Japan

A 41-minute instrumental journey down the length of Japan — ten cities in one continuous arc, from the imperial court music of Kyoto to the southern biwa of Kagoshima. No vocals; pure instrumental storytelling.

Each track is composed from the music of its place: the gagaku and koto schools of old Kyoto; the Ryukyuan sanshin of Okinawa, a sound-world apart; the bunraku puppet-theatre and manzai cadence of Osaka; the virtuosic Tsugaru shamisen and thundering Nebuta taiko of Aomori; the noh-theatre hush of snow-bound Kanazawa, where silence is an instrument; and the Ainu tonkori and mukkuri of Sapporo.