Haruomi Hosono -

Haruomi Hosono — 細野晴臣 (July 9, 1947) — is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer who first emerged as the bassist for blues-psych rockers Apryl Fool in the late 1960s. Between 1970 and 1973, he recorded three albums with folk-rockers Happy End. In 1978, co-founded the electro-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, which achieved global success during the early 1980s. Since 1973, he has also maintained a solo career, releasing more than 30 solo and collaborative albums on assorted labels.

Background

Haruomi Hosono was born on July 9, 1947, in Tokyo and grew up in the Shirokanedai area of Minato ward. His family carried a strong sense of history. His grandfather Masabumi Hosono survived the Titanic. His mother kept Hollywood films and popular records close at hand, and his maternal grandfather worked as a piano tuner. American popular music entered his ear early through that household life and stayed there.

Records and radio shaped his first musical language. As a child he latched onto boogie-woogie and big-band rhythm, then claimed his father’s transistor radio and followed American hit broadcasts deep into the night. Piano lessons came first, but a guitar changed his direction. He received one while still in school, taught himself Hank Williams songs, and widened his listening through Johnny Horton, the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, and Bob Dylan. By the late 1960s, Buffalo Springfield had become a decisive model.

Hosono entered Rikkyo High School after Ben-Hur pushed him toward a Christian education. He joined the music club there and formed a folk quartet called Pumpkins Four with classmates. After graduation he entered Rikkyo University’s sociology faculty, industrial relations department, and joined the PEEP music circle. Campus life widened his circle fast. It put Eiichi Ohtaki, Shigeru Suzuki, and later Tin Pan collaborators within reach, and it also gave him his first steady work on bass through a student band called Doctors.

A call from drummer Takashi Matsumoto drew him into the orbit of late-1960s Tokyo rock groups, and a paid offer from vocalist Chu Kosaka gave him a direct route into professional work. That route led to Apryl Fool, which formed on April 1, 1969. Hosono took the bass chair in a band that also featured Kosaka, keyboardist Hiro Yanagida, guitarist Eiji Kikuchi, and Matsumoto on drums. Apryl Fool cut one album, Apryl Fool, and worked in a heavier psychedelic mode, but Hosono had already started to turn toward Buffalo Springfield and the broader West Coast current. Internal differences widened during 1969. By the time the LP appeared in September, the group had already begun to come apart, and the breakup followed in October.

Hosono, Matsumoto, and Kosaka first planned a successor band, but Kosaka left for the Japanese production of Hair. Hosono then pulled in Ohtaki, whom he already knew through a folk act, and later brought in Suzuki after hearing him improvise over what became “12-gatsu no Ame no Hi.” The new unit first used the name Valentine Blue, then became Happy End in 1970. Before its own debut, the band backed Kenji Endo on Niyago and Nobuyasu Okabayashi on Miru Mae ni Tobe. That early work sharpened Hosono’s sense of how Japanese words could sit inside a rock arrangement without losing weight or cadence.

URC issued Happy End’s self-titled debut in August 1970, and Kazemachi Roman followed on November 20, 1971. Hosono wrote, sang, and played inside a group that fused West Coast guitar-band logic with Japanese lyrics at a moment when most domestic rock still leaned on English. By the second album, his ear had also shifted toward American singer-songwriters, especially James Taylor, whose acoustic writing and vocal poise fed into Hosono’s own developing voice.

Happy End closed its main run with the Latin-letter HAPPY END, recorded in Los Angeles in 1972 with Van Dyke Parks and released on February 25, 1973, after the band had already decided to split on December 31, 1972. The farewell concert came on September 21, 1973. That ending pushed Hosono into his next phase. In the same year, he opened his solo catalog.

Hosono House

Haruomi Hosono released his debut solo album, Hosono House, on May 25, 1973, on Bellwood.

Hosono House narrows Hosono’s writing to dry acoustic strum and close-miked bass. Small-room echo and unforced vocal lines give the set an intimate scale. Guitarist Shigeru Suzuki cuts bright electric fills around pianist Masataka Matsutoya. Drummer Tatsuo Hayashi and steel guitarist Hiroki Komazawa set a light gait under Hosono’s bass figures. Short horn charts punctuate several tracks, and the room tone leaves each part inside a compact domestic enclosure.

“Rock-a-Bye My Baby” opens in a hushed acoustic register. “Boku wa Chotto” rides twang over a strolling beat. “Fuyu Koe” pulls the album toward a New Orleans pulse, and “Bara to Yaju” cuts through the calm with broken drum accents and a rougher edge.

A1. “Rock-a-Bye My Baby” (3:15)
A2. “Boku wa Chotto” (3:52)
A3. “Choo Choo Gatagoto” (3:25)
A4. “Owari no Kisetsu” (3:12)
A5. “Fuyu Koe” (3:15)
B1. “Party” (2:02)
B2. “Fuku wa Uchi Oni wa Soto” (2:28)
B3. “Jusho Futei Mushoku Teishunyu” (2:35)
B4. “Koi wa Momoiro” (2:47)
B5. “Bara to Yaju” (4:24)
B6. “Aiaigasa” (0:18)

Hosono recorded Hosono House between February 15 and March 16, 1973, at HOSONO HOUSE in Sayama, Saitama, with engineers Kinji Yoshino and Masaki Nomura. He cut the album in afternoon sessions inside a bedroom studio and ran a 16-track setup from the living room.

Masahiro Nogami shot the sleeve, and WORK SHOP MU!! handled the art direction. Later reissues added liner notes and extra photos, but the original package presented the album as a Bellwood LP with the house image fixed at the center of its identity.

Bellwood issued “Koi wa Momoiro” (b/w “Fuku wa Uchi Oni wa Soto”) as a 7-inch single on September 25, 1973.

Tropical Dandy

Haruomi “Hosono” released his second solo album, Tropical Dandy, on June 25, 1975, on PANAM/Crown.

Tropical Dandy rides clipped bass figures, soft percussion, and bright arranged color. Bassist Hosono anchors the set under guitarist Shigeru Suzuki and drummer Tatsuo Hayashi, while keyboardists Masataka Matsutoya and Hiroshi Satō spread piano, organ, and clavinet across the surface.

“Peking Duck” runs on a Brazilian pulse and pentatonic phrases. “Honey Moon” settles into a gentle samba with bright chiming lines that imitate steel pan. “Sanji no Komori Uta” pares the album back to a plain lullaby shape.

Hosono wrote the remaining nine tracks. The original LP runs in this order:
A1. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (2:49) — Mack Gordon/Harry Warren
A2. “Hurricane Dorothy” (5:46)
A3. “Kinukaido” [“Silk Road”] (3:32)
A4. “Nettaiya” [“Tropical Night”] (4:55)
A5. “Peking Duck” (2:36)
B1. “Hyoryuki” [“Drifting Chronicle”] (3:08)
B2. “Honey Moon” (2:37)
B3. “Sanji no Komori Uta” [“Three o’Clock Lullaby”] (2:31)
B4. “Sanji no Komori Uta” [instrumental] (2:26)
B5. “Hyoryuki” [instrumental] (4:02)

Hosono recorded Tropical Dandy at Crown Studio in Akasaka and produced the album for Crown. The sessions also drew on Tin Pan Alley, the renamed Caramel Mama lineup around Hosono.

Yasuo Yagi handled the cover and back artwork. Michiko Oshima supplied the liner art, and Takumi Uchida shot the photography. The sleeve recasts cigarette-pack imagery and places a passenger ship at the center.

PANAM issued “Silk Road” (b/w “Honey Moon”) as a 7-inch in 1975.

Bon Voyage co. (泰安洋行)

Harry “The Crown” Hosono released his third solo album, Bon Voyage co. (泰安洋行), on July 25, 1976, on PANAM/Crown.

Hosono widens the record with steelpan, marimba, shamisen, vibraphone, piano, and Hammond organ over the familiar guitar-bass-drums core. Keyboardist Hiroshi Satō and pedal-steel guitarist Hiroki Komazawa add new color. Pianist-vocalist Akiko Yano and percussionist Motoya Hamaguchi enlarge the ensemble, while alto saxophonist Hiroshi Okazaki, tenor saxophonist Ken Muraoka, and bass-saxophonist Riyōsō Sunahara deepen the horn block. Singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita enters the cast here with backing vocals and a “ship captain” voice part, and the chorus also draws on Taeko Ōnuki, Tadashi Kosaka, Makoto Kubota, and the Kawada Ryūkyū Dance Troupe.

“Roochoo Gumbo” gives the album its heaviest New Orleans pull. Hosono also folds Okinawan and Latin detail into the same travelogue, which makes this record denser and more mixed in method than the one before it.

A1. “Butterfly-San” (3:15)
A2. “Hong Kong Blues” (3:09) — Hoagy Carmichael
A3. “‘Sayonara’, the Japanese Farewell Song” (4:31) — Hasegawa Yoshida/Freddy Morgan
A4. “Roochoo Gumbo” (3:01)
A5. “Bon Voyage co.” (2:36)
B1. “Tōkyō Shyness Boy” (2:19)
B2. “Black Peanuts” (2:28)
B3. “Chow Chow Dog” (4:46)
B4. “Pom Pom Vapor” (1:56)
B5. “Exotica Lullaby” (3:49).

Hosono recorded Bon Voyage co. at Crown Studio in Akasaka and produced the album himself. The original LP also credits Kazuhiro Ichihashi as assistant engineer.

Yasuo Yagi handled the art direction and artwork for the original sleeve. Hosono took the Japanese title from a Nagasaki convenience store name he noticed during Tin Pan Alley’s “First & Last Concert Tour.”

PANAM issued “Peking Duck” (b/w “Black Peanuts”) as a 7-inch in 1976. The A-side used a single version of the earlier Tropical Dandy cut, while the flip drew one song forward from Bon Voyage co.

Paraiso

Harry Hosono and The Yellow Magic Band released Paraiso on April 25, 1978, on Alfa.

Hosono tightens these songs around electric bass, guitar, marimba, percussion, and a broader bank of synths than any earlier solo set. Keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto enters the picture here with Yamaha polyphonic, CS-80, CS-30, and ARP Odyssey parts across the LP. Drummer Yukihiro Takahashi appears on “Femme Fatale,” guitarist Hirofumi Tokutake cuts that same track, singer Tadashi Kamayatsu fronts “Japanese Rhumba,” Tomoko Kawada shares the vocal line on “Asatoya Yunta,” and violinist Masahiro Takekawa lifts “Worry Beads.” These sessions marked Hosono’s first work with Sakamoto and Takahashi, and by the time the album came out the YMO plan was already in place.

“Tokio Rush” opens with comic honks and a busier street pulse. “Shimendōka” turns toward layered synth and metallophone-like patterns. “Femme Fatale” pushes hardest toward the coming electronic current, “Worry Beads” hangs violin haze over the rhythm, and the title track closes with a stronger synth swell.

A1. “Tokio Rush” (3:31)
A2. “Shimendōka” (4:44)
A3. “Japanese Rhumba” (3:34) — Gerald F. Miller
A4. “Asatoya Yunta” (2:15) — Traditional Okinawan
A5. “Fujiyama Mama” (2:50) — Jack Hammer/Seiichi Ida/Hosono
B1. “Femme Fatale” (5:00)
B2. “Shambhala Signal” (3:36)
B3. “Worry Beads” (4:28)
B4. “Paraiso” (4:35).

Hosono recorded Paraiso between December 1977 and January 1978 at Alfa Studio “A” in Shibaura and Crown Studio in Akasaka, and he produced the album himself.

Kazuo Yasuhara designed the sleeve. The original LP package also carried an obi, a one-sided insert, and a double-sided foldout poster.

Pacific

Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita released Pacific on June 21, 1978, on CBS/Sony.

The album hands the writing to Hosono, guitarist Shigeru Suzuki, and singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita in roughly equal measure. They build an instrumental set from shaker patterns, bright guitar lines, electric keyboards, and a gradually stronger synth presence. Hosono’s pieces lean toward clipped island rhythm and electronics. Suzuki’s cuts darken the middle stretch with duskier color, and Yamashita’s long centerpiece extends the horizon. Placed between Paraiso in April and Cochin Moon in September, the album sits inside the same 1978 run that led straight to YMO’s November 25 debut.

“The Last Paradise” opens with shaker, surf ambience, and an easy lilt. “Coral Reef” cools the light and pushes the set toward a later hour. Yamashita’s two-part “Nostalgia of Island” begins in a softer drift and rises in “Walking on the Beach.” “Slack Key Rumba” strips the center down, and “Cosmic Surfin’” closes on all-electronic rhythm and thicker synth attack.

A1. “The Last Paradise” (4:03) — Hosono
A2. “Coral Reef” (3:45) — Suzuki
A3. “Nostalgia of Island (Part 1: Wind Bird, Part 2: Walking on the Beach)” (9:37) — Yamashita
A4. “Slack Key Rumba” (3:02) — Hosono
B1. “Passion Flower” (3:35) — Suzuki
B2. “Noanoa” (4:10) — Suzuki
B3. “Kiska” (5:26) — Yamashita
B4. “Cosmic Surfin’” (5:07) — Hosono.

Hosono, Suzuki, and Yamashita recorded Pacific for CBS/Sony with producer Masatoshi Sakai and engineer Yuichi Maejima.

Tsuguya Inoue designed the sleeve, and Shinpei Asai shot the cover photograph. That image shows Motu Fara, a small island in Avatoru Pass.

Cochin Moon

Haruomi Hosono and Tadanori Yokoo released Cochin Moon on September 21, 1978, on King.

Hosono leaves the guitar-band chassis behind and writes almost entirely through synthesizers, keyboard overdubs, and programmed rhythm. Keyboardists Hiroshi Satō and Ryuichi Sakamoto widen the harmonic field. Computer programmer Hideki Matsutake enters the sessions here and gives the record a firmer electronic grid than the earlier tropical albums. The project grew from Hosono and Yokoo’s India trip, though illness reduced Yokoo’s musical role and left Hosono to realize the score itself. Released in September, the album arrived two months before YMO’s first LP.

The six-part program presents itself as a soundtrack for a film that does not exist. The Hotel Malabar suite fills the first side, starting with a short opening cue and rising into two long panels. “Hepatitis” turns queasy and overloaded, with synth behavior that feels unstable by design.

Hosono wrote the six-part program under the Shuka Nishihara pseudonym.
A1. “Ground Floor… Triangle Circuit on the Sea-Forest” (2:28)
A2. “Upper Floor… Moving Triangle” (8:45)
A3. “Roof Garden… Revel Attack” (8:58)
B1. “Hepatitis” (4:43)
B2. “Hum Ghar Sajan” (8:50)
B3. “Madam Consul General of Madras” (9:04).

Hosono recorded Cochin Moon for King with executive producer Tadanori Yokoo and engineers Seiichi Chiba and Kunio Tsukamoto. King also credited Tsunehiro Motoyoshi and Tadao Takakuwa on the production side.

Yokoo handled the art direction and design, and Tsutomu Otuka shot the photography.

The Aegean Sea

Haruomi Hosono, Takahiko Ishikawa, and Masataka Matsutoya released The Aegean Sea in June 1979 on CBS/Sony. It followed Pacific as a second sea-themed collaboration and sat adjacent to Yellow Magic Orchestra’s first year.

Ishikawa carries much of the front line on folk guitar, 12-string guitar, and mandolin. Matsutoya answers with keyboards and improvised acoustic piano, while Hosono supplies bass and keyboard parts. Drummer Shuichi Murakami and violinist Junichi Hiiro widen the texture, and the broader arrangement also drew on concertmaster Ikuko Takeuchi and the Tokyo Mandolin Ensemble.

“Atlantis” skips forward on short rhythmic figures. “Reggae Aegean Woman” carries the record’s briskest dance pull. “Image” settles into a softer keyboard wash, and “Day Break” opens the second side with a brighter line.

A1. “Aegean Fantasy” (6:44) — Masataka Matsutoya
A2. “Atlantis” (3:00) — Takahiko Ishikawa
A3. “Reggae Aegean Woman” (3:57) — Haruomi Hosono
A4. “Mykonos Bride” (3:58) — Haruomi Hosono
B1. “Image” (6:52) — Masataka Matsutoya
B2. “The Rose Between the Waves” (5:21) — Masataka Matsutoya
B3. “Day Break” (4:24) — Takahiko Ishikawa
B4. “Aphrodite’s Mourning” (3:52) — Takahiko Ishikawa.

Available source pages for the original LP did not expose a full studio-and-engineer block, but the surviving credits do identify Eiji Taniguchi as mastering engineer on the 1979 issue.

Philharmony

Haruomi Hosono released Philharmony on May 21, 1982, on Yen. It opened the label he launched with Alfa support during YMO’s first peak.

Hosono built most of the record alone at LDK Studio with synthesizers, drum machines, sequencers, and early digital sampling. He even credited Prophet-5, Emulator, Linn, and MC-4 as “guest performers,” which tells the story of the album’s method as plainly as any sleeve essay. Hideki Matsutake also appears in the programming line on “Platonic.”

“Luminescent / Hotaru” hangs in a dim electronic glow. “Birthday Party” breaks that calm with sample-cut collage. “Living-Dining-Kitchen” and “Sports Men” pull the album back toward song form with a firmer beat and a straighter vocal line.

A1. “Picnic” (1:58) — Hosono
A2. “Funiculi Funicula” (4:36) — Luigi Denza
A3. “Luminescent / Hotaru” (4:26) — Hosono
A4. “Platonic” (4:25) — Hosono
A5. “In Limbo” (2:30) — Hosono
B1. “Living-Dining-Kitchen” (3:51) — Hosono
B2. “Birthday Party” (3:54) — Hosono
B3. “Sports Men” (4:06) — Hosono
B4. “Philharmony” (3:26) — Hosono
B5. “Air-Condition” (4:38) — Hosono.

Hosono recorded and mixed Philharmony at LDK Studio in Otowa, Bunkyō, and he also carried the producer and engineer credits across the LP.

Yukimasa Okumura handled the art direction, design, and photography. The original credits also list Hajime Tachibana, Yukihiro Takahashi, Koji Ueno, Keiko Shinozaki, Kazuhiko Katoh, and several others in the guest cast.

Philharmony reached No. 33 on Oricon.

Video Game Music

Hosono released Video Game Music on April 25, 1984, on Yen. It sits outside the standard solo-album line and functions as an arranged Namco game-music project under his name.

Hosono did not treat the source material as a straight archive transfer. He arranged the ten pieces, fed the arcade sounds through filters, and added extra layers so the record would read as a sequenced LP rather than a document dump. The composers behind the game material were Yuriko Keino, Nobuyuki Ohnogi, and Toshio Kai.

“Xevious” takes the longest slot on side A. “Bosconian” flashes past in fifteen seconds, and “Galaga” closes side B after a shorter run through Pole Position, New Rally-X, and Dig Dug.

A1. “Xevious” (6:16) — Yuriko Keino
A2. “Bosconian” (0:15) — Nobuyuki Ohnogi
A3. “Pac-Man” (2:57) — Toshio Kai
A4. “Phozon” (2:12) — Yuriko Keino
A5. “Mappy” (3:36) — Nobuyuki Ohnogi
B1. “Libble Rabble” (3:36) — Nobuyuki Ohnogi
B2. “Pole Position” (2:43) — Nobuyuki Ohnogi
B3. “New Rally-X” (3:12) — Nobuyuki Ohnogi
B4. “Dig Dug” (1:30) — Yuriko Keino
B5. “Galaga” (4:23) — Nobuyuki Ohnogi.

Hosono produced the album and shared the mix with Yasuhiko Terada and Yoshifumi Iio. Masanobu Endoh and Nobuyuki Ohnogi supervised the project, and Takaharu Kobayashi took the director credit.

On August 29, 1984, Yen issued the related 12-inch Super Xevious. That follow-up pushed the material closer to Hosono’s own keyboard-and-rhythm language than the more source-bound album.

S-F-X

Haruomi Hosono with Friends of Earth released S-F-X on December 16, 1984, on Non Standard. It was Hosono’s first solo LP after YMO’s breakup and the first album on the Non Standard imprint.

Hosono cut the record with a leaner machine setup than the dense YMO builds of the early 1980s. He worked with the Roland TR-909, Yamaha DX7, Korg SDD-1000, Kurzweil K250, MC-4, LinnDrum, TR-808, and early MIDI tools. Yasuhiko Terada stood beside him on the engineering side, while the Friends of Earth credit marked the name he soon used for a more durable post-YMO project.

Miharu Koshi, Curtis Knapp, Makoto Kubota, and Sandii carry the guest-vocal load around Hosono’s own parts. Matsutoshi Nishimura adds bass. That cast gives the album a looser human edge inside the drum-machine grid.

“Body Snatchers” and the instrumental title track stake out the clipped mechanical side. “Strange Love” gives the album its clearest song center, and “Alternative 3” extends the instrumental current on side two.

A1. “Body Snatchers” (5:49) — Hosono, Peter Barakan
A2. “Androgena” (4:52) — Hosono
A3. “SFX” (5:54) — Hosono
B1. “Strange Love” (5:52) — Hosono, Peter Barakan
B2. “Alternative 3” (5:08) — Hosono
B3. “Dark Side of the Star” (5:35) — Hosono.

Hosono produced S-F-X with Yasuhiko Terada and shared the mixing credit with him. Takashi Itoh served as assistant engineer.

The Studio and Yukimasa Okumura handled the artwork and design.

S-F-X reached No. 35 on Oricon.

Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo (OST)

On July 7, 1985, Non-Standard released Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo, the soundtrack to director Gisaburō Sugii’s animated feature Night on the Galactic Railroad. The film adapts Kenji Miyazawa’s novel and follows Giovanni, a working boy in a town of anthropomorphic cats, as he boards a train through the Milky Way with his friend Campanella. Mayumi Tanaka voices Giovanni, Chika Sakamoto voices Campanella, and Nippon Herald Films released the film in Japan on July 13, 1985.

Sugii’s film moves from a print shop and festival night into an astral rail journey that passes fossil coasts, bird-catchers, hymn fragments, and a last separation at the edge of the universe. Hosono scored that path with short electronic cues, longer suspended passages, and a closing title piece. The LP spreads ten tracks across each side.

Side A contains the opening ten cues. Side B carries the remaining ten.

A1. “Main Title” (0:40)
A2. “Theme of the Fourth Dimension” (1:42)
A3. “Fantasy and Reality” (0:46)
A4. “A Serene Day” (1:21)
A5. “Song of the Circling Stars” (1:39)
A6. “Giovanni’s Fantasy” (1:11)
A7. “The Centaurus Festival” (4:09)
A8. “The Pillar of Elysium” (6:39)
A9. “Joy” (3:10)
A10. “The Northern Cross” (2:04)

B1. “Pliocene Coast” (3:12)
B2. “A History in Fantasy” (3:26)
B3. “Paradise’s Harp” (3:47)
B4. “Giovanni’s Heartbreak” (3:35)
B5. “The Greatest Pleasure” (3:26)
B6. “Goodbye Theme” (3:09)
B7. “Run” (0:49)
B8. “45 Minutes” (0:55)
B9. “Requiem” (3:05)
B10. “Ending Theme: Night on the Galactic Railroad” (4:15)

Hosono composed most of the score, shared four cues with Miharu Koshi, and included Osamu Shimizu’s “Song of the Circling Stars.” He programmed the music and performed it with Friends of Earth. Shinichi Tanaka and Yasuhiko Terada recorded the soundtrack at Teichiku Suginami Studio in Tokyo, and Tanaka mixed it at Onkyo Haus in 1985. Miharu Koshi also appears on piano and chorus, while World Standard and Shi-Shonen supplied chorus parts.

Heikichi Harata handled the artwork, Hiroshi Masumura supplied the character work for the package, and Atsuko Iwasaki coordinated the music. The film won the Ōfuji Noburō Award in 1985.

Coincidental Music

Haruomi Hosono released Coincidental Music on August 21, 1985, on Teichiku’s Monad imprint.

Coincidental Music assembles 11 commissioned pieces from 1982 to 1985 and served as the first release on Hosono’s Monad line. Hosono built the material through fast composition and programming, then sequenced the results as a record of commercials and image cues. He later grouped this album with Mercuric Dance, Paradise View, and The Endless Talking under the banner of “sightseeing music.”

“Lichtenstein’s” preserves its original half-minute spot length. “Pietro Germi” expands an earlier Contac 600 cue into a longer album cut. “The Man of China” was the newest commercial piece in the set and later returned with lyrics in HIS as “Nihon no Hito.” “Nokto De La Galaksia Fervojo” preserves the first image music Hosono made for Night on the Galactic Railroad in a separate piano version. “Memphis, Milano” takes its motif from Burgmüller’s “La chasse.” Hosono wrote and arranged all 11 tracks.

A1. “Lichtenstein’s” (0:31)
A2. “Pietro Germi” (5:30)
A3. “Normandia” (2:26)
A4. “The Man of China” (1:50)
A5. “Sayokoskatti” (4:45)
A6. “Mazinger ‘H’” (3:14)
B1. “The Plan” (0:31)
B2. “Nokto De La Galaksia Fervojo” (1:31)
B3. “George Don” (1:01)
B4. “Bio Philosophy” (4:40)
B5. “Memphis, Milano” (10:27).

Hosono recorded Coincidental Music across Teichiku Suginami Studio, Sedic Studio, LDK Studio, Tamco Studio, Sound City Studio, Freedom Studio, and Alfa Studio A, and he produced the album himself. The LP reached No. 61 on the Oricon LP chart.

Mercuric Dance

Haruomi Hosono released Mercuric Dance on September 21, 1985, on Teichiku’s Monad imprint.

Mercuric Dance narrows to long instrumental spans built from sustained synthesizer tones, bell figures, and spare percussion. Hosono mapped the sequence across the sun, planets, the moon, and vacuum, and percussionist Yujin Harada was the only additional player named on the original sleeve.

The album grew from Hosono’s collaboration with Tadayoshi Arai on the Mercuric Dance video project. Side A carries the subtitle “Amakawa–Togakushi,” while side B runs “Kashima–Tokyo,” which gives the record a second axis beneath the planetary one. The long “Fossil of Flame / Fifty Bell-Trees” joins Mars and Jupiter in one span, and “Sea of Tau” takes the broadest stretch on side two. Hosono composed all nine tracks.

A1. “Sunnyside of the Water” (3:09)
A2. “Mercuric Dance” (7:07)
A3. “Formation of the Venus” (5:01)
A4. “Down to the Earth” (2:59)
A5. “Fossil of Flame / Fifty Bell-Trees” (8:32)
B1. “Prepared Quartz” (3:03)
B2. “Sea of Tau” (9:44)
B3. “Windy Land” (5:10)
B4. “To the Air” (5:10).

Hosono recorded Mercuric Dance at BIWA Studio, Studio A, and Teichiku Suginami Studio with engineers Tomio Miyashita and Yasuhiko Terada.

Paradise View (OST)

On September 21, 1985, Monad released Paradise View, the soundtrack to Gō Takamine’s first feature film of the same name. Takamine set the film in Okinawa just before the 1972 reversion, staged it largely in Okinawan language, and built the story around a village wedding thrown off course by Reishu Goya, a former U.S. base worker. Kaoru Kobayashi plays Reishu, Jun Togawa plays Chiru, and Hosono appears on screen as Ito, the Japanese teacher tied to the wedding.

The film follows wedding preparations, local ritual, and everyday village life while dreams, memory, and rumor blur into the action. Hosono answered that setting with a spare electronic score that draws Okinawan material into programmed texture and slow-moving cue work. Side A contains four tracks. Side B contains five.

A1. “The Image of a Paradise” (2:58)
A2. “The Image of a View” (3:14)
A3. “Mabui Dance” (7:03)
A4. “Yuta’s Pray” (1:34)

B1. “Atti” (2:49)
B2. “Wheels on Fire” (3:09)
B3. “The Truck on the Sea” (1:37)
B4. “Roochoo Jazz” (1:05)
B5. “The Paradise View” (6:43)

Hosono composed the album for Takamine’s film. Shinichi Tanaka recorded the soundtrack in December 1984, and the LP notes state that production was completed in June 1985.

Yukimasa Okumura handled the art direction, The Studio handled the design, and Shikamitsu Kawai supplied the batik artwork. Hosono’s score sits at the intersection of his 1985 Monad series and his screen work, and this was also one of the films in which he appeared as an actor.

The Endless Talking

Haruomi Hosono released The Endless Talking on October 21, 1985, on Teichiku’s Monad imprint.

The Endless Talking reduces Hosono’s electronic writing to 13 short pieces, most of them near three minutes, because the source installation used endless cassettes inside 13 separate objects. Hosono played the entire album alone, which gives the record a tight miniature scale. He grouped this LP with Coincidental Music, Mercuric Dance, and Paradise View as part of the same “sightseeing music” cycle.

All music on the album was created for the Japan Avant-Garde of the Future exhibition in Genoa in May 1985, in collaboration with the Milan design team Atelier Alchimia. The endless-cassette system forced most of the pieces into short loops. “Insects Insists Insecurity” reworks “Medium Composition” from Making of NON-STANDARD MUSIC / Making of MONAD MUSIC, and “Trembling #2” is the only track that runs past five minutes. Hosono composed all 13 tracks.

A1. “Mercury Fall” (3:04)
A2. “The Animal’s Opinion” (3:04)
A3. “Insects Insists Insecurity” (2:56)
A4. “The Long Story of a Humankind” (3:11)
A5. “The First One in Heaven” (3:01)
A6. “Sequential Opera Circuit” (3:02)
A7. “Trembling #1” (3:07)
B1. “The Endless Talking” (3:01)
B2. “Scratched-Szymanowski-Bird” (3:04)
B3. “Digitally Sampled Ethnography” (3:03)
B4. “La Pliocena” (3:03)
B5. “Birdoj” (3:04)
B6. “Trembling #2” (5:43).

Hosono recorded The Endless Talking at Teichiku Suginami Studio with engineer Shinichi Tanaka.

紫式部・源氏物語 (Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji) (OST)

On November 21, 1987, Epic released 紫式部・源氏物語 (Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji), the soundtrack to Gisaburō Sugii’s animated adaptation of The Tale of Genji. The film condenses the first part of Murasaki Shikibu’s Heian court narrative into a study of Hikaru Genji’s early life and entanglements. Morio Kazama voices Genji, Miwako Kaji voices Lady Rokujō, Yokoyama Megumi voices Lady Murasaki, and Ohara Reiko voices Lady Fujitsubo. Nippon Herald Films opened the picture in Japan on December 19, 1987.

Sugii’s film keeps its attention on court movement, private longing, ritual space, and shifting female presence around Genji. Hosono answered with a 12-part score that places modal keyboard writing, ceremonial pulse, and koto within a controlled electronic field. Side A carries six tracks. Side B carries six more.

A1. “Tsukiyomi” (3:03)
A2. “Rajyōmon” (4:10)
A3. “Fujitsubo” (3:03)
A4. “Asatsuyu” (3:04)
A5. “Wakamurasaki” (3:43)
A6. “Miyasundokoro” (2:59)

B1. “Ukihashi” (3:57)
B2. “Kechigan” (3:02)
B3. “Samidare ~ Goma ~ Kitō” (6:46)
B4. “Hikari” (3:06)
B5. “Kodama” (5:16)
B6. “Mai” (5:45)

Hosono produced the soundtrack, composed the score, and also played koto. Hiroshi Haraguchi recorded the album at Kujaku-an in Ashigara, and Shin-Ichi Tanaka remixed it at Onkyo Haus. Atsuko Iwasaki coordinated the music, and Yasuo Kimoto handled equipment service.

Yukimasa Okumura handled the album art direction. The film was produced by Masato Hara and Atsumi Tashiro for Herald Ace and Group TAC, and Sugii directed from a screenplay by Tomomi Tsutsui.

omni Sight Seeing

Haruomi Hosono released omni Sight Seeing on July 21, 1989, on Epic/Sony.

omni Sight Seeing was his first studio album in four years and his first after moving to Epic/Sony. The title means “all-direction sightseeing.” Hosono built the record from programmed rhythm, Arabic vocal, accordion, qanun, prepared piano, celeste, and layered keyboards.

Amina Ben Mustapha sings the Arabic lines. Zouhir Gouja and Julien Weiss supply accordion and qanun. Miharu Koshi widens the chorus and keyboard layers. Kasumi Kimura opens “Esashi” with the Hokkaido folk voice. Yasuaki Shimizu enters “Caravan” on saxophone, and Koji Ueno supplies the string chart on “Retort.”

“Esashi” grew from Hosono hearing Kimura sing Esashi Oiwake on NHK Nodo Jiman and then seeking her out to record the song a cappella. “Andadura” pairs Ben Mustapha with Hosono and later appeared in a Saison Card International commercial. “Ohenro-san” carries music from Yoshishige Yoshida’s A Promise. “Pleocene” develops the earlier cue “Pleocine” from Night on the Galactic Railroad.

A1. “Esashi” (1:50) — traditional
A2. “Andadura” (6:23)
A3. “Orgone Box” (6:05)
A4. “Ohenro-san” (2:44)
A5. “Caravan” (4:16) — Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol
A6. “Retort” (3:33)
B1. “Laugh-Gas” (11:26) — Hosono; French text adaptation by Tomoko Nunoi
B2. “Korendor” (5:25)
B3. “Pleocene” (6:12) — Hosono; translated text by Keiko Hida.

Hosono recorded omni Sight Seeing in Tokyo and Paris at Magnet Studio, D.M.S., Alfa Studio A, Artisti Palace, and Nichion Studio, and he produced the album himself.

Discography:

Hosono House (1973)
Tropical Dandy (1975 • Haruomi “Hosono”)
Bon Voyage Co. (泰安洋行) (1976 • Harry “The Crown” Hosono)
Paraiso (1978 • Harry Hosono and The Yellow Magic Band)
Pacific (1978 • Haruomi Hosono / Shigeru Suzuki / Tatsuro Yamashita)
Cochin Moon (1978 • Haruomi Hosono & Tadanori Yokoo)
The Aegean Sea (1979 • Haruomi Hosono, Takahiko Ishikawa & Masataka Matsutoya)
Philharmony (1982 • Haruomi Hosono)
Video Game Music (1984)
S-F-X (1984 • Haruomi Hosono with Friends of Earth)
Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo (OST, 1985)
Coincidental Music (1985)
Mercuric Dance (1985)
Paradise View (OST, 1985)
The Endless Talking (1985)
紫式部・源氏物語 (Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji) (OST, 1987)
Omni Sight Seeing (1989)