The ambient and new age compilation features Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Joe Hisaishi.

Light In The Attic has revealed details of the latest installment in its ongoing Japan archival series, the ambient and new age compilation Kankyō Ongaku.

The title translates as ‘environmental music’, a term used to describe the background and incidental music that was used to soundtrack “the spaces, products, and experiences of 1980s Japan”. This included in-store music for Japanese retailer Muji, as well as companion music for a Sanyo Air Conditioning Unit.

The compilation features tracks from Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Joe Hisaishi, as well as lesser-known artists such Hiroshi Yoshimura, Yoshio Ojima and Satoshi Ashikawa, and was compiled by Visible Cloaks’ Spencer Doran. It’s the first fully licensed collection of this music, and marks the first time that these recordings will be made available outside of Japan.

Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 arrives early next year and is available to pre-order now. The triple vinyl edition of the compilation features deluxe jackets and slipcase and the double CD release is presented in a custom-bound hardback book.

Check out the cover art and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

01. Satoshi Ashikawa – ‘Still Space’
02. Yoshio Ojima – ‘Glass Chattering’
03. Hideki Matsutake – ‘Nemureru Yoru (Karaoke Version)’
04. Ayuo Takahashi – ‘Nagareru*’
05. Joe Hisaishi – ‘Islander’
06. Yoshiaki Ochi – ‘Ear Dreamin”
07. Masashi Kitamura + Phonogenix – ‘Variation・III’
08. Interior – ‘Park’
09. Yoichiro Yoshikawa – ‘Nube’
10. Yoshio Suzuki – ‘Meet Me In The Sheep Meadow’
11. Ryuichi Sakamoto – ‘Dolphins’*
12. Toshi Tsuchitori – ‘Ishiura (Abridged)’
13. Shiho Yabuki – ‘Tomoshibi (abridged)’
14. Toshifumi Hinata – ‘Chaconne’
15. Yasuaki Shimizu – ‘Seiko 3’
16. Inoyama Land – ‘Apple Star’
17. Hiroshi Yoshimura – ‘Blink’
18. Fumio Miyashita – ‘See the Light (abridged)’
19. Akira Ito – ‘Praying For Mother / Earth Part 1’
20. Jun Fukamachi – ‘Breathing New Life’
21. Takashi Toyoda – ‘Snow’
22. Yellow Magic Orchestra – ‘Loom’
23. Takashi Kokubo – ‘A Dream Sails Out To Sea – Scene 3’
24. Masahiro Sugaya – ‘Umi No Sunatsubu’
25. Haruomi Hosono – ‘Original BGM’

*LP only

Read next: Another Green World- How Japanese ambient music found a new audience