The song that led me home

This file photo shows Kawakami Sadao (first from right, second row) and colleagues in Dalian. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Encountering a city through a song

According to a media report published in 2017, more than two million Japanese tourists visited Wuxi during the three decades after the song's release, making Japan the city's largest source of inbound visitors for many years. Among all the Japanese songs ever written about Chinese cities, none has had a comparable influence.

In 1989, I transferred to the overseas division to work on China investment projects. While I was already familiar with Beijing and Shanghai, Wuxi was still just a name from a lyric.

To prepare for my new role, I looked up the full lyrics of Mushaku Ryojo and began reading about the city. The more I learned, the more curious I became. I hoped that one day I might visit it myself.

Ironically, my first assignment in China took me not to Wuxi, but to Dalian, far to the northeast, in Liaoning province.

After eight years there, I assumed my connection with Wuxi would begin and end with that one song.