Kyoto ¨C 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 ¡ª 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.¡±
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.