I never imagined, when I learnt my very first Japanese song Karatachi no hana -Quince Flower – by Yamada Kohsaku in 1991, that thirty years later I would be bringing out my fourth CD of these beautiful songs. This is the third CD with piano accompaniment and like the other two, is a mixture of “kakyoku”, the Japanese equivalent of Lieder or Chanson, and of “douyou”, popular songs that are sung in schools and then throughout life. It has truly been a wonderful journey of discovery and the songs on this CD show that the art of composition of these western-style songs continues on into the present day. Charlotte de Rothschild