Born in Tokyo in 1951, Midori Takada graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts and began her career as a percussionist with the Berlin RIAS Symphonie-Orchester in the mid-1970s. Growing dissatisfied with the Western classical tradition, she returned to Japan to study African drumming, Indonesian gamelan, and the minimalism of Steve Reich and Terry Riley, channeling these influences into the group Mkwaju Ensemble. Her first solo LP, Through the Looking Glass (1983), was recorded in three days and largely forgotten until its rediscovery and reissue in 2017, when it became a touchstone of the Japanese ambient revival.

Mood and energy: Minimalist, percussive, spacious. Recommended uses: Meditation, deep listening, reflection.

Sacred Ground Confidence Score: 5 out of 5 stars   Final recommendation: Approved.

Why this artist belongs in Sacred Sounds: A foundational figure whose rediscovered minimalist masterwork anchors the entire Japanese ambient revival this collection draws from.