about the record

himorogi is the tenth album by ironomi. Divining Japanese mythology and its relationship with nature, the album is an aural pastorale that explores deeper territory in the realm of spiritual searching through dreamy, drifting piano, 17-string koto (jūshichi-gensō), and refined electronic processing.

ironomi’s desire to commune with Mother Earth and its seasonal colors has always served as a continual inspiration for their music. In himorogi, the duo delves into a more spiritual focus in their journey toward musical impressionism. Japanese culture has long held the idea that heavenly spirits reside in elements of the natural world, such as mountains, rocks, trees, and the sea. The album’s title comes from the Japanese word "Himorogi" (神籬), which in Shinto terminology is translated as "divine fence," referring to sacred areas where a celestial spirit enters.

Six songs were created in chronological order: ama-saki (Bloom in the Sky), yume-asobi (Playing in Dream), sakura-ame (Cherry Blossom Rain), hibiki-sora (Echoing Sky), ama-yadori (Rain Shelter), and chumu (Abstract Nil Space). On each, the music moves organically through the nature in which it was recorded, as rain connects the sky with the Earth, bringing life to blossoming flowers. Once the hues of autumn bid their farewell, another life cycle begins. Rather than reaching a state of tranquility, the idea is to achieve a state of “nothingness,” as suggested in the zazen-inspired chumu.

Junya Yanagidaira’s sublime, elegant phrasing of subtle polyphony and melodic piano lines falls like rain through a picturesque blue horizon over calming koto sways by multi-instrumentalist Yu Isobe. Flashes of sunlight momentarily refract through the water’s surface in the form of bright, starlit keyboards, at times weaving child-like melodies of enchantment. The lightest touch of koto strings seems to hover and balance the murmur of a garden stream. It beckons listeners closer as the gentle caress of the music awakens the inner senses. himorogi feels timeless, as the duo created music that transcends time and place through their endless visions of beauty.