Yellow Magic Orchestra's Yellow Magic Orchestra

by Toshiyuki Ohwada, Noriko Manabe (Editor)

Overview

Widely recognized as the most innovative and influential Japanese group since the Second World War, Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) is seeing a revival among music listeners around the world, along with the works of its three members: Academy Award-winning composer Sakamoto Ryuichi, Hosono Haruomi as the central figure of the Japanese “city pop” revival, and Takahashi Yukihiro, who plays drums for METAFIVE with Towa Tei and Oyamada Keigo (Cornelius). This is the first book in English on Yellow Magic Orchestra, positioning its first album as the nexus of jazz fusion, new wave, and hip hop music. YMO's debut album provides a lens on transpacific dialogue on technology, race, and intellectual history. Examining the cultural negotiations between African American and Japanese musicians since the 1970s, this book considers the album as a nascent work of Afro-Asian futurism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501381812
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/16/2026
Series:	33 1/3 Japan
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Toshiyuki Ohwada is Professor of American Studies at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. His book, On American Music: From Minstrel Show, Blues to Hip Hop (2011, in Japanese), was awarded the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities. His writing on music and culture has appeared in major magazines in Japan.

Noriko Manabe is Associate Professor of Music Studies at Temple University, Boyer College of Music and Dance, USA

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Origin and Reception of Yellow Magic Orchestra
3. Spirituality and Modernism: The Politics of Techno-Orientalism
4. Red Book and Video Games: YMO and Afro-Asian Futurism
5. Conclusion