The Kyoto Connection ⛩️

There is a building in Yamashina that I have walked past many times during our visits to Kyoto. I first noticed it during our trip last year, while walking along the streets of this neighborhood that has become so special to us. Through its large windows, I could see groups of elderly people…

Saturday, October 3, was a particularly special day during our stay in Kyoto. In the afternoon, I had the wonderful opportunity to record music with soprano Sayo Teranishi at Amida-ji Temple in Yamashina, and that same evening, another exciting experience was waiting for us: participating…

One of the dreams I had before coming to Japan was to have the opportunity to play music in a Japanese temple. I had no particular place in mind, and certainly no idea how something like that could happen. But during our stay in Kyoto, that dream came true in a completely unexpected way. I... Read…

One of the things we hoped would happen during this trip was to meet artists in Kyoto with whom we could create new connections and, hopefully, make music. Sometimes those connections develop faster than expected. We met pianist, composer and Kyoto Tachibana University professor Masafumi Komatsu at…

When we started planning this trip, one of the ideas I was most excited about was organizing an event in Kyoto that would allow us to meet and connect with local and international artists living in the city. We called it K-Connection, with a very simple idea behind it: Artists connected by their…

A few months before traveling to Japan, I was browsing a Facebook group for Kyoto expats when I came across a post about Contact Improvisation dance sessions with live music. I immediately sent a message introducing The Kyoto Connection and explaining that we would be in Kyoto in September. I asked…

On September 23, just one day after arriving in Kyoto, we had a very special date waiting for us at Café Frosch, a beautiful café in the Nishijin area of Kyoto, very close to Kitano Tenmangū Shrine. This was an important day for us, and one that will probably stay in our hearts forever: Café...…

A few months ago, while looking for information about Kawamata, the town in Fukushima where Cosquín en Japón takes place and where Jesica will be performing during this tour, I came across an album called “Ambient Kawamata” by Ritsuko Matsumoto, a Japanese marimba player who had dedicated an entire…

As an artist, that’s the only question that prevents my creative decisions from becoming noise in a world already full of everything.

K-CONNECTION is a free community gathering celebrating creativity inspired by Kyoto. Hosted by The Kyoto Connection and Cafe Monogataru, the event brings together musicians, poets, storytellers, photographers, painters, and artists from all disciplines to share their work in an intimate and…

We are incredibly happy to announce our return to Japan! From September 17 to October 17, 2026, we’ll be traveling across Japan to share our music, reconnect with dear friends, collaborate with inspiring people, and write a new chapter in the love story between The Kyoto Connection and Japan.…

In the final days of our stay in Kyoto, we discovered Murin-an by chance while wandering through the city. As soon as we entered, we found ourselves immersed in one of the most beautiful landscapes of our entire journey through Japan. There, I recorded the gentle sound of water flowing through the…

Yamashina Flow is a piece born from long walks along the quiet canal of Yamashina, in Kyoto. I spent long moments contemplating the canal from Anshu Bridge, the symbolic home of The Kyoto Connection, and wandering though the hidden temples that quietly rest in the surrounding forest. This track is…

Homage to Arashiyama, my photo exhibition starting next Saturday May 2nd. At Gallery TakeTwo, near Kyoto City Hall on Gokomachi Street just north of Oike. Kyotographie KG+ Exhibition #166. More information on my website: https://hermosawavep...

I’ve been working for some time on a piece called “Yamashina Flow,” inspired by the wonderful soundscape that lives along the nearly ten kilometers of the Yamashina Canal in Kyoto… I’m also working on the cover artwork ❤️ Hope to release this new song soon!

11,600 miles away from Okinawa, playing Okinawan songs at Sunawai’s party for Kenji

Presenting “Whispers of Bishamondo”, a piece born from a very special place in Kyoto. Bishamondō Temple, resting quietly beside the Yamashina canal, is one of the most meaningful temples I’ve ever encountered. It was there where I could clearly hear that subtle inner voice that has been calling me…

Saturday night, on the edge of releasing a new message in a bottle. A song only I’ve heard so far, but in a few moments, hopefully it will find its way into many hearts. ❤️

Kyoto’s Pink Corridor🌸 A stunning 2km stroll from the elegant weeping cherry trees of Nakaragi Path through the breathtaking sakura tunnel on Kamonishi Street.

Good news! ✈️ 🇯🇵 I’ll be in Japan starting mid-September, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it. This time I’m arriving with some cool projects: hosting a multicultural event in Kyoto, recording a new album in Yamashina, and continuing to meet great people along the way. #TKCJapanTour26

Glimpses of Kyoto’s Spring 🌸 Yamashina Canal:Where the soft pink of cherry blossoms meets the vibrant yellow of rapeseed flowers. A 4km historic canal path that feels like walking through a living watercolor painting.

Don’t lose sight of that.

These are some beautiful paintings I saw on the walls of the subway in Kyoto, on my way to Mount Hiei…

Japan left me with a handful of strange signs during our 2025 visit. And now, a year later, some of them feel even more mysterious than they did at the time. I’ve spent much of this past year writing, researching, and documenting those experiences—moments that, I can now say, changed my life and…

Every now and then, it experiences a resurgence in listeners around the world—amassing over 4 million streams since its release in 2018. What might explain this? Algorithmic influence, surely. But it’s also possible to draw a parallel between difficult times—pandemics, wars, moments of global…

A good day to you who are reading this without meaning to… 🌅

Kyoto’s voice speaks to those whose hearts are open to its mystery…

Twenty years ago, I released *The First Voyage* — The Kyoto Connection’s first album under the Alternarama name. Back then, it was just a hobby to me. What I didn’t know was that this creative process was opening a new timeline in my universe, one filled with great moments, beautiful people, and…

Added lots of new tracks to The Kyoto Connection radio! The best selection of ambient / New Age music from Japan thekyotoconnection.com/radio

Macbench 3 running on my System 7 iPad 4. Pretty decent performance! #Marchintosh

Those who say that “AI music is soulless” don’t understand that part of the soul of music comes from the listener, not the creator… PS: I don’t use AI for my music, I don’t like AI-generated music but I can understand people enjoying it, either creating or listening.

Added a lot of new japanese ambient / new age tracks to The Kyoto Connection radio! Come pay a visit and enjoy! 📻 thekyotoconnection.com/radio #indieweb #smallweb #japaneseambient #japanesemusic

But thats the beauty of the game. Since no ones reading, I can write with more freedom. Still, the fact that this is public opens up the possibility that maybe someone, someday, somewhere in the world, will read these lines. And thats what makes the game magical. The same thing happens with my…

Just in time for #Marchintosh, I finally wrote a detailed post about my current System 7 setup running on an old iPad Mini 4. I’ve been daily driving it for a while now, and I explain why this has become my “perfect” classic Mac environment. thekyotoconnection.com/system7/

Everyone taking photos of the full moon only to discover that the photograph doesn’t look as beautiful as the real thing. Take your picture, but don’t forget to enjoy what’s real… Wells, anyway, here is mine:

Picked up my foldable bike from storage today. It’s probably been sitting there for the last five years. A little air in the tires, a bit of WD-40, and it was ready to ride. How could I have forgotten the beautiful feeling of the air on my face? Note to self: don’t put beautiful feelings... Read…

Getting ready for #Marchintosh ❤️

Finished writing the draft of my new book. Now comes the editing part… or the infinite part. Editing is making the text better. And any text could always be better. Better than what? You may be asking… Just better. You know what I’m talking about. So, for the next few weeks I’ll inmerse myself…

Oh God how many times I walked by the canal during my Kyoto stay…

Vibe-coded a simple TO-DO app in PHP and HTML3 so I can manage my tasks from any of my retro computers. Will I use it regularly? We’ll see…

Added lot's of new tracks to the rotation of my Japanese Ambient Music Radio at thekyotoconnection.com/radio Feel free to visit and enjoy! #indieweb #smallweb #japaneseambient PS: Cover art is from Takumi Yoneyama (米山拓巳) - Relaxation Music For Your Computer Life (1997) ❤️❤️❤️

For many years it was hard for me to accept the role of art in my life. It was hard to believe that I, too, am an artist. That had a huge impact on my projects: the lack of confidence, the low self-esteem, and the place I gave them in my life’s schedule. As I... Read More

Vacation is coming to an end. Today I told my daughter: I don’t want the holidays to be over. I don’t want you to grow up. I wish we could stay here, just the two of us, forever.

Golden Tori is pretty unique… in fact this is the only one I saw in all Kyoto back in April… #japan #kyoto

Today I’ve been putting some love to my Bluesky Account. After more than 10 years on Twitter (and +1400 followers), it stopped making sense to me to publish in a platform that doesn’t want to show my content to my own followers and also is full of politics/shitty/slop content. So here am I,…

Added a “Life Blog” to my digital shrine at thekyotoconnection.com/caregory/life Also, my Japanese ambient music only radio is having much more listeners than ever! 📻 In the age of AI slop andcrappy social media, owning your own piece of the Internet is so ❤️ #indieweb #smallweb #blog

Hello Bluesky! 👋