Last Updated on 2026-03-02 by a-indie
Hakubungo, a solo unit from Okinawa, has re-released their 2015 debut work 『Kosaten EP』 on the BELONG Media / A-indie YouTube channel, marking the recording’s tenth anniversary.
All five tracks, born from an extremely lo-fi home recording setup, occupy a genre all their own — Showa-era Japanese poetry reminiscent of はっぴいえんど sitting in unlikely harmony with hip-hop-derived loop beats.
The EP had been unavailable online for a long time, but its re-release was made possible at the artist’s own request.
Full lyrics for all tracks are being published for the first time, available in the YouTube video descriptions.
The release also received an advance listening session within the BELONG Media / A-indie Discord community. Member comments are introduced at the end of this article.
Who Is Hakubungo?
Hakubungo is a solo unit from Okinawa. After releasing the home-recorded EP 『Kosaten EP』 in 2015, they released the CD 『Kare ga Iu ni wa』 through P-VINE the following year in 2016.
After that, commercial music activity was set aside due to the demands of a primary job (at a workplace where side work is prohibited), while personal study of Ryukyuan classical sanshin and hip-hop beat production continued quietly in the background.
Hakubungo is a musician who sincerely grapples with questions of genre and language, and who keeps searching for the “roots” of Japanese-language music.
『Kosaten EP』
This work was created under extremely constrained conditions: a 2,000-yen acoustic guitar purchased from a secondhand shop, a 10,000-yen microphone, and an old computer with no internet connection.
The title word “Kosaten” (intersection) layers two meanings — an image of songs crossing paths with one another, and memories of several trips to Tokyo made during university years.
The stance of depicting urban life through “freely imagined impressions” is reflected in the lyrics, where words like coffee shop, midnight, lies, and boredom appear throughout.
Yet none of these words carry a negative nuance. A breezy, detached quality runs through the whole work.
The mid-period Beatles, Bryan Adams’s unplugged live performances, and ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION’s 『Houkai Amplifier』 — as revealed in a previous interview, these three roots show how Hakubungo’s songwriting has absorbed a wide range of music while keeping “being pop” at its core.
A Note on 『Kosaten EP』
In a tenth-anniversary interview set to be published soon, Hakubungo says they listened back to this EP and felt once again: “Yeah, this is good.”
The lo-fi quality itself has become a charm rather than a limitation, and leaving the recording floating unheard felt like a waste — which led to reaching out to BELONG Media / A-indie and requesting the re-release.
Full lyrics for all tracks are also being published for the first time. Please check them out in the YouTube video descriptions.
Advance Listening in the Discord Community
The Discord community run by BELONG Media / A-indie holds advance listening sessions limited exclusively to trusted members.
Taking advantage of Discord’s closed community format, the team keeps release risk to a minimum while maintaining close, personal exchanges with participants.
Community members shared the following comments.
I think about the same things as the lyrics of “Yuunou” do.
Like stumbling into a Showa-era coffee shop — familiar, yet strange, as if I’m hearing it for the very first time.
Incredibly lo-fi, yet the melody stays with you. I caught myself humming it after the listen.
The rhythm suddenly shifts in track four and it surprised me — but somehow it feels completely natural!
We hope you will listen to this release and discover Hakubungo’s one-of-a-kind Japanese-language music, drifting somewhere between the city and Okinawa.
Release Details
『Kosaten EP』
Release date: September 20, 2015 (original)
YouTube re-release: March 2, 2026 (Monday)
Label: Self-released (re-release: BELONG Media / A-indie YouTube)
Track list:
1. 嘘並べ (Uso Narabe)
2. 夜更けにダンス (Yofuke ni Dance)
3. 有能 (Yuunou)
4. ラマーのように (Lamar no Yooni)
5. まっさら (Massara)
Listen on YouTube
『Kare ga Iu ni wa』
Release date: June 2, 2016
Format: CD
Catalog number: PCD-4636
Label: P-VINE
View on Amazon
Hakubungo Profile
A solo unit from Okinawa. The name is derived from the word “bungou” (literary master), rearranged with a Chinese stylistic influence. After releasing the home-recorded EP 『Kosaten EP』 in 2015, Hakubungo released the CD 『Kare ga Iu ni wa』 through P-VINE in 2016. For the following ten years, primary employment took precedence, while personal study of Ryukyuan classical sanshin and hip-hop beat production continued in parallel. In 2026, the tenth anniversary became the occasion for a fresh start. Holding Japanese folk and Okinawan music as two central pillars, Hakubungo continues quietly searching for what “the right melody in Japanese” means for them personally.
- is a music media platform run by BELONG, a Japanese music organization. We publish music articles with a focus on indie music.