I Found A Japanese Band From The 70s On YouTube And Now I’m Obsessed

The 70s was my favorite era of music. Rock n Roll, Psychedelic, Soul, you name it. So much innovation was brought to this era in the realm of rock music.

While the old classic rock from the 70s usually reminds us of bands from the UK or US, a while ago I stumbled upon some classic rock from a Japanese band singing entirely in Japanese. I don’t speak the language apart from a phrase or two I learned from anime, but who cares? The music was so good!

#1 Happy End - Kaze wo Atsumete (風をあつめて, “Gather the Wind”)

This song is taken from Happy End’s second album Kazemachi Roman. It’s a chill tune with some acoustic guitar and laid-back vocals. Kazemachi Roman (lit. Wind City Romance) is a concept album about Tokyo just before the 1964 Olympics. Tokyo was so different back then, and this was the start of fast-tracking highways, expressways, subways, and the Shinkansen bullet train.

This song was featured in Lost in Translation (2003), which perfectly captures the mood of listening to beautiful music without understanding a single lyric. I’ve read somewhere that Sofia Coppola personally chose the song. She wanted the soundtrack to have a "hazy dream-pop sheen" that matched the feeling of jet lag and alienation in Tokyo.

#2 Happy End - Dakishimetai (抱きしめたい, “I Want to Hold You”)

Sticking with the Kazemachi Roman album, this track features Eiichi Ohtaki on vocals. It trades the rock energy for a slow, acoustic country sound. The guitars are clean and the rhythm is steady. It fits the album’s concept: a quiet, simple song about the old city streets before the high-rises were built.

#3 Eiichi Ohtaki - Yubikiri (指切り, “Pinky Swear”)

Eiichi Ohtaki, the guitarist and vocalist from Happy End, released this proto-city pop gem in 1971. Airy melodies, folk roots, and a Brian Wilson-esque croon in Japanese. It’s like the next evolution of that Kazemachi sound, bridging cozy introspection to something lush and dreamy. Perfect for late-night vibes, while imagining Tokyo as a quiet city. If you dig the first two, this one’s a must.

Fun Facts & Trivia

I was quite obsessed with Happy End, I ended up reading a lot about them. And here are a few cool details about the artists:

• Happy End is often considered the "Japanese Beatles". They are widely credited as the first band to successfully sing rock music entirely in the Japanese language, sparking a famous debate at the time known as the "Japanese-language Rock Controversy" (Nihongo Rokku Ronsō). Before them, people thought rock had to be sung in English to sound authentic!

• The album these two tracks come from, Kazemachi Roman, is frequently voted as the #1 greatest Japanese rock album of all time by critics, including Rolling Stone Japan. It is viewed as the "Sgt. Pepper's" of Japan.

• Haruomi Hosono, the bass player for Happy End (who wrote Kaze wo Atsumete), didn't stay in folk rock. He later formed Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), which became one of the most famous pioneer of synth-pop and influencing techno, hip-hop, and video game music.

• Eiichi Ohtaki’s solo career (the singer on track #3) resulted in an album called A Long Vacation in 1981. It was one of the first albums in the world to be released on CD. It is considered a foundational of the "City Pop" genre.

It’s actually mind-blowing to think that a folk-rock band from 1970, writing at a time when people said you couldn’t sing rock in Japanese, ended up planting the seeds for so much of the music I love today. The City Pop revival I've been enjoying all over YouTube, it all traces back to these guys gathering wind in Tokyo.

I’ve shared some tunes from Japan before, or some Japan-inspired tunes too. I love the vibes of it.

Thanks to @ablaze for the initiative and keeping this fun event on Hive. Just check out the topic #ttt or #threetunetuesday and you will get the idea.

I hope these tracks added a little chill to your Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by!

If you know any other hidden gems from this era (Japanese or otherwise), drop a comment below. I’m always looking to expand my playlist.

Happy Three Tune Tuesday!