List of Translations

These translations are predominantly of lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto, originally of Happy End. There are a few Haruomi Hosono, Eiichi Ohtaki, Yukihiro Takahashi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Chu Kosaka songs/albums too. 

Each translation is accompanied by commentary. I love both translating and describing/ruminating on the songs I love, so the commentaries can get pretty long. If it's just the translation you're after, scroll down to the bottom of a post. 

I don't usually cite or link to sources in the commentary text. Any mistakes in reporting are, of course, my own. Information in English about the Hosono / YMO / Happy End world has always been partial and misleading, so if I contribute some fresh misleadingness into it, I can't say it makes me unhappy... it's such a hallowed tradition... that said, nowhere do I try intentionally to mislead. My information comes from Japanese-language interviews with the people involved. But there are doubtless things I've misunderstood.

Actually, most of my information comes from a single miraculous compendium, this online Hosono chronology.

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Happy End (Yudemen)  

Happy End

(August 1970)

A1 Come On, Spring!

A2 Hide and Seek

A3 Falling Thickly, Piling Up

A4 A Sky You Can't Fly In

A5 Remember the Enemy: Thanatos!

B1 The Zoo of the Ghosts

B2 A Rainy Day in December

B3 It's Infuriating

B4 Morning

B5 Happy End

B6 Happy End (Continued)

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Arigatou 

Chu Kosaka

(October 1971)

A1 Crow

A2 Festival of Mud

A3 Winter, Spring, Summer

A4 The Locomotive

A5 Thank You

B1 Spring is Here

B2 Evening Firefly

B3 Wayside Grass

B4 Country Roads

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Kazemachi Roman 

Happy End

(November 1971)

A1 I Want to Hold You Close

A2 Sky-Colored Crayon

A3 Gathering the Wind

A4 The Metamorphosis of the Kurayami-zaka Flying Squirrel

A5 High-Collar Idiot

A6 High-Collar/Beautiful

B1 Well, You Know, It's Summer

B2 A Flower Costs One Monme

B3 May the Weather Tomorrow Be Good

B4 Typhoon

B5 Spring in Full Bloom

B6 Hunger for Love

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Kaizoku Kid no Bouken

Sons of Sun

(April 1972)

A1 Snow-Light

A2 Suburban Train

A4 Dusk

A5 The Pirate Kid's Adventure

B1 Rendezvous

B2 The Drifters' Elegy

B4 The Mysterious Traveling Circus

B6 Drowsing Doll

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Boku wa Hiroi Kouya ni Ichi-ri Iru 

Itsutsu no Akai Fusen

(May 1972)

A3 Marriage Negotiations

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Hiro 

Hiro Yanagida

(September 1972)

A3 I Think I Can Smell the Wind Burning

A5 I Passed through Your Town

A6 Dishevelled Hair

B1 Quiet Here, Isn't It?

B2 

B3 

B4 

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Eiichi Ohtaki 

Eiichi Ohtaki

(November 1972)

A1 Feelings

A2 But That Someone Isn't Me

A3 Pinky Swear

B3 The Watercolor Town

B4 Dishevelled Hair

B5 Choo-Choo Train of Love (Part 2)

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Happy End 

Happy End

(rec. October 1972, rel. February 1973)

A1 The Wanderer

A2 A Sketch from the Month of Sleet

A3 Tomorrow It'll Surely Be Spring

A4 No Wind

B1 #3 Goodbye Street

B2 Sharing an Umbrella

B3 Country Road

B4 How Nice the Weather Is

B5 Goodbye America, Goodbye Japan

and also...

Drifting Clouds

Downpour City

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Hosono House 

Haruomi Hosono

(May 1973)

A1 Rock-a-Bye, My Baby

A2 I'm Sort Of

A3 Choo Choo! and the Clattering Train

A4 The Season of the End

A5 Crossing the Winter

B1 Party

B2 Fortune, Come In! Demons, Get Out!

B3 No Fixed Abode, Jobless, Barely Making Any Money

B4 Love is the Color of Peach Flowers

B5 The Rose and the Wild Beast

B6 Sharing an Umbrella

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Memories in Summer Colors  (Tulip, October 1973)

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Tales of First Love  (Norihiko Hashida & Endless, October 1973)

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Agnes no Chiisana Nikki 

Agnes Chan

(March 1974)

A4 The Memory Walkway

B3 Pocket Full of Secrets

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Anata to Watashi no Concert 

Agnes Chan

(August 1974)

A4 An Apple Pie Love Letter

A5 It's About to Rain

B4 Pocket Full of Secrets

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Horo 

Chu Kosaka

(January 1975)

A1 Wandering

A2 The Locomotive

A3 Bon Voyage Harbor

A4 A Sketch from the Month of Sleet

A5 

B1 It's Getting Boring

B2 Shooting Star City

B3 

B4 The Wanderer

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Band Wagon

Shigeru Suzuki

(March 1975)

A1 The Woman in the Dunes

A2 The Scents of August

A3 The Boy with a Slight Fever

A4 Snow Express

B1 

B2 

B3 Woodpecker

B4 

B5 

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Aa, Waga Yoku Tama Yo 

Hiroshi Kamayatsu

(April 1975)

A1 A Battle without Honor or Humanity

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Chiisana Koi no Ohanashi 

Agnes Chan

(April 1975)

B3 The Crossroads of Love

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When the Lilacs Were in Bloom  (Hiromi Ohta, April 1975)

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The Door of the Heart  (Agnes Chan, June 1975)

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Tropical Dandy 

Haruomi Hosono

(June 1975)

A1 Chattanooga Choo-Choo

A2 Hurricane Dorothy

A3 The Silk Road

A4 Sultry Night

A5 Peking Duck

B1 A Castaway's Story

B2 Honey Moon

B3 The Three o'Clock Lullaby

B4 The Three o'Clock Lullaby

B5 A Castaway's Story

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Caramel Mama 

Tin Pan Alley

(November 1975)

A3 Hard-Boiled Town

B2 The Freckled Girl

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Zipangu Boy

Morio Agata

(January 1976)

A1 Zipangu Boy

A2 Schooldays Spent Daydreaming (Part 1)

A3 Schooldays Spent Daydreaming (Part 2)

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Caution! 

Shigeru Suzuki

(January 1978)

A1 Rainy Station

A2 Summer Wine

A3 Hyacinth

A4 Juliet

A5 Satin Doll

B3 Tsupparing Blues

B4 Moon Baby

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Kaze Tachinu 

Seiko Matsuda

(October 1981)

A1 Fairy of Winter

A2 The Glass Cove

A3 The Tale of a Thousand Seconds

A4 Capture Me in a Strawberry Field

A5 The Wind is Rising

B1 Starry Night

B2 The Evening Light is Orange-Lime

B3 White Parasol

B4 Rainy Resort

B5 December Morning

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Yume Koibito

Miki Fujimura

(February 1983)

A4 It's Springtime, Mon Amour

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The Kittens of the Apple Forest  (Mari Iijima, April 1983)

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Naughty Boys 

Yellow Magic Orchestra

(May 1983)

A1 My Heart Goes "Kyun" for You

A2 Expected Way

A3 Focus

A4 Ongaku (Music)

A5 Opened My Eyes

B1 You've Got to Help Yourself (Trailer)

B2 Lotus Love

B3 Kai-Koh (A Chance Encounter)

B4 Expecting Rivers

B5 Wild Ambitions

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Morocco  (Shinichi Mori, October 1983)

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Ribbon

Mami Yamase

(July 1986)

B5 The Moonlit Carnival

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Kankou Omiyage — Dai San Wakusei

Morio Agata

(December 2019)

01 A Night on the Third Planet