Tatsuro Yamashita to release first live album in 37 years

Japanese musician Tatsuro Yamashita is set to release his highly anticipated live album, ‘JOY 2’, on October 14. This marks his third live album and is the first installment in this series in 37 years, following the 1989 release of ‘JOY’.

The album features 38 tracks carefully selected by Yamashita from over 600 performances conducted during 13 national tours between 2008 and 2025. The release coincides with his 50th anniversary as a solo artist. The artwork is provided by Los Angeles-based pop artist Andre Miripolsky.

To commemorate the release, Yamashita has released a documentary-style video titled ‘How JOY 2 Was Made’ on his official YouTube channel. Produced by Yamashita and edited by Dels Yamazaki, the video provides a behind-the-scenes look at the production process using various stage photographs. Additionally, a series of short videos featuring song commentary will be released daily starting October 5.