Yellow Magic Orchestra gets a Deep Dive episode on NTS Radio

Anu’s Deep Dive series on NTS Radio recently turned to Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) on September 29, following recent episodes focused on two of the group’s key figures.

The latest broadcast under her Soup To Nuts show comes one week after a September 22 episode on Haruomi Hosono, which traces his work across electronica, synth pop, ambient, soft rock and jazz fusion.

This time, she focuses on YMO, the Japanese trio formed by Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1978.

The group went on to become key figures in the development of Japanese electronic music, with their influence spanning synth pop, electro, techno and hip hop.

YMO’s early records made extensive use of synthesizers, sequencers and other emerging technology. Their debut single was a remake of Martin Denny’s ‘Firecracker’, later released under the title ‘Computer Game “Theme From The Circus”’; a track that incorporated arcade-game sounds at a time when they were still unusual in pop music.

Read this next: The amazing history of Yellow Magic Orchestra: Unpacking Japan's most influential electronic music band

Deep Dive itself grew out of Anu’s long-running Soup To Nuts show. In January 2023, she dedicated a two-hour episode to Sakamoto to commemorate his birthday, moving chronologically through his discography and incorporating material from interviews.

That Sakamoto episode later inspired the DEEP DIVE zine, published by CAMP.

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Anu describes the project as “A listen-along zine filled with notes, stories and context to accompany the music”, and a way of archiving the research and musical connections that developed through her radio work.

Its first edition focused on Sakamoto and was released in December 2025.

Listen to the latest edition of Deep Dive on Yellow Magic Orchestra here.

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.

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