Hosono's House
Hosono’s House
Angel Polito
MUS 300
Ford Fourqurean
4/5/2024
If the only Japanese Titanic passenger failed to catch a lifeboat that dreadful April night, the most acclaimed composer of Japanese pop music would have never existed, and Japan’s music-cultural scope would be far less reaching. His name was Masabumi Hosono, and his survival prompted the Japanese public to condemn and ostracize him for the remainder of his lifetime. Though Hosono’s life ended in shame, his grandson, Haruomi, would restore honor to the family through his immense impact on musical trends in Japan and overseas. Haruomi Hosono is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Many historians credit Hosono for shaping the sound of Japanese pop for decades and transforming attitudes towards the use of Japanese lyrics in pop music styles that originated outside of Japan. His early folk and rock works inspired Tokyo-centric genres such as city pop and Shibuya-kei; Hosono’s Japanese folk rock band “Happy End” (1969-1972) is often revered as the foundation of the City Pop sound. I will discuss how Hosono performed on virtually every city pop record of the ‘70s, played bass on numerous iconic Japanese albums, and influenced the next generation of musicians. Finally, I will explore his role as leader of Yellow Magic Orchestra, a Japanese electronic music band featuring Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. This innovative group contributed to the development and pioneering of numerous electronic genres and helped cement Tokyo as a thriving, innovative global music hub. After discussing his works, I will examine later artists he influenced directly up into the 21st century, such as multiple Japanese as well as foreign artists.
Haruomi Hosono was born in 1947, two years after World War II ceased and Japan surrendered. As a result, Hosono grew up listening to the Far East Network, a radio station whose broadcasts were catered to American GIs stationed in Japan after the war. The station exposed Hosono to American rock bands like Moby Grape and Buffalo Springfield, artists he admired dearly for their authentic sound. In his documentary, Hosono attributes their sound to the value placed on their American “roots”; Hosono says, “It wasn’t just the music, it was Western culture and literature”. With this revelation came further contemplation, and Hosono pondered on the lack of understanding he had of his own Japanese ‘roots’. Japanese music culture took cues from America and consequently Americanized Hosono’s musical exposure. There was very little music sung in Japanese, with Bob Dylan’s language being the trending form of musical speech.
With this deficiency in Japanese music, Hosono yearned for a connection to his Japanese roots within the music he heard and created. In 1970, he set out to challenge the cultural deficit by forming his rock group known as Happy End. The group consisted of 18-year-old guitar prodigy Suzuki, singer-songwriter, and guitarist Eiichi Ohtaki, drummer and song-writer Takashi Matsumoto, and finally, bassist and multi-instrumentalist Haruomi Hosono who wrote a notable amount of the group’s catalog. Haruomi’s hope with Happy End was to formulate a group of individuals “equally gifted” to his American inspirations, where every member “would write songs and sing”. However, instead of mimicking Buffalo Springfield’s “roots”, Happy End would channel their Japanese history and culture into their compositions. In an interview with Red Bull Music Academy, Hosono explains, “Though I learned the importance of roots from West Coast groups, the direct influence was from Japanese literature, especially poetry. That’s my background”. To support this, Hosono created lyrics that manipulated the norms of the Japanese language by stylistically stretching its syllables over his rock compositions. University of Chicago professor Michael K. Bourdaghs elucidates how most of Happy End‘s lyrics are written in desu/masu, a “more polite yet conversational form of Japanese conjugation”. This approach was novel, and the group’s first album would be widely credited as the genesis of Japanese-language rock music.
Hosono’s fresh approach to Rock music was not readily accepted by other Japanese musicians. At the time, Yuya Uchida, producer of psych-rock-leaning Flower Travellin’ Band, bore great influence in Japanese rock discussions. He publicly denounced the thought of the Japanese language intertwining with rock, under the impression that the mingling would alienate overseas listeners. He argued that “the strictly syllabic nature of Japanese didn’t suit the rhythm of rock music”, and that Japanese music could never establish itself on a global scale without molding to fit the standards of foreign charts. Enter Hosono and Happy End’s aforementioned self-titled debut album (1970), which directly outcries against Uchida’s statement with its exclusively Japanese language tracklist. Out of all the Happy End members, Hosono most frequently questioned Uchida’s statements and adamantly advocated for Japanese-language rock to the press. The duo’s dispute was so widely circulated that it hailed the name “Japanese-language Rock Controversy” (“Nihongo Rokku Ronsō”). The success of Happy End’s self-titled debut and sophomore album “Kazemachi Roman” (1971) solidified Hosono’s stance, and rock produced in Japan became an almost entirely “Japanese language affair”. From those works blossomed most of the genres indicative of “'70s Tokyo – the likes of folk rock, psychedelia and, of course, city pop – as well as, feasibly, most styles of Japanese-language pop music to this day”. Through his creations with Happy End, Hosono changed the notion that English was the mother tongue of rock and played a pivotal role in Japanese language music’s acceptance overseas.
By attempting to reclaim the memories of their youth, Happy End unintentionally created the sound we know today as city pop through their nostalgic tunes sung entirely in Japanese. This phenomenon traces back to their work on “Kazemachi Roman” (1973), an album that would usher in a new wave of music. Before attempting to understand how Hosono and Happy End created the nostalgia-centric genre of city pop, a brief analysis of Tokyo’s transformation at this time is vital. In the wake of WWII, Japan’s economy faced staggering devastation. Despite this severe blow, their economy recovered at record speed. This postwar growth spanned from 1945 to 1991 and is labeled as the Japanese Economic Miracle. To strengthen its regeneration effort, Japan fixed its ambitions on urban planning and development. When presented with the chance to host the 1964 Summer Olympics, Japanese officials would rapidly develop Tokyo into a modernizing metropolis. This rapid blur of developments led to the displacement of many residents, including Matsumoto, one of the main songwriters for Happy End. Matsumoto resented what postmodernity had done to the shape and character of the city; as streetcars disappeared so did the sense of community built on this easygoing transportation system. Conversely, the paving of new roads resulted in the disconnection of Matsumoto and his middle school friends, all forced to move elsewhere as their neighborhood underwent construction for the new highway. Rather than be haunted by the disappearing memories of Matsumoto and his bandmates' youth, the group decided to create a “new way of grafting their childhood memories onto 1971 Tokyo as it was”. Kazemachi Roman translates to “Wind City Romance”, paying homage to the “Wind City”—a term Matsumoto coined to describe the band’s childhood neighborhoods that got swept away in urban planning. By naming the album “Wind City Romance”, the group’s intention to retrace the beauty of Tokyo’s original city rhythm can be understood from the moment one scans over the album title.
A perfect example of Matsumoto’s panoramic projection of the pre-1960s Tokyo can be found on track 3 of Kazemachi Roman. “Kaze Wo Atsumete” (“Gather the Wind”), is a track where Haruomi Hosono plays the bass, guitar, and organ while Matsumoto plays the drums. Additionally, Hosono lends his voice to the track, and his laidback vocals provide a sweetly melancholic and nostalgic overall soundscape. In the first verse, Hosono sings of a tram rolling through an open street in the morning, which calls back to Matsumoto’s fond memories of the convivial streetcars that used to pass through his town; verse two explores a “city with its day-colored sails up/moored in the port”; and verse three involves the song’s protagonist peering out a coffee shop window to the sight of skyscrapers all around him. Each verse is broken up by a chorus where Hosono sings, “That’s why I want to gather the wind (under my wings) and run across the blue sky”. The structure of this song is particularly interesting because the meaning of the chorus can be interpreted differently after each verse. For example, the first verse expresses jubilant memories of what the wind city once was to the Happy End members, so they want to “gather the wind” so that they can celebrate the city’s original state for as long as possible. The second verse insinuates a permanence to the city (moored or anchored in the port), but the lifting of the city’s day-colored sails reveals that urbanization looms closer than it appears. Therefore, the chorus is sung this time with a desire to hold onto the nostalgia of their ‘wind city’ and protect it ‘under their wings’ before it's torn away. Finally, the third verse reveals that Tokyo’s transformation has inevitably occurred, and many years have passed since “skyscrapers” now speckle the once clear sky. Therefore, the final chorus is sung with a yearning to run back in time “across the blue sky” to reclaim the euphoria of their youth.
By creating soft rock musical snapshots of a Tokyo that existed for reasons other than commerce, Happy End unintentionally created the sound we know today as city pop. Matsumoto viewed the group’s name “Happy End” as one in which the Japanese youth could start a new, rather than fight the perpetual identity battle between living up to a hegemonic West or a Japan trying to satisfy it. The answer lay in the future generations seeking out their “own Japan”, and Happy End’s music provided a nostalgic jumping point for that exploration. However, the album is more complex than just lamenting the past. Matsumoto utilizes his memories to create a new vision of Tokyo, a “Wind City” that blends the past with the present. In essence, Kazemachi Roman is both a nostalgic look back and a forward-thinking exploration of identity and place in a rapidly changing world.
Though Happy End reached its inevitable happy end, Hosono’s musical lifespan was just beginning. Right before Happy End disbanded, Hosono released his solo debut album titled “Hosono House” (1973). This creation was the first of its kind in Japan, with the musician recording it in his own home; Hosono recorded his debut on a 16-track. This multitrack recording was possible thanks to magnetic tape. Hosono went on to collect credits on almost every essential city pop record of the ‘70s and lent his bass skills to other iconic Japanese albums like Osamu Kitajima’s psych-folk epic Benzaiten (1976), Akiko Yano’s Japanese Girl (1976) and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto (1978). He also created other notable solo works, such as the Okinawan-flavored exotica album “Paraiso” (1978). Popularized by Martin Denny, Exotica was a “post-World War musical genre popular in the United States” that substituted the reality of South Pacific and Southeast Asia locales “for an imagined tropical island life”. Hosono wanted to subvert this unreal Western viewpoint of the East, and he did so by inserting a Japanese perspective via fabricated soundscapes when looking at the outside world’s misperceptions.
The latter two works marked the beginning of Hosono’s groundbreaking electronic music cultivation with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi.
In 1978, the trio formed Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), a name synonymous with trailblazers of synthesizer/sample-powered electronic music. Hosono, Sakamoto, and Takahashi joined forces to play disco on synthesizers and to “re-imagine exotica from the perspective of the people often erased from these fantasy readings of far off places”. Their first single was a version of Martin Denny's "oriental" anthem “Firecracker” from a defiantly Japanese perspective. Their arrangement of “Firecracker” involved a punchy synth bass riff written by Hosono, a Roland MC-8 micro-composer programmed by Hideki Matsutake (the unofficial fourth member of the group), electronically sequenced percussions (minus a physical clap done by Takahashi via a Pollard Syn-Drum) and some improvised piano flourishes courtesy of Sakamoto. It is interesting to note that the group’s gear usage coincides with the history of the development of other synthesizers and electronic instruments. The MC-8, released by the Japanese electronic company Roland in 1977, was the first microprocessor-controlled CV/gate sequencer and a huge step up from the eight and 16-note step sequencers available at the time. Yellow Magic Orchestra (or more accurately, Yellow Magic Band on “The Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto”) became the first musicians to utilize the sequencer on their self-titled debut album thanks to Hideki Matsutake who knew the developer and could get his hands on the equipment early on.
Perhaps most impressive was how Yellow Magic Orchestra applied the MC-8, a sequencer designed for studio usage, to their live performances. They became the first group to normalize mixing analog instruments with drum machines, samplers, and live programmers into their live performances. This was no small feat and required additional members (such as Akiko Yano) to work all of the electronic equipment. Aside from influencing the synth-pop and electronic scene, ‘Firecracker’ unintentionally shaped the burgeoning hip-hop scene, with the band’s 1980 appearance on the television show Soul Train (1971–2006) solidifying its significance to a wide variety of genres. YMO was the first and only Japanese band to ever perform on Soul Train, bringing their TR-808 and MC-8 magic to American live audiences. In an interview with Soul Train creator Don Cornelius, Hosono reflected on how techno was not yet popular in America, and because YMO’s “Firecracker” landed on the R&B chart, YMO were “considered a soul band rather than a techno band”. This categorization serendipitously earned them a spot on the music show.
The eclectic combination of tight yet funky resulted in "Firecracker" catching the attention of hip-hop DJ Afrika Bambaataa, whose plays helped the group’s album climb into the Billboard Top 200 and R&B Album charts. Bambaataa would later sample “Firecracker” on his album “Death Mix (Part 2)”, crediting the Japanese electropop group as an inspiration. The lifespan of this song has continued to flourish, with Jennifer Lopez incorporating it into her 2001 single, ‘I’m Real’. Lopez’s song would be the first release from a sampling battle between her and Mariah Carey, who would release her version 19 years later.
As impactful as “Firecracker” was on the hip-hop scene in America by introducing the MC-8 composer as well as the TR-808 (widely used in hip-hop and dance tracks even today), it is not the only song that caught Western artists’ attention. Eric Clapton's unlikely cover version of YMO's “Behind the Mask” was a huge international hit, and Michael Jackson’s cover would be released posthumously after it got omitted from Thriller due to Royalty disputes. Furthermore, the arcade game bleeps and oriental scales in their music would go on to inspire iconic video game soundtracks such as Animal Crossing (the original “6 PM” Animal Crossing theme song was a version of YMO’s Simoon). Therefore, Hosono not only created city pop, his musical works paved the way for electronic, video game, and even hip-hop music.
Following the success of YMO, Hosono became one of Japan’s most avid producers. In 1985, Hosono produced the Japanese pop group Pizzicato Five under his own label, Non-Standard. Tokyo-based music commentator Ian F. Martin expressed in Frieze Magazine that the sound Hosono created for this group would render them key players in the art pop movement known as Shibuya-Kei, which “provided a chic, playful and ironic counterpoint to the burgeoning pop scene of the 1990s”. In this producer position, Hosono channeled the electronic influence of YMO into a whole new generation of Japanese artists which would later evolve into the country’s most wildly popular genre of J-Pop.
Hosono’s work in the early ‘70s and late ‘80s lives on through today’s generation of musicians and listeners. Though City Pop fizzled out in popularity during the '90s, it saw a resurgence in the 2000s with the YouTube algorithm in its favor. With major city pop pioneers of the past gaining attention now (like Hosono and the artists he produced/composed for), newer artists are compelled to seek out the sound and create a modern take on the nostalgic genre. For example, K-pop supergroup BTS has drawn inspiration from Hosono and Yellow Magic Orchestra’s legacy, with one of the members even working with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Min Yoongi, who performs solo under the moniker Agust D, composed a song on his album “D-Day” (2023) that features Ryuichi Sakamoto; the collaboration track is titled “Snooze”. To create this piece, Yoongi traveled to Japan to meet with Sakamoto to showcase his beats and rap verses. Sakamoto then lent his piano performance to the song, which ultimately became his last feature before he passed. In the documentary, “Road to D-Day”, Yoongi tells Sakamoto how his compositions influenced him, and reveals in a letter to the Japanese composer that Yoongi himself began composing music at twelve years old by listening to and sampling Sakamoto’s music.
While Sakamoto shaped Yoongi’s music, Hosono inspired the other BTS members. RM, the leader of the Korean band, chose to rap over a groovy city pop beat on his solo album “Indigo” (2022). The track featuring this Japanese-originated genre is called “Hectic”, and this song describes the love/hate connection he feels towards the bustling city of Seoul. The lyrics express a certain frustration at the unfeeling, impersonal nature of the city’s nightlife, with lyrics like “yesterday was a hectic/there was nothing romantic”. The song ends on a somewhat positive note, where he reflects on the monotonous evening of the previous night (or perhaps a never-ending cycle of nights melding into each other) and comes to terms with the city’s chaos by singing “we still love and hate this city”. This mood is quite akin to Hosono and Matsumoto’s yearning for the wind city on the early city pop track “Kaze Wo Atsumete” released half a century before RM’s “Hectic”. Therefore, RM’s decision to venture into city pop complements his subject matter when reflecting on his memories in the city of Seoul, South Korea. Most recently, J-Hope (of BTS) released a city pop synth-infused track with fellow BTS member Jungkook titled “I Wonder” (2024). The track’s hopeful lyrics describe anticipation and introspection; the song identifies soul-searching as a necessity to move forward to an unknown destination joyfully. J-Hope created this track to travel to Osaka, Japan to dance on the streets for his biographical docuseries “Hope on the Street”. The purpose of J-Hope’s documentary was to return to his roots as a street dancer. Therefore, it’s fascinating he chose Japan as the destination to dance to a music genre shaped by the Japanese ‘roots’ that Hosono established with Happy End.
Haruomi Hosono’s music career spans over five decades and places him among some of the most influential Japanese composers. Whether he’s setting a precedent for Japanese rock in the late ‘'60s/early ‘70s, using cutting-edge technology to create electronic synth and video game music with Yellow Magic Orchestra, or working behind the scenes producing hit pop groups and musicians, Hosono’s discography has managed to impact numerous genres and art movements through his natural experimentation pathway. His passion for confounding stereotypes through his solo Exotica album “Paraiso” trickled into Yellow Magic Orchestra’s purpose, and their fantastical electro-orientalism landed them on American music shows and charts. YMO’s daring use of the MC-8 sequencer and the TR-808 drum machine forever altered the way electronic music was produced globally and pioneered new ways for synthesizers to be used both in studios and live performances. Ultimately, Hosono was able to inspire not just his own country’s music, but various sectors of the world and continues to impact young artists today.
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