Yama Warashi Revisits Family Roots in Japan with the mini-album At My Mother’s Piano

Yama Warashi’s Profound Sonic Meditation on Familial Connections and Inherited Memories

Title: At My Mother’s Piano
Artist: Yama Warashi
Release Date: 2025-02-14
Genres: Ambient, Experimental Music, Folk
Label: PRAH Recordings
Description: Yama Warashi's Profound Sonic Meditation on Familial Connections and Inherited Memories

Japanese musician and visual artist Yoshino Shigihara is set to release a new mini-album, At My Mother’s Piano, on February 14, 2025, through PRAH Recordings. Working under the name Yama Warashi (山童, translating as “small childlike mountain spirit”), Shigihara’s latest project is a solo piano endeavor enriched by field recordings. The album was inspired by her journey to her family home in Ashiya City, Hyōgo Prefecture, where she recorded pieces between January and February 2024.

Piano compositions and ambient elements from her family’s daily surroundings merge into the seven-track EP. The track “Hankyu Denshya” is titled after the Hankyu Railway line near her mother’s residence and includes piano variations accompanied by sounds from a train journey to Kyoto with her family. In “Frog From Amami”, she introduces audio from a family holiday on Amami Island, where Shigihara recorded the sounds of tropical frogs, mixing them with samples from her mother’s answering machine. “Hibiki”, translating to “resonance,” explores thematic ideas around interconnected actions and their impacts, while “Mukatsuhime” (named after the Japanese sun goddess) closes the mini-album with a composition inspired by her pilgrimage to an ancient shrine on Rokkou Mountain.

The project adds to the body of work Yama Warashi began in Bristol in 2015. Since her debut EP and three albums, Shigihara’s compositions have included influences from Japanese folk dance, African musical traditions, and elements of psychedelia, merging in a style also shaped by London’s music scene. The mini-album release will be available on limited-edition colored vinyl and digital formats.

Yoshino Shigihara (b. Japan) launched Yama Warashi as her primary musical project, initially in Bristol, UK. Her music often incorporates a mix of various cultural sounds and traditions, combining influences from Japanese folk traditions with elements from psychedelic music, free jazz, and African music. Relocating to London provided Shigihara with further artistic inspiration, particularly influenced by spaces like Cafe OTO and the Total Refreshment Centre. Yama Warashi’s discography includes albums such as MOON ZERO (2016), Moon Egg (2016), Boiled Moon (2018), and Crispy Moon (2022).

Tracklist

1. Hankyu Denshya
2. Sazanami Yureru
3. At My Mother’s Piano
4. Frog From Amami
5. Amaterasu
6. Hibiki
7. Mukatsuhime

At My Mother’s Piano was written and produced by Yama Warashi.

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