The Art of Atmosphere: Kankyo Ongaku, Japan's Environmental Music

In recent years, Japanese music has grown in popularity across the world with J-Pop, Idol groups, anime music, and City Pop paving the way. While these popular forms of music have taken the world by storm, Japan has a huge amount of music that has gone largely unexplored by many outside Japan. One of these genres is Kankyo ongaku.

Translated as “environment music,” Kankyo ongaku began in the 1980s and can be described as atmospheric, serene, and soothing. It distills the Japanese sensibility of minimalism and a connection to nature into audio form, mixing genres like modern ambient, New Age, and even modern classical.

It is a style of music created to be an addition to one’s environment and surroundings, not a disruption to it. As such, field recordings are a staple in the genre and help to give a sense of immersion. Artists sample sounds recorded directly from nature to add to their compositions. Think of the sound of the rising and falling tide, delicate bird songs, or a gentle breeze rustling leaves overhead. This inclusion of sounds from the natural world helps bring the outdoors to listeners who might be detached from it in their daily lives.

Nature sounds aren’t the only samples in kankyo ongaku, however. It isn’t uncommon to hear the soft murmur of voices in a cafe, cars driving through rainy streets, and even glasses and silverware clinking in a restaurant. All of these help to immerse listeners in an environment, celebrating the slow background sounds around us.

Accompanying these slices of the real world, the musical compositions pay homage to the sense of ‘ma’ or space in Japanese art. Space between notes are layered upon each other to create lingering sounds that provide a calming sense that nothing is rushed or overly exciting, which makes sense given it is often used as meditation music!

Kankyo ongaku didn’t start that way though. Originally it was a genre built on consumerism, commissioned by companies that wanted their customers to be enveloped and soothed by gentle sounds as they perused the aisles of stores. One such company is the now famous Muji brand, which asked famed Japanese musician Haruomi Hosono to compose music for their stores, a far cry from the modern jazz and classical music normally found in Japanese retail stores today.

Interestingly enough, the big budgets and revenue of the 1980s bubble era in Japan became the unexpected patron for experimental music in Japan. It allowed artists like Takashi Kokubo, Hiroshi Yoshimura, and Midori Takada to grow their careers, and by extension, the genre. Even still, kankyo ongaku has remained a niche type of music that until the last decade or so, has remained relatively unknown. Luckily, it has seen a revival and growing fanbase overseas with exposure through outlets like YouTube and music streaming platforms. Japanese artists are still active and new composers are creating music in different areas around the world – which is only natural for a form of music built around expressing one’s surroundings!

About the author: 

Kevin Kilcoyne

The spark that lit Kevin Kilcoyne’s interest in Japanese culture began in elementary school through a friendship with his then classmate Keisuke. Since then, that passion has evolved and bloomed to encompass more than just video games and manga, leading Kevin to live in Japan as a participant of the JET program. During his time in Japan, Kevin sought out as many foods as he could, the experiences and taste memories lingering long after they had gone. Now he is forging a path to link his passions for Japanese food, history, and visual culture and is planning for his return to live in Japan once again. For now, you can find Kevin on Instagram (@waruishouten) where he posts his photography and illustration work. Keep an eye out for more posts and updates as Kevin delves more deeply into his passions for writing and food.