is the self-titled debut album by Japanese

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band Happy End. Because their third album is also self-titled, although written in English, this first album is also known by the name after the sign depicted in the cover art. Five bonus tracks were added when the album was included in the March 31, 2004 ''Happy End Box'' set.

Lyrics

All the album's lyrics were written by Takashi Matsumoto, with the exception of "Tobenai Sora" (

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for ...

) and "Ira Ira" (

Eiichi Ohtaki Eiichi Ohtaki (July 28, 1948 – December 30, 2013) was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. ...

). Michael K. Bourdaghs wrote that the first track "Haruyo Koi" ("Come, Spring!") is about "ordinary daily life in the city. Specifically, they take up the boredom of one who faces the New Year holiday alone, sitting by himself at his ''

kotatsu A is a low, wooden table frame covered by a ''futon'', or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, formerly a charcoal brazier but now electric, often built into the table itself. ''Kotatsu'' are used almost ...

'' after having abandoned his rural family home for a new life in the city."

Reception

This album marked an important turning point in

Japanese music In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the world ...

history, as it sparked what would be known as the . There were highly publicized debates held between prominent figures in the

Japanese rock , sometimes abbreviated to , is rock music from Japan. Influenced by American and British rock of the 1960s, the first rock bands in Japan performed what is called Group Sounds, with lyrics almost exclusively in English. Folk rock band Happy End ...

industry, most notably the members of Happy End and Yuya Uchida, regarding whether rock music sung entirely in Japanese was sustainable. Previously, almost all popular rock music in Japan was sung in English. The success of Happy End's debut album, as well as their following album ''

Kazemachi Roman is the second album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End, released on URC Records in 1971. In this concept album, Happy End attempted to paint a musical picture of Tokyo before the 1964 Summer Olympics, through which sweeping changes transformed ...

'', proved the sustainability of Japanese-language rock in Japan.

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

, English musician and author of ''

Japrocksampler ''Japrocksampler: How the Post-war Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock 'n' Roll'' is a book written by author and musician Julian Cope and published by Bloomsbury on 3 September 2007. Overview The 304-page hardcover book is a companion piece to Co ...

'', referred to 1970's ''Happy End'' as clearly the band's best work. Both Cope and

HMV Japan Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

noted similarities to work by

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...

Legacy

The song "Shin Shin Shin" inspired the 2013 film of the same name. The album cover was featured in the first episode of the 2017

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

Tsuki ga Kirei is a Japanese romance anime television series produced by Feel. It originally aired from April 6 to June 29, 2017. Crunchyroll has licensed the series in North America. As a coming-of-age contemporary romance, the story follows the lives of tw ...

''. In 2021, photographer Mike Nogami released the photobook ''Yudemen'' containing pictures he took of Happy End during the recording of the album and an interview with

Shigeru Suzuki is a Japanese musician, songwriter and guitarist. He first became known as a member of the influential rock band Happy End in the early 1970s, before starting a solo career and becoming a prolific session musician. As of 2006, Suzuki had contr ...

Track listing

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, bass,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

- vocals, guitar,

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

* Takashi Matsumoto -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Eiji Ogura - 12-string guitar,

hand clapping A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Happy End (1970 Album) 1970 debut albums Happy End (band) albums Japanese-language albums