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Hikō-ki Gumo (ひこうき雲, Vapor Trail), stylized as HIKŌ-KI GUMO, is the debut studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Yumi Arai, released in November 1973. The album is most known for its title track.

HIKŌ-KI GUMO
Studio album by Yumi Arai
Released	November 20, 1973
Genre	J-pop New music
Length	34:26
Label	Express
Producer	Kunihiko Murai
Yumi Arai chronology
HIKŌ-KI GUMO (1973) MISSLIM (1974)
Singles from HIKŌ-KI GUMO
"Henji wa Iranai" Released: July 5, 1972 "Kitto Ieru" Released: November 5, 1973 "Hikō-ki Gumo" Released: July 3, 2013

Overview

Before the album was released, the debut single Henji wa Iranai (sold for only 300 copies) along with her second single Kitto Ieru (B-side: Hikō-ki Gumo) was released first. Both of the singles was included in this album. Hikō-ki Gumo is a song originally made for Izumi Yukimura, the recording of the song was done but it was never released due to various reasons.[1]It was instead Yumi Arai (which was 19 at that time) first sang the song.

When Arai was in elementary school, she had a classmate who had a serious illness (muscular dystrophy). The boy would later die during his first year of high school. "Hikō-ki Gumo" is a song in which she mourns her friend who died at a young age and compares his life to a cloud.[2] It is said that this was the inspiration for making this song.

Caramel Mama performed the backing band for the album. Its members Masataka Matsutoya, who would later be her husband, as keyboardist. Haruomi Hosono as bass, Shigeru Suzuki as guitar and Tatsuo Hayashi as drums. Arai's voice was quivering all the time during the studio recordings, as a result, it took more than a year to complete the album.[2]

The design for the album jacket was influenced by church music, and was designed to imitate the German classic label, Archiv Produktion. The illustration in the booklet is by Arai herself and contains the poem "Birthday" (誕生日), which describes the change from a girl to an adult.[3]Along with it are the lyrics for the songs.

In 2013, it was announced that the song will be used as the theme song for the Ghibli movie "The Wind Rises". At the same time, the album would get a reissue. Its jacket features a Mitsubishi Zero, drawn by the studio, along with a white background. The booklet features all of the songs lyrics, together with the main visuals of the movie.

Tracklisting

Lyrics & Composition: Yumi Arai
Arrangements: Yumi Arai, Caramel Mama

Side 1

No.	Title	English Translation	Length
1.	"Hikō-ki Gumo [ひこうき雲]"	Vapor Trail	3:26
2.	"Kumori Zora [曇り空]"	Cloudy Weather	3:02
3.	"Koi No Super Parachuter [恋のスーパー・パラシューター]"	Super Parachuter of Love	2:55
4.	"Sore To Umi No Kagayaki Ni Mukete [空と海の輝きに向けて]"	Toward The Sky and Gleaming Sea	4:14
5.	"Kitto Ieru [きっと言える]"	I Know I Can Tell You	2:55
Total length:			16:32

Side 2

No.	Title	English Translation	Length
1.	"Velvet Easter [ベルベット・イースター]"	—	3:45
2.	"Kami Hikō-ki [紙ヒコーキ]"	Paper Plane	2:46
3.	"Ame No Machi O [雨の街を]"	In The Rainy Town	4:20
4.	"Henji Wa Iranai [返事はいらない]"	No Need To Reply	2:54
5.	"Sono Mama [そのまま]"	Don't Change	3:13
6.	"Hikō-ki Gumo [ひこうき雲] (Short Version)"	Vapor Trail	0:56
Total length:			17:54

Personnel

• Piano - Yumi Arai
• Bass - Haruomi Hosono
• Keyboard - Masataka Matsutoya
• Guitar - Shigeru Suzuki
• Drum - Tatsuo Hayashi
• Nylon Strings Guitar - Haruomi Hosono (A-1, A-5)
• Percussion - Masataka Matsutoya (A-3), Shigeru Suzuki (A-3), Tatsuo Hayashi (A-3, A-5, B-4), Rei Ohara (B-4)
• Banjo - Masataka Matsutoya (B-5)
• Flute - Akira Miyazawa (A-2)
• Chorus - Masataka Matsutoya (A-2), Singers Three (A-3), Yumi Arai (B-4)
• Tenor sax - Konosuke Saijo (A-5)
• Steel Guitar - Hiroki Komazawa (B-2, B-5)[4]

Chart Positions

Weekly charts

Year	Album	Country	Chart	Position	Weeks	Sales
1973	HIKŌ-KI GUMO	Japan	Oricon Weekly LP Albums Chart	9	98	259,000[5]
1976			Oricon Weekly CT Albums Chart	26	20	10,000[5]

Year-end charts

Year	Album	Country	Chart	Position	Sales
1976	HIKŌ-KI GUMO	Japan	Oricon Yearly Albums Chart (top 50)	11	171,000[6]

References

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