Exclusive – read Alex From Tokyo’s sleeve notes for Susumu Yokota’s Acid Mt Fuji
An in depth exploration of the roots of Japanese techno
Susumo Yokota’s classic Acid Mt Fuji album is being reiussed on September 6 to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of its original release. An inspired mixture of ambient, acid and techno, it simultaneously draws on futuristic modernism and Japan’s ancient mythology for inspiration.
Japanese label Musicmine/Sublime are also giving Ken Ishii’s cult classic Reference To Difference – which was released on the same day in 1994 as Acid Mt. Fuji – as twin testaments to the delights of the burgeoning Japanese techno scene. In his sleeve notes for Yokota’s album, reproduced exclusively here, the DJ Alex From Tokyo reflects on the untimely passing of the producer and explores the roots of the country’s unique and diverse scene.
Introduction: A Moment in Time
On March 27th, the sakura trees bloomed in Paris and we mark nine years without Susumu Yokota. Many years ago in 1995, I first met him at the Sublime Records office in Shibuya through the introduction of the label head, Manabu Yamazaki a.k.a. DJ Yama. At that time, I had just begun working at Mr. Bongo Tokyo located in Shibuya’s Udagawacho neighborhood and was representing the French label, F Communications in Japan. Yamazaki handed me a white label promo of Yokota’s PRISM project album, Metronome Melody which quickly became a favorite in my DJ sets. Naturally, I included “Velvet Nymph” from that album in my compilation, Japan Vibrations Vol. 1. I quickly became friends with Yokota who was by then, starting to explore house music and DJing more regularly. Soon afterwards in 1998, he invited me to join him as a resident DJ for his “Skintone” party that he was about to start at the club, Lust in Ebisu.
I first heard Yokota’s music in 1993 at USA Import, the Parisian techno specialist record store which Laurent Garnier was a partner of. Vastly different to Japan, the techno, trance, and rave culture was flourishing across Europe at the time and under this backdrop, Yokota’s debut album, The Frankfurt-Tokyo Connection was releasedthrough Harthouse, the renowned German techno trance label run by Sven Väth. And around the same time, another emerging, young Japanese techno producer, Ken Ishii released his Garden on the Palm album via Belgium’s R&S Records as well. Both albums showcased a new breed of electronic music producers coming out of Japan that were breaking into the international scene. Around that time, when I was deeply involved in the underground house and techno scene in Tokyo, regularly attending parties, Yokota’s second album, Zen released under his alias, “Ebi” came out of the Berlin based label, Space Teddy in 1994. This LP also caught my attention immediately and it became another essential album for me alongside Haruomi Hosono’s Medicine Compilation from The Quiet Lodge that came out in 1993.
Techno in Japan: A Sea of Change
Like everywhere else, with all the musical innovations that took place in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and with the emergence of house, techno, hip-hop and club jazz scenes, it significantly transformed the Tokyo nightlife. Despite many record stores in Tokyo at the time, this new, emerging club music being released worldwide was still a novelty in Japan but more and more stores started selling it but WAVE in Roppongi was pivotal in promoting new techno sounds from the US and Europe from the onset. The established electronic and techno-pop scene in Japan also began integrating with the club music scene during this time as well. For instance, Haruomi Hosono started producing electro and house influenced tracks and he was also a regular customer at WAVE. House music, acid jazz, and hip-hop dominated the underground clubs and parties in Tokyo and DJ K.U.D.O., the godfather of techno trance in Japan held his “Zero” (later “Zero Turbo”) residency at Space Lab Yellow since its inception in 1991. This club was part of a new wave of venues such as Mix, Gold, Maniac Love, and Blue that were presenting the exciting new sounds of club music that was emerging at the time. “Zero” was among the first Tokyo parties to regularly invite international techno DJs like Laurent Garnier and Sven Väth. Yokota, along with Toby Izui a.k.a. DJ Toby was a frequent presence at “Zero.” The Tokyo techno scene was heating up.
Also, DJ and producer, Takkyu Ishino known for his late-night national radio show, “Denki Groove’s All-Night Nippon” (on Nippon Broadcasting’s “All Night-Nippon” program) who at the same time, started releasing material with his techno-pop group, Denki Groove from the late ‘80s also contributed to the scene’s growth. It was a crazy culture and comedy talk show that was broadcasted live nationwide where he would regularly introduce some new Japanese and international techno and dance music in his recommendations’ corner. A lot of people in Japan discovered techno on the radio via this program.
Club, DJ and rave culture in Japan was still considered nascent compared to Europe and it was more underground with a different social and cultural context. Techno was initially considered niche but the landscape started to change rapidly.
Although it was still small and very underground, the techno scene started to expand rapidly across Tokyo and then throughout Japan between 1992 and 1994. Other clubs like Cave, Geoid, Maniac Love and events like Rave East, Connie’s parties, The Twilight Zone, Da Da House, and Key-Energy fueled the burgeoning scene. The outdoor Goa trance parties held up in the mountains around Tokyo was also on the rise.
In October 1993, Trigger Records run by Kazunao Nagata hosted an event featuring Ken Ishii, Yoshihiro Sawasaki and Organization and it marked the founding of a new movement in the domestic electronic music scene. Trigger Records transitioned towards techno, later renaming itself, Transonic Records and started releasing new acts. And in the other parts of Japan, the same thing happened where other labels started releasing homegrown techno as well. Osaka’s DJ Fumiya Tanaka’s Torema Records released their first single, “Green Tower” by Last Front. A few months later, Fukuoka based producer, Ken Inaoka started Syzygy Records in November 1993 and to celebrate the release of their first label compilation, Believe in the Frequency, he held a release party in Yoyogi, Tokyo featuring live performances by Gotham City (C.T. Scan), Organization, Drawing Future Life, and Suzukiski. Early independent techno labels founded in Japan like Sublime Records, Transonic Records, Frogman Records, Subvoice Electronic Music, East Edge/ Accutron Sound run by Space Lab Yellow, Dub Restaurant Communication, Syzygy Records, and Torema Records each had its own unique identity and approach. Some like Torema, Subvoice and East Edge focused releasing techno tailored for the dance floor.
November 1993 also saw the opening of Maniac Love, the first proper techno club in Japan, with Manabu Yamazaki as its artistic director. He initiated the Sublime parties there which soon led to the creation of Sublime Records in the spring of 1994. Maniac Love soon became a weekend staple for the techno scene in Tokyo. Under this context, Yokota’s exposure through the release of his album on Harthouse that came out around this sea of change domestically, earned him widespread recognition and because of it, offers for him to perform surged in Japan. In December 1993, he played at landmark events such as the first ever party that Derrick May played in Japan and at Underground Resistance’s first Japan tour where for their Tokyo gig, they performed at Space Lab Yellow. He caused such a sensation!
The Sublime parties at Maniac Love became a hub for music enthusiasts. After an introduction from Toby, Yokota also became a regular at Maniac Love. In 1994, he played a key role in establishing Sublime Records, advising Yamazaki and shaping the label’s musical direction. Sublime Records aimed to showcase a broad range of music and went onto release both Japanese and international artists such as Dan Curtin and 4 Hero.
Yokota’s Beginnings: Bridging Worlds
Toby Izui, the global connector and Japanese techno ambassador met Yokota through the music producer, Makoto. Based between Berlin and Tokyo in the ‘90s, Toby helped spread Yokota’s music, securing releases on Sven Vath’s label and Dr. Motte’s “Space Teddy” label. Dr. Motte who also co-organized the music festival, Love Parade in Berlin, invited Yokota, Makoto and DJ Toby a.k.a. Tobynation to perform at Tresor in July 1994, a significant debut for a new Japanese artist at the time in Europe.
Yokota and Makoto’s improvised acid techno set, featuring just a TB-303, an R8, and a Juno 60 left a lasting impression at this festival. Their performance electrified the crowd, with German artist, Mijk Van Dijk remarking on a local radio show, “We have never seen anything like this before. It was so mad!!” Yokota received a warm welcome, marking the start of his global musical journey.
If Japan had their own “Second Summer of Love,” Yokota would have been one of its leading figures. His 1994 album, Acid Mt. Fuji is a powerful testament to rave culture’s establishment and the birth of a new scene in Japan that rapidly developed within just two years, from 1992 to 1994.
Notably, one of the first techno festivals in Japan, “Rainbow 2000” took place at the foot of Mt. Fuji in 1996. More than 10,000 music lovers attended.
Ken Ishii and Susumu Yokota became two of the most prominent Japanese artists to emerge from Japan to join the global techno scene and rave culture. The techno community in Japan took pride in their overseas achievements and both artists inspired a new wave of Japanese producers and DJs, contributing significantly to the growth of the techno movement in Japan which lead to a second major boom in 1995.
Electronic music brought Japan and the world closer than ever. International electronic dance music artists and DJs started touring Japan every weekend. The scene would spread very fast from its epicenter, Shibuya and around the different city centers with the opening of new club music specialist record stores (DMR, Cisco, Technique, Mr. Bongo, Barong, etc.), dance music focused media (Remix, ele-king, Loud, Groove) being launched, parties, clubs and venues like Liquid Room in Shinjuku catering to the growing techno movement. Domestic major record companies such as Sony Music Japan started their own sub-label, Sony Techno, licensing and promoting, foreign and domestic electronic music released by the big, leading independent labels such as Transmat, Warp, R&S, etc. that was distributed throughout Japan which was unheard of before. The energy in the Tokyo clubland was euphoric and unparalleled, making the city a global centre for techno, house, and dance music.
Acid Mt. Fuji: A Mountainous Masterpiece
Released on Sublime Records on June 29th, 1994 on CD (simultaneously with Ken Ishii’s Reference To Difference album as the label’s inaugural releases),Yokota’s Acid Mt. Fuji is a potent mix of mystical acid techno jams, taking the listeners on an otherworldly sonic journey. By blending acid, ambient, and hard techno beats, Yokota masterfully achieves cultural depth and emotional intensity.
The album, one of Yokota’s most celebrated works, finds its muse in Hokusai’s red rendition of Mt. Fuji (Red Fuji or “Akafuji”). Part of Hokusai’s ultra-famous “Thirty Six Views of Mt. Fuji” series from the 1830s, “Red Fuji” depicts the iconic sacred mountain aglow in red at dawn, symbolizing spirituality and creativity.
The album moves from Hokusai’s visual world to Yokota’s audio “floating world.” A psychedelic pilgrimage, the album layers echo effects and dynamic sounds that is in constant flux, alongside forest recordings and electronic percussion. With references to Japanese folklore, nature and shrines, tracks like “Kinoko” and “Meijijingu” invite the listener into the album’s deeper journey. This soundtrack is to be enjoyed as one continuous soundscape instead as a collection of dance tracks.
Merging Japanese new age and minimal techno, Acid Mt. Fuji is a free, organic, innovative and energetic recording, unique to Yokota and Japan. Originally planned as an ambient album but Acid Mt. Fuji evolved into a ground-breaking concept album featuring the Roland TB-303. Reminiscent of Harthouse’s signature sound at the time, this album marked a new direction for Yokota although the mastering process of this album initially faced challenges due to the engineer’s unfamiliarity with this new musical genre. Recorded live at home with a TB-303 and a sampler, Yokota’s experimental approach showcases his innovative production style at the time. His artwork for the album (His drawing on the front cover of this album), inspired by the concept of wa (Japan and harmony), highlights his diverse skills as an artist, designer and musician.
This special release also commemorates Musicmine and Sublime Records’ 30th anniversary with the reissue of Acid Mt. Fuji on triple vinyl and it was remastered by Berlin’s Manmade Mastering (the same studio that did the honors with Ebi’s Space Teddy Collection album that was released on Transmigration in 2020). This 3 LP Deluxe Edition includes the original album’s 11 tracks with five unreleased (raw, stripped down and jacking) tracks available for the first time outside of Japan, on vinyl (previously included only in the 2016 Deluxe Edition CD reissued only in Japan). There are also 2 digital-only bonus tracks that will be released for this special occasion.
One track is a live performance by Yokota, titled “Live at Shibuya Beam Hall” that was recorded at Sublime Records’ label launch party held in September 1994. It was previously only released on the same 2016 CD reissue edition. This event, titled “Sublime Records Presents New Style of Electronic Ambient Party” featured performances by Susumu Yokota, Ken Ishii, Yoshihiro Sawasaki, Speedy J, DJ Wada and more. The 10 minute long, rare live recording captures Yokota playing a dynamic fast tempo, acid house jam live set, primarily using two TB-303s and a drum machine. The other digital only bonus track is an alternative version of the track, H that was discovered recently while excavating a DAT tape that included the five unreleased tracks that is also featured on the third LP by the mastering engineer of this LP!
Celebration
Yokota had a relentless drive to create something fresh and unique. He continually experimented with various forms of art and much like a collage artist, he explored the boundaries of creativity through his musical production. Despite misconceptions sometimes expressed by some about his work, Yokota possessed a vigorous creative spirit, pushing forward and experimenting across different mediums. He was also attuned to the times, yet instead of conforming, sought to digest and reinterpret it through his music. As a result, he released an astonishing seventy recordings including singles, in the twenty years leading up to his death.
During the early days of the Japanese techno and house scene, Yokota was a pioneer, connecting with Europe and establishing himself as a unique artist. He blended the early 90s western sounds with his own Japanese sensibility. When I interviewed Manabu Yamazaki for Japan Vibrations, he described Yokota as an artist who incorporated the serenity of Japan with the other diverse cultures of the US, Berlin, London, Paris and beyond into his music—a fitting tribute to his legacy.
Yokota was a solitary figure, an artist who expressed his life through the continuous creation of music. For those seeking something different, deep, mystical, soothing, psychedelic and uniquely Japanese, this album stands as iconic as Mt. Fuji itself, released on one of the leading electronic music labels in Japan, Sublime Records/ Musicmine that is still active today. It invites listeners to explore the inner realms of the mind and imagination.
Close your eyes, allow Yokota to guide you on an unforgettable journey to Mt. Fuji and enjoy the trip.
Alex from Tokyo