Expect mountains of rare disco, new age and city pop.

Reissue specialist Light In the Attic has announced a new series exploring Japan’s vast heritage of music, from folk and rock to new age, boogie, starry-eyed city pop and groundbreaking electronica.

The series will begin with a compilation called Even A Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973, which the label says is “the first-ever fully licensed compilation of this music to be released outside Japan.”

Staking an early claim to be one of the year’s best compilations, it features artists like Haruomi Hosono, Maki Asakawa, Sachiko Kanenobu and Kenji Endo, and heralds a number of subsequent compilations, one focusing on “City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1985” and another on “Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990”. Hear a preview track below by Kazuhiko Kato.

The label has also hinted at a “very special project involving one of the most respected and influential artists in Japan.”

Even A Tree Can Shed Tears includes original artwork by illustrator Heisuke Kitazawa and a 20-page book with extensive liner notes. It will be released on coloured and black vinyl via Light In The Attic on October 20.