Hiroshi Yoshimura

𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙮𝙡, 𝙃𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙞 𝙔𝙤𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙖’𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 "𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙖" 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙟𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 — 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝘾𝘿-𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡, 𝙬𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨.

Written in 1987 and first released digitally in 2006, "Flora" has long been regarded as one of Yoshimura’s most elusive works, trading for hundreds of pounds on the second-hand market and cherished for its serene, weightless beauty. Inspired by the composer’s daily walks through an Edo-period garden near his Tokyo home, the hour-long album captures the subtle shifts of nature — sunlight filtering through leaves, wind rippling across grass — in sound.

Emerging at the peak of Yoshimura’s influential period following "Music for Nine Postcards" (1982) and "Green" (1986), "Flora" distills the essence of Japanese kankyō ongaku: an ambient minimalism that functions as much as spatial design as it does music, evoking the spirit of Satie refracted through a delicate, synthetic lens.

Highlights include the gentle sway of "Over the Clover," the fragrant melodic bloom of the title track "Flora," the wistful drift of "Wind Echo," and the tender romanticism of centrepiece "Adelaide." It all culminates in the quietly playful "Satie on the Grass," a piece that pays direct homage to the French master while embodying Yoshimura’s unique sonic poetry.

A long-hidden treasure of ambient music finally returns home, "Flora" is an invitation to slow time, inhabit space, and listen as nature breathes.