NINGYOCHO 1983 ♨ Japanese City Pop | Fifty Yen of Steam in a December Lane

NINGYOCHO 1983. The end of the year in an old Tokyo lane, told in ten original Japanese city pop songs — from waking the copper pot at first light to the noon bell on New Year's Eve. ♨ Tonight's story: She is three years into running her grandmother's amazake shop on Amazake Yokocho. A copper pot older than she is, koji left to work overnight, a doll maker who comes at three with white pigment still on his fingers, a sake shop errand boy racing the lane on a bicycle, and the bells at the water shrine at dusk. By New Year's Eve she has learned that seeing a year off and welcoming one in are the same care, in two different shapes. A note on this scene: every detail belongs to 1983. The light green sedan is a fourth- generation Toyota Corolla (E70, 1979–1983) — small, square, with fixed rectangular headlights. Amazake Yokocho in Ningyocho is named for an amazake shop that stood at its corner in the Meiji era; the district itself is called 'doll town' because puppet theatres and the doll makers who supplied them were concentrated here in the Edo period. Suitengu, the shrine at the end of the street, has been prayed to for safe childbirth since it was moved into the city in 1818. 00:00:00 Ningyocho 1983 (人形町1983) 00:03:37 Who Named This Sweet Alley (誰が付けたの 甘酒横丁) 00:07:29 Koji and Patience (麹と辛抱) 00:10:33 One Cup Against the Cold (寒さに一杯) 00:13:46 Sweeping Out the Year (煤払いの日) 00:17:28 The Doll Maker Next Door (隣の人形師) 00:20:57 Bells of the Water Shrine (水天宮の鈴) 00:24:30 The Errand Boy's Last Round (御用聞きの最終便) 00:28:12 The Night the Year Folds Away (年が畳まれる夜) 00:30:51 The Lane Is Ready for the Year (支度の整った横丁) 00:34:29 Ningyocho 1983 (人形町1983) 00:38:06 Who Named This Sweet Alley (誰が付けたの 甘酒横丁) 00:41:59 Koji and Patience (麹と辛抱) 00:45:03 One Cup Against the Cold (寒さに一杯) 00:48:15 Sweeping Out the Year (煤払いの日) 00:51:57 The Doll Maker Next Door (隣の人形師) 00:55:27 Bells of the Water Shrine (水天宮の鈴) 00:59:00 The Errand Boy's Last Round (御用聞きの最終便) 01:02:41 The Night the Year Folds Away (年が畳まれる夜) 01:05:20 The Lane Is Ready for the Year (支度の整った横丁) (total 68m58s) All songs are original works — our own stories, lyrics and music, created with the help of AI, inspired by the Japanese city pop of the 1980s. Japanese lyrics with English subtitles (auto-translate available for more languages). Tokyo Night Mix — original Japanese city pop for night drives, late work and quiet hours. Subscribe for a new period-checked drive through 1980s Japan:    / @tokyonightmix