
The duo performed it on TBS’s music show The Best Ten from a Tohoku Shinkansen station, before the line officially opened.
The trap of success
The hit also boxed ASKA in. He felt pressure to keep writing similar songs, until the duo changed labels and released “Morning Moon,” which marked their creative release.
Why this song stays with me
I was still a child when I first heard this song, and the title alone stopped me. “Banri” means “ten thousand miles,” and those words made China feel unimaginably vast to me. I remember being deeply moved by that sense of scale.
I only realized while writing this article that I had been mixing up this song with the Great Wall, “Banri no Chojo” (万里の長城). The song is about a river, “Banri no Kawa,” but the two titles had melted into one in my childhood memory.
A pop song taught a child how big a country could be, even if she got the name wrong. Decades later, I still feel that quiet wonder whenever I hear it.
It is wonderful how a single song can bring a whole era back to us.
Listen
Listen to “Banri no Kawa” on YouTube Music
Part of my “one 80s J-pop song a day” series, for international fans who want to know the stories behind the music.
A concert video by CHAGE and ASKA (CDJapan, affiliate link):