Under a wash of blue stage lights inside Kyoto’s Rohm Theatre, Haruomi Hosono stood alone. A founding member of influential techno-pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra, he addressed an attentive audience on the closing night of the inaugural Music Awards Japan — not just as a musician in his own right, but on behalf of his late YMO bandmates, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, and artists across the country.
“There are two people who couldn’t make it here today. It’s because of their talent that I’m able to stand here,” said Hosono, adding that he “felt very honored” the pioneering YMO has been chosen as a kind of “symbol” to represent that best Japanese music has to offer. Reflecting on the influence of his artistic peers, he expanded on the thing that drives artists to create. “It’s the passion we have for music, our love for it. We tried to come up with something unique to Japan.”
