Outside Society: People Without a Country

This book describes Ayuo Takahashi’s growing up during the socially turbulent 1960s in New York City. The book will be most appreciated by individuals who are interested in Asian culture and the problems that Western-educated Asians confront when they return to their ancestral homelands.

Ayuo Takahashi is a musician (songwriter, lyricist, composer, vocalist, and guitarist) with over 20 albums released in Japan and the United States. Ayuo grew up in New York during the 1960s, interacting with many cultural figures while still a child including Seiji Ozawa, Toru Takemitsu, Yokoo Tadanori, Hiroshi Teshigahara, John Cage, and others. He has recordings with Ryuichi Sakamoto, John Zorn, and Peter Hammill, among others, released on JVC, Tzadik, MIDI, Epic-Sony, and other labels. He continues to create works based on medieval mythology and contemporary literature. In recent years, Ayuo’s work has increasingly included music theater and chamber music mixed with dance and theatrical elements. He is also a journalist writing about music, films, and culture for magazines in Japan. In 2020, the compilation album ＂Kankyo Ongaku: Japanese Ambient Music,＂ which includes Ayuo’s composition ＂Nagareru,＂ was nominated for a U.S. Grammy Award. His recent works are available at ayuo.bandcamp.com.