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.

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.