Flashback Friday: Chisato Moritaka - Za Sutoresu | You bedda work bitch

Flashback Friday: Chisato Moritaka - Za Sutoresu | Random J Pop

We can't talk bad bitches in J-Pop without mentioning Chisato Moritaka. And I can't do a post on her with the current world situation without acknowledging her hit song "Za Sutoresu", which translates to "The Stress".

"Za Sutoresu" is a song born out of Chisato's own personal experience. During rehearsal for her first major tour, Chisato was down for the count with abdominal pain. It turned out she'd suffered an inflammation of her small intestine known as enteritis, which was caused due to stress.

Chisato was a notable J-Pop star because she did something which was not common at the time for a female J-Pop star; she wrote many of her own songs, her own music and played multiple instruments, primarily the drums. Chisato was also known for writing songs about everyday occurrences and things which had happened to her and conveying them in the most charming of ways through not only song, but in her music videos.

Now presenting Exhibit A.


Stress and illness from overwork is a widespread thing, which makes this song ever relevant. Especially in Japan, where overwork continues to be such an issue that people die from it. It's so common that it even has it's own word: Karōshi (過労死).

And with the pandemic putting millions of people out of work in the US, the UK and across Europe, stress over not having a job and finding employment is a huge thing right now, for which there isn't a great deal of support. The only solace to be taken is that it's something that's happening at scale, which of course hardly makes it any better.

Who would've thought a post on Chisato Moritaka would've taken this turn!?

📚 Some resources on how to cope with stress: Mind | National Health Service (NHS) | American Psychological Association (APA) | Very Well Mind

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