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Description

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.

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

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 16 Apr 2026
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 128
ISBN 9781501381836
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Series 33 1/3 Japan
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Toshiyuki Ohwada

Toshiyuki Ohwada is Professor of American Studies…

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