Funiculì funiculà
Tozandensha, フニクリ フニクラ（登山電車）
In 1961, a Japanese rendition of the Neapolitan song Funiculì funiculà was performed by Duke Aces and broadcast on NHK's Minna no Uta program. This version, titled Tozandensha (Mountain Railway), commemorated the opening of the first funicular railway on Mount Vesuvius. The performance included shadow play from the Kakashiza Shadow Play Theatre. However, it is believed that this recording may now be lost media. In 1970, a performance by the Hibarigaoka Boys and Girls Choir (Hibarigaoka Shounen Shoujo Gasshoudan) of the original song was broadcast on Minna no Uta, accompanied by an animated video created by Hal Fukushima.
Hal Fukushima
- Animation Director
Harutsugu Fukushima, a native of Shizuoka Prefecture, was an active contributor to Minna no Uta (NHK) and created 11 animated shorts for the show between 1970 and 1999. He also founded his own animati...
Luigi Denza
- Theme Song Composition
Luigi Denza was an Italian composer who was born at Castellammare di Stabia near Naples. He studied music under Saverio Mercadante and Paolo Serrao at the Naples Conservatory before moving to London, ...