Various

𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙭-𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙨, 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙤 𝙈𝙪𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙈𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙄𝙣 𝙏𝙤𝙠𝙮𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 - 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙅𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟳𝟬𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟵𝟬𝙨.

Tsunaki Kadowaki, a staff member at Kyoto’s record store Meditations, the supervisor of "New Age Music Disc Guide", and the founder of Sad Disco, curates the fourth installment of "Midnight in Tokyo" themed around Ambient Kayo.

The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights—whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. After a six-year hiatus, the fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayo" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music.

For this long-awaited fourth installment, selections were made regardless of record label status (major or independent), era, format, original release price, or prior reissues. Instead, the focus was on music that deeply moves the listener, is open-minded and evocative, brims with inspiration and spiritual insight, and embodies the "utagokoro" (singing heart) of Japanese artists. Opening the compilation is "Umi e Kinasai" by Yosui Inoue, a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter whose works have recently gained renewed interest as hidden gems of Balearic and ambient pop.