The Artist: Hiroshi Yoshimura
Hiroshi Yoshimura was a Japanese sound artist and architect of stillness. In the early 1980s, while the West turned ambient into spectacle, he went in the opposite direction - towards light, air and space.
He wasn’t trying to impress. Understatement is the point here.
Originally designed to be played in art galleries, his music was built for spaces - not crowds. It floats in the background, like sunlight shifting on a wall.
Music For Nine Post Cards was Yoshimura's first commercial release. Made with a simple Yamaha keyboard and a reverb unit, it circulated in small circles for years - mostly in Japan.
Until the internet found it again decades later - and gave it the attention it should have received first time round.
The Record: Music For Nine Post Cards (1982)
This is not ambient music in the Brian Eno sense. There are no washes, no grand gestures. Just simple, thoughtful melodies. Each one feels hand-placed.
The record moves slowly, intentionally.
Each track is titled after a sensation: Clouds, Blink, Urban Snow, Dream.
And when you listen to each one, the names are just, well... perfect.
The notes are sparse but warm. The reverb is soft. The silence matters as much as the sound. There’s almost no rhythm - just tone, texture, atmosphere.
Yoshimura composed the pieces as part of an installation for the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. The music was meant to interact with natural light, glass and shadow - to make architecture feel alive.
Originally self-released on cassette, Music For Nine Post Cards came out on vinyl via Japanese label Sound Process in 1982, but was almost entirely unknown outside Japan until the Empire of Signs reissue in 2017.
Upon first listen, you'd be forgiven for thinking nothing really happens. But then it dawns on you - that’s the point.
This record doesn’t demand your attention, but if you give yourself over to it, it gently rewires the way you listen.
Start With:
- Blink - Slow, clear, precise
- Urban Snow – Cold light in a quiet room
- Dream – Faint tones, beautifully still
