Yasuaki Shimizu’s soundtrack album for Hachigatsu no Koe o Hakobu Otoko

on sale August 19!

Broadcast on NHK in 2025, this powerful post-war 80th-anniversary drama received critical acclaim, winning the prestigious Grand Prize in the Television Division at the 63rd Galaxy Awards. The album arrives just ahead of the theatrical premiere of the film version—featuring previously unreleased scenes—on August 21.

 

Shimizu crafted and recorded the music by listening closely to the atmosphere of the era, the unspoken emotions within the silence, and the subtle presence before words are even spoken. The core track of the album “Kotoba o Atsumeru,” symbolizing the protagonist, reflects a quiet, steadfast will to seek the truth; “Kuroi Tachiki,” a deeply moving track reflecting mourning and repose, anchors some of the most memorable scenes in the story.

 

Comment from Yasuaki Shimizu: “The protagonist capturing the voices of atomic bomb survivors on an open-reel tape recorder resonated with me, as I had used similar equipment to weave sounds during my own childhood, making me feel a strange twist of fate. Though I was born ten years after the war, the ‘voices’ of that era haunted me throughout the production process.”

 

Mark your calendars!