Song of the Week: Natsu no Owari – Moriyama Naotarō

This week’s Song of the Week is Natsu no Owari by Moriyama Naotarō. The title “Natsu no Owari” (夏の終わり) means The End of Summer, which is perfect for this week’s song as last week signaled the end of summer in Japan and the start of Autumn. 

Moriyama Naotarō ((森山直太朗) is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter from Tokyo, Japan. He made his major debut in 2002 with the single “Hoshikuzu no Serenade” and made his big break with the hit song “Sakura” in March, 2003. Naotarō comes from a music family, his mother is the famous 1970’s Japanese folk singer, Ryōko Moriyama.

It was during University at Seijo University that Naotarō started seriously planning guitar and writing songs. He started doing street performances from there as well as playing in music clubs in the Tokyo area. He was picked up by the music label ‘NNR’, releasing a mini-album in 2001.

Natsu no Owari was released on August 20, 2003 and followed up on the success of “Sakura” released earlier that year. Natsu no Owari was Naotarō’s third single and is still very popular today as a summer song.

Moriyama Naotarō is a really interesting singer with a unique distinctive style. You can check out his official website here naotaro.com.

 I hope you like the song and if you’re in Japan like me enjoy the Autumn ahead.

Natsu no Owari by Moriyama Naotarō