was a Japanese folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 band, which existed from 1970 to 1973. The band's pioneering avant-garde sound

Avant-garde music

Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....

 is highly revered, and they are considered to be one of the most influential bands in Japanese music

Music of Japan

The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 , combining the kanji 音 with the kanji 楽...

. Being ranked by HMV Japan in 2003 as number 4 on their list of 100 most important Japanese pop acts. The members were Haruomi Hosono

Haruomi Hosono

, also known as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese popular musician, best known internationally as a key member of the rock band Happy End and the pioneering electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra.-Biography:...

, Takashi Matsumoto, Eiichi Ohtaki

Eiichi Ohtaki

, is a Japanese popular musician, who was a member of the influential rock band Happy End and is known for his solo work as well.His 1981 album, A Long Vacation, is particularly famous. It was the first Japanese album to be released on CD, sold over a million copies and has been re-released in 20th...

 and Shigeru Suzuki. Haruomi Hosono and Takashi Matsumoto (using the given name Reiji) were previously in the short-lived but influential psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

 band Apryl Fool. When Happy End disbanded, Hosono went on to form the Yellow Magic Orchestra

Yellow Magic Orchestra

Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...

, while Matsumoto became a successful lyricist, Suzuki continued work as a guitarist and Ohtaki worked as a songwriter and a solo singer, releasing one of Japan's best selling albums, A Long Vacation in 1981. In 2003, their song "Kaze wo Atsumete

Kazemachi Roman

translated literally as Wind City Romance, is the second album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End, released in 1971 in Japan on URC Records. In this concept album, Happy End attempted to paint a musical picture of Tokyo before the 1964 Summer Olympics, through which sweeping changes transformed...

" appeared in the American movie Lost In Translation

Lost in Translation (film)

Lost in Translation is a 2003 American film written and directed by Sofia Coppola; her second feature film after The Virgin Suicides and it stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson...

and on its soundtrack

Lost in Translation (soundtrack)

Lost in Translation is the soundtrack from the 2003 film Lost in Translation, released by Emperor Norton Records on September 9, 2003. The soundtrack features bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Air, and Happy End, as well as music by composers Brian Reitzell and Roger J...

.

Albums

• Happy End
  Happy End (1970 album)
  is the self-titled debut album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End.All the album's lyrics were written by Takashi Matsumoto, with the exception of "Tobenai Sora" and "Ira Ira" .This album marked an important turning point in Japanese music history, as it sparked what would be known as the...
  
  (はっぴいえんど, August 5, 1970)
• Kazemachi Roman
  Kazemachi Roman
  translated literally as Wind City Romance, is the second album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End, released in 1971 in Japan on URC Records. In this concept album, Happy End attempted to paint a musical picture of Tokyo before the 1964 Summer Olympics, through which sweeping changes transformed...
  
  (風街ろまん, November 20, 1971)
• Happy End (February 25, 1973)
• City - Happy End Best Album (CITY／はっぴいえんどベスト・アルバム, September 10, 1973, compilation album)
• Live Happy End (ライブ・はっぴいえんど, January 15, 1974, live album)
• Singles (シングルス, June 25, 1974, compilation album)
• Best Collection (ベスト・コレクション, 197?)
• Happy End Story (はっぴいえんどストーリー, 1982)
• Happy End & Kazemachi Roman (はっぴいえんど&風街ろまん, 1984)
• The Happy End (September 5, 1985, live album)
• Best (ベスト, 1985)
• Happy End Greeeatest Live! On Stage (はっぴいえんど GREEEATEST LIVE! ON STAGE, July 15, 1986, live album)
• Happy End Live On Stage (はっぴいえんど LIVE ON STAGE, August 25, 1989, live album)
• Happy End Best (はっぴいえんどベスト, 1993)
• Happy End (May 25, 1993, box set)
• Happy End Box (はっぴいえんどBOX, March 31, 2004, box set)

Singles

• "12 Gatsu no Ame no hi" (１２月の雨の日, April 1, 1971)
• "Hanaichimonme" (花いちもんめ, December 10, 1971)
• "Sayonara America Sayonara Nippon" (さよならアメリカさよならニッポン, February 25, 1973)
• "Ashita Tenki ni Naare / Kaze wo Atsumete / Ayakashi no Dōbutsuen (Live Version)" (あしたてんきになあれ／風をあつめて／あやか市の動物園(ライヴ・ヴァージョン), November 26, 1999)