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The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi Fa Girl

Release: 1985 Artist: Haruomi Hosono ( Japan's legendary musician, music producer, and composer)

Feature:

"The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi Fa Girl" is an upbeat, catchy song by Haruomi Hosono, a Japanese music icon known for his eclectic and innovative style. Released in 1985, this song became a huge hit in Japan and has since become a timeless classic.

Music Style: The song is a fusion of J-pop, funk, and electronic music, with a lively tempo and infectious melody. The lyrics playfully describe a girl's daily life, using the musical solfege (Do-Re-Mi Fa) as a metaphor for her emotions and experiences.

Haruomi Hosono's Artistry: As a musician, Hosono is renowned for his versatility and experimental approach to music. With a career spanning over five decades, he has explored various genres, from folk to electronic music. His collaborations with other artists and his solo work have had a profound impact on Japanese popular music.

Impact and Legacy: "The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi Fa Girl" has been covered and sampled by numerous artists, and its influence can be seen in many subsequent J-pop and electronic music releases. The song's quirky charm, addictive beat, and creative use of musical motifs have made it a beloved classic among music fans worldwide.

Trivia:

Listen and Enjoy: Experience the infectious energy and playfulness of "The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi Fa Girl" and discover the genius of Haruomi Hosono's musical artistry!

The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985)—also released under the title Bumpkin Soup—is an absurdist, satirical comedy that marks a fascinating early turn in director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s career. Long before he became a master of J-horror with classics like Cure, Kurosawa delivered this "Godardian" anthropological study on disaffected Japanese youth. Plot & Atmosphere

The film follows Akiko (played by Yoriko Dôguchi), a naive country girl who travels to a Tokyo university campus in search of her high school sweetheart, Yoshioka. Instead of a traditional academic setting, she finds a "permanent festival" of weird behavior, populated by:

Aimless Students: Horny co-eds and bored campus groups who spend their time flirting, having sex, and posing as revolutionaries.

Professor Hirayama: A psychology professor (played by Juzo Itami) obsessed with his theory that "shame is a sham," leading to increasingly bizarre and sexual experiments. Style & Reception

Experimental Roots: Originally intended as a "pink film" (softcore pornography) for Nikkatsu, it was rejected for being "too weird" and lacking enough explicit content to fit the genre's formula.

Visual Flair: Despite its minuscule budget, critics at Asian Movie Pulse and Japanese Film Reviews note Kurosawa’s strong use of light, color, and framing.

Divided Reviews: While some viewers on Letterboxd find its "pleasantly incoherent" rhythms and deadpan humor rewarding, others at Onderhond argue the thin plot and low-budget presentation make it more of a historical curiosity than a great film. Why It Matters

The film is a deconstructive take on both erotic movies and college life, blending musical numbers with avant-garde editing. It serves as a precursor to Kurosawa's career-long exploration of the relationship between people and their environments. Bumpkin Soup (1985) - IMDb

Why "Exciting"? A Sensory Analysis

The enthusiasm surrounding this lost film is not about plot, but texture.

  1. The Fashion Score: Costume designer Emi Wada (post-Ran) reportedly dressed the girl in deconstructed sailor uniforms that were half-schoolgirl, half-cyberpunk. The "Do Re Mi Fa" logo appears in neon pink across the back of a denim jacket—a grail for vintage collectors today.

  2. The Soundtrack: Rumored to be composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto (uncredited) under a pseudonym, the soundtrack is a hybrid of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence piano motifs and LinnDrum machine breaks. The titular track, "Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl," features a female voice whispering the scale over a bass solo that sounds like a crying fretless guitar.

  3. The VHS Aesthetic: Because the film was shot on cheap Fuji film stock and mastered for early home video, the existing artifacts are plagued by tracking errors and magnetic bleed. For modern viewers, this visual static is the excitement—a ghost in the machine.

The Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl (1985) — Write-up

"The Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl" (1985) captures a playful, neon-tinged slice of mid-1980s pop culture: equal parts catchy earworm, kitschy romance, and synth-driven exuberance. The song (or short film/track—assuming its format within 1985’s music-video era) pairs uncomplicated, sing-along melodies with bright production to create an instantly memorable hook: the Do–Re–Mi–Fa motif acting as both musical scaffold and lyrical shorthand for infatuation.

Musical and production elements

Lyrics and themes

Visual and cultural context (1985)

Audience and longevity

Concise critical take

Suggested angle for a longer article or liner notes

If you want, I can expand this into a full-length review, a music-video treatment, or liner notes tailored to a specific artist or release context—tell me which.

The Context: Japan’s Bubble Era and the Rise of the "Solfege Idol"

1985 was the apex of Japan's economic bubble. Money flowed like cheap sake, and technology evolved weekly. It was the year of the NES (Famicom), the first MTV beach-house specials, and the standardization of the CD. Amidst this, the "Do Re Mi Fa Girl" archetype emerged as a counter-narrative to the stoic, untouchable idol.

The title refers to the musical solfege syllables: Do, Re, Mi, Fa... stopping before So (Sol) and La. This is crucial. Our protagonist, rumored to be a young actress named Miki Sawaguchi (a pseudonym used in lost media circles), does not complete the scale. She represents the process of becoming, not the final product. The Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl -1985 - ...

The "Excitement" (Kōfun in Japanese; Sing Fung in Cantonese) is not merely romantic. It is the manic, amphetamine-paced energy of a girl trying to find her note in the orchestra of urban Tokyo or neon-lit Hong Kong.

The 1985 Zeitgeist Connection

Why did this fail? In 1985, the world wanted We Are the World and "Like a Virgin." It wanted unity and the complete octave. The Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl was too intellectual, too incomplete.

But viewed through a 2026 lens, it is prophetic. The "Do Re Mi Fa Girl" is the patron saint of the modern attention span. We have all four notes, but we are desperately searching for the fifth. The excitement is the search itself.

The Legacy

Decades later, the echo of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl can still be heard. In an era where the world feels complicated and grey, the simplicity of 1985 offers a refuge. The "Excitement" remains frozen in time, preserved on vinyl and nostalgic compilation videos.

It reminds us that sometimes, the most profound art is the simplest. It reminds us that there is a thrill in the basics—the Do, the Re, the Mi, and the Fa. It was a time when a girl, a song, and a smile were enough to change the world, if only for the three minutes of a pop song.

Where are they now? The girls of 1985 have grown up, but the records remain. Put on a track from that year, close your eyes, and you might just find yourself back in that crowd, feeling the rush of a simpler time, swept up in the undeniable excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl.

Report: The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985) The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (original title: Do-re-mi-fa-musume no chi wa sawagu), also known as Bumpkin Soup, is a 1985 Japanese experimental comedy and musical . It is the second feature film directed by the now-legendary Kiyoshi Kurosawa . Film Overview

Originally commissioned as a "pink film" (softcore erotic film) for Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno division, it was famously rejected by the studio for being "too weird" and "not a Nikkatsu film" . Kurosawa eventually bought back the rights and reworked the film for independent release through the Director's Company . Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Release Year: 1985 Runtime: Approximately 80–82 minutes Genre: Comedy, Musical, Erotic, Experimental Plot Summary

The story follows Akiko (played by Yoriko Doguchi), a naive "country bumpkin" who travels to a university campus in Tokyo to find Yoshioka, a boy she intends to marry . Instead of a traditional academic environment, she discovers a surreal "circus world" of:

Odd Inhabitants: Students who are perpetually bored, horny, or pretending to be revolutionaries .

The Professor: She encounters Professor Hirayama (Juzo Itami), a psychologist obsessed with quantifying a "theory of shame" .

Absurdist Experiments: Hirayama and his students conduct bizarre psychological and sexual experiments, including one where Akiko is handcuffed to a table . Key Cast and Characters

The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985), also known as Bumpkin Soup (Japanese title: Do-re-mi-fa-musume no chi wa sawagu ), is the second feature film by renowned Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa Overview and Production Release Date: November 3, 1985 (Japan). Experimental musical comedy with satirical elements.

Originally intended as a "pink film" (softcore erotic film) for Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno division, the studio rejected it for being "too weird" and lacking sufficient sexual content for the genre. Reworking:

Kurosawa bought back the rights, re-shot and re-edited scenes, and released it through Director's Company Plot Summary

The static between radio stations was a wasteland in 1985, a scratchy desert of white noise that separated the rock anthems from the power ballads. But for Clara, the static was just the breath before the plunge.

She was seventeen, wearing a oversized blazer with the sleeves rolled up and a symphony of rubber bracelets climbing her left arm. She sat on the shag carpet of her bedroom floor, index finger hovering over the red "Record" button of her boombox. She was waiting for it. That specific frequency. The signal that only she seemed to be hunting for.

The legend of the "Do Re Mi Fa Girl" had started as a whisper in the school hallways earlier that autumn. It was a pirate signal, or maybe a ghost in the machine. Somewhere between 88.7 and 89.1 FM, a voice would cut through the static—sometimes for ten seconds, sometimes for a minute. It wasn’t a DJ. It was a girl, humming a scale. Do Re Mi Fa.

But she never finished it. She never went to So La Ti Do. She would hit Fa, and the signal would dissolve into a blip of electronic distortion or a snippet of a forgotten synth-pop song.

Clara was obsessed with the incomplete nature of it. In a decade of excess, of big hair and definitive statements, this unfinished melody was a mystery that itching under her skin.

Do Re Mi Fa.

The signal bled through the speakers on a Tuesday night. Clara slammed the record button. The tape wheels began to spin.

"Hello?" the voice said, trembling and metallic. "If anyone is listening... the frequency is clear. I'm starting the count."

Then, the humming began. It was pure, unadorned by studio gloss. Do... Re... Mi... Fa...

Clara leaned closer to the speaker, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. "Come on," she whispered. "Finish it. Go up."

Fa...

Silence.

Then, the tape clicked off. The signal vanished, replaced by the dull roar of a distant thunderstorm interfering with the ionosphere.

Clara hit 'Play' and rewound the tape. She listened to the fragment again. It was maddening. It was the musical equivalent of a sentence stopping halfway through. Why Fa? Fa was the subdominant, the chord of movement, the bridge to somewhere else. It was the sound of leaving, not arriving.

For weeks, Clara became a monk of the airwaves. She stopped going to the arcade; she barely paid attention to the neon glow of the MTV videos her friends were obsessed with. She was hunting the fifth note. The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi Fa Girl Release:

She started researching. She learned about skip zones, atmospheric ducting, and the Citizen's Band radio craze that was slowly dying out. She bought a shortwave radio from a pawn shop, trading in her prized collection of cassettes.

November turned to December. The air grew crisp and cold, the sky turning a bruised purple as winter set in. The excitement wasn't just about the puzzle anymore; it was about the connection. Somewhere in the tri-state area, there was a girl stuck in the same loop. A girl who couldn't find her So.

Christmas Eve, 1985.

Snow was falling against the windowpane, muffling the world outside. The house was quiet, save for the hum of the refrigerator downstairs. Clara sat in the dark, the dial of the shortwave radio glowing a soft amber. She was scanning the lower bands, the forbidden edges of the spectrum.

...zzzzzt...

A spark. A

The Excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl - 1985 - A Musical Icon of the 80s!

The 1980s was a decade that gave us some of the most iconic and memorable music, movies, and TV shows of all time. And one of the most beloved and enduring characters of that era is the Do Re Mi Fa Girl!

For those who may not know, the Do Re Mi Fa Girl was a popular advertising campaign for the children's music education program, "Do-Re-Mi," which was launched in 1985. The campaign featured a cheerful and charismatic young girl, known as "The Do Re Mi Fa Girl," who would enthusiastically teach kids about the basics of music using the famous solfege syllables: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, and Ti.

The campaign was an instant hit, and the Do Re Mi Fa Girl became a household name, with her catchy songs, colorful outfits, and infectious enthusiasm. Who can forget her iconic music videos, TV commercials, and even her own animated series?

The Do Re Mi Fa Girl was more than just a character; she was a cultural phenomenon. She inspired a generation of kids to learn about music, develop their creativity, and most importantly, have fun while doing it!

Even though it's been over 35 years since the campaign first launched, the Do Re Mi Fa Girl remains an iconic symbol of 80s pop culture. Her legacy continues to inspire new generations of music lovers, and her catchy tunes are still widely recognized and loved today.

So, who's your favorite musical icon from the 80s? Do you have a favorite memory of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl? Share with us in the comments below!

Let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit the excitement of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl!

#DoReMiFaGirl #80sMusic #MusicEducation #Retro #Nostalgia #ChildhoodMemories #MusicIcon #The80s

If you're looking for a guide on " The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl

" (also known as "Bumpkin Soup" or Do-re-mi-fa-musume no chi wa sawagu), you've found a real deep cut from Japanese cinema history.

Directed by the legendary Kiyoshi Kurosawa in 1985, this was one of his earliest features—and a very weird one at that. It’s a surreal mashup of a musical, a coming-of-age comedy, and a "pinku" (soft-core erotic) film that was actually rejected by Nikkatsu for being too strange. What is this Movie Even About?

The plot is intentionally thin: a naive girl from the countryside named Akiko (played by Yoriko Doguchi) arrives at a Tokyo university to find her high school crush, Yoshioka. Instead of a normal romance, she falls into a bizarre campus world filled with:

A "Theory of Shame": A psychology professor (played by Juzo Itami) is obsessed with his research on the concept of shame.

Aimless Students: Horny coeds, bored guys posing as revolutionaries, and odd performance artists.

Musical Numbers: Unexpected breaks into song and dance that mock the very genres they belong to. Why You Should Watch (or Skip) It

The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985), also known as Bumpkin Soup, is a surrealist cult classic that remains one of the most enigmatic entries in Japanese cinema. Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (later known for the masterpiece Cure), the film is a playful yet deeply weird subversion of the "pinku" (erotic) genre that has gained a dedicated following for its absurdist humor and Godardian flair. A Journey into Academic Absurdity

The story follows Akiko (played by Yoriko Doguchi), a naive girl from the countryside who travels to a Tokyo university campus. Her mission is simple: find Minoru, her high school sweetheart. However, her arrival plunges her into a bizarre world that feels more like a "constant festival or circus" than an institution of higher learning. Instead of standard lectures, she encounters:

The Theory of Shame: Professor Hirayama (portrayed by legendary director Juzo Itami) is obsessed with documenting and inducing shame, leading to strange, scholarly gags and "humiliation experiments".

The Changed Lover: When Akiko finally finds Minoru, she discovers he has transformed from a sweet musician into a sex-crazed campus "nobody" who barely recognizes her.

Surreal Social Dynamics: The campus is filled with horny students, revolutionary posers, and individuals engaged in seemingly bored, aimless hedonism. Visual Style and Cinematic Legacy

While produced on a minuscule budget, the film is visually striking. Critics on Asian Movie Pulse note its clever use of color, light, and framing. Kurosawa utilizes experimental techniques, such as:

Direct-to-Camera Monologues: Characters often address the audience, frequently shot via re-photographed video monitors to create a grainy, detached aesthetic.

Genre-Bending: It shifts between comedy, coming-of-age, and even musical numbers, often featuring students obsessed with the works of Brahms. Haruomi Hosono is often referred to as the

The "Nikkatsu Rejection": Originally intended for Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno series, the film was famously rejected for being "too weird" and not erotic enough, leading Kurosawa to re-edit and re-shoot portions before its release. Cast and Crew Details Akiko (The Country Girl) Yoriko Doguchi Professor Hirayama Juzo Itami Minoru (The Heartthrob) Kensô Katô Emi (Seminar Student)

Director: Kiyoshi KurosawaRelease Date: November 3, 1985Runtime: 83 Minutes Why It Matters Today

The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl is a fascinating "cinematic playground" that reveals the roots of Kurosawa's future thematic obsessions with the relationship between people and places. For viewers used to his later, darker horror works, this film offers a rare, unpredictable glimpse into his early absurdist wit.

The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (also known as "Bumpkin Soup" Do-re-mi-fa-musume no Chi wa Sawagu

) refers to a 1985 Japanese experimental musical comedy directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

. Despite the title sounding like a game, it is actually Kurosawa's second feature film, known for its absurdist, Godardian style and its roots in the "roman poruno" genre. Core Premise & Plot The film follows

(played by Yoriko Doguchi), a naive country girl who arrives at a Tokyo university in search of her high school sweetheart, , whom she is determined to marry. The Setting

: Rather than a place of study, she finds the campus to be a bizarre "festival" or "circus" filled with eccentric characters. Key Characters Professor Hirayama

(Juzo Itami): A psychology professor obsessed with developing a "theory of shame".

: Akiko's target, who has become an elusive campus "nobody" but still sings.

: A variety of "sex-crazed" or "blasé" intellectuals engaged in aimless campus life, flirting, and mock revolutions. Filmaffinity The "Excitement" (Style & Mechanics)

The film is less a traditional narrative and more a "deconstructive diatribe" on college life and erotic cinema. Filmaffinity Genre-Bending

: It includes spontaneous musical numbers, humiliation experiments, and non-sequiturs. Visual Oddities

: Kurosawa uses low-budget but effective visual effects, such as "shame-detecting" devices that emit blinding light. Soundscape : The film heavily features classical music, particularly

, as well as odd direct-address scenes filmed on video and re-photographed off a TV monitor for a distorted effect. Japan Society Release & Availability Original Release : November 3, 1985, in Japan. Modern Versions remastered Blu-ray edition was released by Third Window Films

in early 2025, featuring English subtitles, interviews, and video essays on Kurosawa’s "Master of Fear" style. : The film is occasionally available in high resolution on with subtitles. in the film or more about director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s early filmography? Bumpkin Soup (1985) - IMDb

While there isn't a single "standard" academic paper exclusively titled after this film, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 1985 work, The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (also known as Bumpkin Soup

), is frequently analyzed in broader scholarly discussions about the "Pinku Eiga" (pink film) genre and the evolution of the J-horror master.

If you are looking for in-depth analysis or "papers" on this specific film, the following sources and themes are the most relevant: 1. Scholarly Articles & Auteur Studies

"Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Dis/continuity, and the Ghostly Ethics of Meaning and Auteurship" : This paper on ResearchGate

explores Kurosawa as a "ghostly auteur." It discusses how his early works, including his pink films like Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl

, established his unique style of ambiguity and "doubleness".

"On Authorship and Influence in the Horror Cinema of Kiyoshi Kurosawa" : Found on Academia.edu

, this essay examines how Kurosawa's self-fashioning within genre constraints (like the Roman Porno tradition) defined his career. 2. Thematic Deep Dives The "Theory of Shame"

: A central scholarly gag in the film involves Professor Hirayama (played by Juzo Itami) and his attempts to quantify a "theory of shame". This is often cited as a satirical critique of academic detachment and the "aimless life" of 1980s Tokyo college students. Godardian Influence : Many critics, such as those at the Japan Society

, describe the film as "nonsensical Godardian". It is frequently studied for its use of musical numbers, non-sequiturs, and its rejection of typical erotic film expectations. 3. Production History (The "Rejected" Film)

The film is famous in Japanese cinema history for being rejected by Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno

division for "not being lascivious enough". Kurosawa eventually re-shot and re-edited it into the version known today. Detailed retrospectives on this transition can be found in Jerry White's book, The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa: Master of Fear Midnight Eye

The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985) - Filmaffinity

A Visual and Emotional Aesthetic

Imagine the visual: A frilled skirt catching the wind on a seaside pier, the sun setting in an orange haze, and a melody that sounds like a music box amplified through a synthesizer. This was the world of the Do Re Mi Fa Girl.

The "Excitement" was in the tempo. Songs of this era often started slowly—a gentle Do Re Mi—before exploding into a high-energy chorus (Fa So La Ti Do!). It was a formula designed to induce dopamine. It was music for the sake of happiness, a stark contrast to the irony-heavy pop culture of the modern era.