Tribute to “The Peanuts” Sisters

Shobijin of Mothra

Do you recall the tiny twin priestesses featured in the Japanese movie, Mothra (1961)?
Sci-fi fans would!
You may have bumped into re-runs/marathons of Japanese sci-fi flicks on cable-channels, in the last 40+ years, while changing the channel!
These clips may refresh your memory…

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Twin sisters portrayed miniature priestesses, Shobijin of Mothra’s  Infant Island, sang Mothra songs, and were two of  Japan’s first pop sensations. These diminutive beauties (4’11”/150 cm tall) were among the few Japanese performers who became well-known, internationally.

The Peanuts (ザ・ピーナッツ), identical-twin, duo singers/entertainers, Emi & Yumi Ito, actual names, Hideyo Itō (伊藤日出代, Itō Hideyo) and Tsukiko Itō (伊藤月子, Itō Tsukiko) were  born in Japan (Tokoname, Aichi prefecture) on April 1, 1941. Soon after their birth, the family moved to Nagoya.

There was no father in the picture. Their widowed mother had to raise them alone. The twins exhibited an interest in music and mimicked songs they heard on the radio.  Loving attention and entertainment, they appeared on Nagoya’s NHK TV, at age 10. At age 15, they started taking singing lessons from the pianist at a Nagoya jazz nightclub. This eventually resulted in them singing at the same nightclub, billed as the “Ito Sisters”.

In 1958, at age 17, they were discovered at this club by Shin & Misa Watanabe, owners of Watanabe Productions [1]. Taking them under their wings, the Watanabes moved the twins to Tokyo, gave them the stage name, “The Peanuts” and changed their first names to Emi and Yumi.  Emi had a mole on the outside of each eye. Yumi drew a mole in the same places as Emi’s, to reinforce their identical features. Their voices were only slightly apart in pitch, making a duet sound like a solo artist, using reverb. Emi singing harmony,  gave them a sound for which they became famous. They debuted with their first song, Petit Fluer [2] (可愛い花 Kawaii Hana) in April, 1959.

My famiy was living in Osaka, Japan. I was a first-grader or so, when I first saw identical, twin sisters on TV. The Peanuts (in Japan, pronounced, Za Pi–na’tsu) they were called, because every peanut shell has two nuts in it. The Peanust were singing their debut song, Petit Fluer (translated in Japanese, ‘cute flower’).  Indeed,  they were CUTE! This petite duo was unique  in every aspect than anything previously seen on Japanese variety shows; sound, fashion, and dancing, while singing. I became an instant fan, BIG TIME!  I followed every show they were in, bought every record they made and every magazine with their photo on the cover . The Peanuts were my IDOLS!

*Love’s Fugue (恋のフーガ Koino Fuuga)

The twins were identical, and yet my favorite was the older sister, Emi. I pretended to be Emi, and my sister, Butterfly,  a year older than me, filled in as the younger sister, Yumi. Together, we sang, side-by-side, as The Peanuts wannabes. Until… a visitor took our photo while we were singing. One look at the photo, Butterfly head-and-shoulders taller than me, and out went that idea.

The Watanabes featured them as presenters on a newly-launched TV program, The Hit Parade. (The show started with the twins popping out of a constructed giant peanut shell and shouting, “The hit Parade!”) The twins became even more popular with their next smash song,  Passion Flower (情熱の花 Jyonetsu no Hana), Ludwig van Beethoven’s Für Elise. Their fame was further solidified on their own TV show, Shabondama Holiday (Soap Bubble Holiday ) 1961 thru 1972. They were also known for their  sense of fashion and became trend-setters for other entertainers.

* Für Elise (情熱の花 Jyonetsu no Hana)

Caterina Valente Vacances de L’amour Japanese version

In 1963, they had yet another huge hit with Vacances de L’amour (恋のバカンス Koi no Bakansu). That same year, they befriended Paris-born (Italian heritage), German singer, Caterina Valente, whose songs they had covered. This led to The Peanuts performing and becoming popular in Germany. Later, Valente in turn, recorded a cover of The Peanuts’ hit, Vacances de L’amour.

* Vacances de L’amour (恋のバカンス Koi no Bakansu)

Even after  we left Japan for our home country, my dear friend, Shumi, kept me updated about The Peanuts’ latest. Shumi sent their photos and hit-song, LP record.  For those of you who are too young to know what an LP (long play) record is, Google it!

The Peanuts also appeared on popular USA variety TV shows, including Ed Sullivan (Sept 18, 1966) and Danny Kaye (Fall, 1966).

* Lover Come Back to Me on Ed Sullivan Show

They produced hit-after-hit, original songs written for them, and numerous revivals of  popular American, Latin and European songs.  The Peanuts also continued their long-running TV series, on which Emi met her future husband, singer Kenji ‘Julie’ Sawada, superstar of Group Sound era band, The Tigers.

The Peanuts’ TV show was finally cancelled in 1972. They starred in specials and rounds of celebrity appearances. It is very common in Japan, when a female entertainer gets married, that she retire from the entertainment business and lead a discreet private life. For this reason, The Peanuts officially retired from show business, with a farewell appearance on Nihon TV, on May 25th 1975.  They exited while still young and popular.

Emi (34) and Sawada (27) married on June 4, 1975,  and had a son in March, 1979. Due to Sawada’s infidelity, the couple divorced in 1987. Emi never re-married and Yumi never married.

I was a student in the USA when Emi got married and the duo retired. I was quite disappointed that they did not continue their career. Although The Peanuts retired in 1975, their CDs are available and popular, to this date. I bought quite a few of them  and received more as gifts, while I was an expat in Japan. I was known as Peko-chan, who loves The Peanuts.

Thirty-seven years after their retirement, they remain fondly-remembered entertainment business legends of Japan.

There was little further media exposure, until July 27, 2012, when reporters discovered  that after a period of being treated for cancer, Emi Ito-Sawada had died on June 15, 2012, at the age of 71.

Shumi called and gave me the sad news. In this medically advanced age, transcending at age 71 is too soon. She and her sister brought  joy and delight to the Japanese and internationally,  to those who knew them.

May Emi’s soul rest in peace.

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* Petite Fluer (可愛い花 Kawaii Hana)

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Shin & Misa Watanabe

[1] Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd. (株式会社渡辺プロダクション Kabushiki-gaisha Watanabe Purodakushon) is a multimedia management company in Japan dealing in recordings, films, television, music publishing and artist management as well as the main subsidiary of the Watanabe Production Group. Formed by bandleader Shin and his wife Misa Watanabe in 1955, the company has become one of the most influential of its kind in Japan. It is referred to informally in Japanese as Nabe-pro (ナベプロ, Nabepuro).

[2]   Petite Fleur is a successful instrumental written by Sidney Bechet and recorded in January1952, with the Sidney Bechet All-Stars.  In 1959, it was a big hit for Chris Barber’s Jazz Band. Following the Chris Barber instrumental recording, lyrics were added by Fernand Bonifay and Mario Bua, in the same year.

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