»AGATE« is the the latest album by Japanese artist Meitei, marking a deepening of the world he first shaped through his »Kofū« trilogy released between 2020–2023.

Named after the mineral agate, a stone formed through slow accumulation, pressure, and time, the album reflects Meitei’s patient approach to sound. »AGATE« brings together extended and newly rearranged works from across the »Kofū« cycle alongside new compositions and passages, refining material developed through years of performance and sustained practice.

The album presents seven tracks: »Haō« (previously unreleased track), »Shin-Oiran« (remodeled from »Oiran I«, »Kofū« 2020), »Shin-Sadayakko« (remodeled from »Sadayakko«, »Kofū« 2020), »Shin-Warosoku« (remodeled from »Wa-rōsoku«, »Kofū III« 2023), »Kyūgeki« (remodeled from »Shinobi« and »Akira Kurosawa«, »Kofū II« 2021), »Shin-Oiran II« (remodeled from »Oiran II«, »Kofū« 2020), »Shin-Edogawaranpo« (remodeled from »Edogawa Ranpo«, »Kofū III« 2023).

Across these works, Meitei expands the musical vocabulary first introduced in »Kofū«, a sound he once described as “lost Japanese mood.” While »Kofū« drew from fragments of folklore, theatre, ghost stories, and forgotten urban memory, it was never an act of historical reconstruction. Rather, it reflected a sensibility of the past observed from the present. With »AGATE«, this worldview is clarified as Shinpu, a process of discovery in which historical awareness becomes a foundation for contemporary creation rather than a constraint.

During five years of »Kofū« tours across Japan, Europe, and Asia, Meitei performed this material in a wide range of spaces, from underground live houses and listening rooms to culturally significant sites. These environments influenced pacing, dynamics, and structure, shaping how the material evolved over time. »AGATE« is therefore not only a studio album, but the result of material refined through repeated performance.

If the »Kofū« albums were windows into forgotten eras, »AGATE« explores what lies beneath: sediment and strata formed through time and pressure. Meitei’s approach to sound mirrors the nature of agate itself. Grains become texture. Texture becomes narrative. Voices drift through decaying layers of sound, while ancient instruments are used in non-traditional ways, forming distinctive percussive rhythms and melodies that appear and vanish without fixed resolution.

The album’s visual materials were developed under Meitei’s direction through physical art-making processes. The cover artwork originates from a letterpress print created by Kamisoe, a Karakami atelier in Nishijin, Kyoto, using Kyo-karakami paper. The original artwork, produced through traditional woodblock techniques on handmade washi, was subsequently reproduced in print for the album edition. Kamisoe continues to reinterpret this historical Kyoto craft with a contemporary sensibility.

The title calligraphy was created by Bio Xie, whom Meitei personally invited to participate in the project. During his performances abroad, Meitei encountered in Taiwan a lingering atmosphere reminiscent of “Shitsunihon” — a sense of old Japanese memory that quietly endures beyond time. He was deeply drawn to Bio Xie’s distinctive use of Chinese characters, which resonated with this experience, and asked him to contribute to the visual expression of »AGATE«.

In parallel, Meitei continues to reinterpret Japanese sensibility through his concept of “Shitsunihon,” presenting it as a contemporary musical language. The refined Kyoto motifs envisioned by Kamisoe and the distinctive calligraphic expression by Bio Xie intersect with Meitei’s singular artistic direction, weaving together a newly articulated worldview.

The accompanying visual imagery, including the liner photographs, was created by photographer Hiroshi Okamoto, who was also responsible for the visual direction of Meitei’s previous work, »Sen'nyū«. It draws from Meitei’s lived experiences of winter seas, solitary cliffs, and breaking waves. These scenes symbolize the inner conflicts of the ten years he spent living in Hiroshima, and his confrontation with solitude and the sounds he creates. The album is mastered by Kelly Hibbert, known for his work with Flying Lotus, Madlib, and J Dilla.

With »AGATE«, Meitei returns to the material of »Kofū« with greater focus and discipline, continuing an ongoing process of working forward with inherited material.