QUIET FOREST Reissue to Mark First Vinyl Release of Hiroshi Yoshimura Album

Temporal Drift has announced a reissue of Hiroshi Yoshimura's Quiet Forest, the last album released in his lifetime.

Originally issued on compact disc in 1996, Quiet Forest was Hiroshi Yoshimura's last album-length work to be released before his passing in 2003. Largely inspired by his trip to the vast forests of the North American Pacific Northwest, the album is an aural reflection of the fantastical, surreal beauty he experienced as he walked through the otherworldly wilderness for the first time. The basic tracks were recorded in the fall of 1993. After numerous revisions to the song titles and a scrapped idea to overlay the tracks with nature field recordings, Hiroshi ultimately produced a latter-day masterwork that feels like the spiritual follow-up to Green, one of his defining works from a decade earlier.

'My encounter with the Hoh Rain Forest, located inside Olympic National Park across the water from Seattle, felt like seeing a whole new world for the first time in my life. Long green fronds draped along the branches, like a scene in which fairies could be heard whispering to one another. But when you try to listen, no sound can be heard. Amidst the mysterious silence, in which no birds or insects make a sound, every living thing seemed to have stopped in its place, only to start dancing when some kind of spell is cast over them.' - Hiroshi Yoshimura

Reissue Details

30th Anniversary Reissue

First-ever release on vinyl

Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura's estate

Remastered from original sources by John Baldwin

English translations of original 1996 release liner notes

Reproductions of Yoshimura's handwritten recording notes

Vinyl includes 5' x 7' postcard print

Vinyl pressed at Optimal

Exclusive color vinyl available

Available on CD and Tape

About Hiroshi Yoshimura

Barely known outside of his home country during his lifetime, the late Japanese ambient music pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura (1940-2003) has seen his global stature rise steadily in the past few years. The 2017 reissue of Yoshimura's lauded debut, Music For Nine Post Cards, his inclusion on the Grammy-nominated 2019 compilation Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 compilation, the recent reissues of GREEN and SURROUND, and a slow-building cult internet following has helped ignite a renaissance in his acclaimed body of work, much of which has never been released outside of Japan. Known for his sound design and environmental music, Yoshimura was a member of the legendary sound-art ensemble Taj Mahal Travellers in the 1970s, and in his later years he worked on a number of commissions including works for museums, galleries, public spaces, TV shows, video art, fashion shows, and even a cosmetics company. He was a friend and contemporary of Harold Budd, and helped organize his first concert in Japan in 1983. Yoshimura's other notable works include Pier & Loft (1983), Flora (rec. 1987, rel. 2006), Wet Land (1993), Quiet Forest (1996), and Four Post Cards (2004). He passed away in 2003, leaving behind a lasting legacy that includes some of the most influential ambient and environmental music committed to tape. In 2023, The Museum of Modern Art in Kamakura held a career-spanning exhibition of his works, including rare archival materials chronicling not only his work in music, but also his equally captivating work in visual art, poetry, video, and sound sculptures.

Release Information

Hiroshi Yoshimura

Quiet Forest

(Temporal Drift)

CD / Cassette / Digital Release Date: Nov. 13, 2026

Vinyl Street Date: Dec. 04, 2026

Tracklist

01 Quiet Forest 5'39'

02 Whispering 5'35'

03 After Rain 2'02'

04 Hoh River 5'33'

05 Sunrise 3'18'

06 Deep Echoes 6'10'

07 Melting Wind 1'17'

08 Dancing Creek 7'28'

09 Rain Forest 2'22'

10 Lullaby of Leaves 4'57'

Photo Credit: Ghig & Ikuko Takahashi, courtesy of NUVULA/Yoko Yoshimura

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