Sen'nyū / Meitei

This is Meitei's LP "Sen'nyū" (2025).

Meitei, known for his "Lost Japan" series, which evokes forgotten eras as sonic afterimages, resided in a warehouse at the 100-year-old traditional inn, Yamada Bessou, overlooking a bay. For two weeks, he continuously listened to the steam, the stones, and the very air. The resulting work, "Sen’nyū," traces the inner spirit of hot spring culture. Just as water naturally finds its way, this music emerges with a quiet inevitability, shaped by synesthetic sensibilities and a deep attunement to the land.

With microphone in hand, Meitei walked the sacred sites of Beppu: Takegawara Onsen, Bouzu Jigoku, Janoyu, and Yamada Bessou's private baths. There, he recorded the breath of the hot spring source, bubbling mud, the sounds of fumaroles, wind through bamboo, and the whispers of daily visitors. These field recordings form the sonic foundation of "Sen’nyū," a practice of deep listening that attempts to capture even rising mist and shifting heat as sound.

While his previous works conveyed personal impressions of a vanishing Japan, "Sen’nyū" is rooted in a tactile present. It is not imagined music, but encountered music. Here, Meitei's practice moves closer to the spirit of kankyō ongaku (environmental music), where music is born from a place, shaped by a place, and is inseparable from its environment.

This is the latest album by Meitei, who leads the contemporary ambient scene in Japan. The music, which returns to more elemental environmental music centered on field recordings, is also very pleasant (Ammel).