"As a natural life cycle occurrence, death invites either solidarity or diplomacy. The death of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito in the first January weekend of 1989 brought an end to the so-called ‘62 year-long “Shōwa” (昭和) period of war and peace’. With imperial Japan’s atrocities during World War II long laid to rest, the whole world—including nations formerly made victims of invasion and colonization—has sent its deepest sympathies. This also ushered in the birth of the “Heisei” (平成) era under the succeeding emperor Akihito. Radio NHK’s English shortwave radio broadcast reported a global response to this significant and sad event, heard at 07:50 GMT in January 7th of 1989 at 15270kHz.
“Weekend Rain” reimagines the sounds of rain, contained within recurring cyclical structures that expand in duration over time. Recordings of musical instruments—namely the piano and Japanese koto—and found objects diffuse a canvas of raining sounds as the Radio NHK broadcast interweaves with excerpts of hai
