I’ve published one of those relaxing anime/game OST mixes on YouTube! It’s inspired by the main theme from the 1983 movie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

I realise this is a strange Halloween present given the song evokes Christmas, but I hope you enjoy it all the same!~~☆

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Edit History

29 October 2021. Initial upload on YouTube.
14 September 2022. The YouTube video was unlisted because of a copyright strike, so I uploaded an audio-only version on Soundcloud.
12-23 April 2023. Also re-uploaded the video version on Mega.nz, since the video version displays contextual information on each track: a nice cover, the track title, the name of the composer, the name of the source media and its release year.

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Listen to the mix

The original upload was on YouTube, but due to a copyright strike, may or may not be available for you anymore depending on the country you live in:

Direct link to the YouTube video

The video version is now also available on Mega.nz:

Direct link to the full video on Mega.nz

An audio-only version is available on Soundcloud:

Direct link to the audio-only mix on Soundcloud

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About Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

The theme from this movie is well-known for its nostalgic, magical atmosphere, and it’s been covered many, many times, in a lot of contexts. As a result, it’s easy to build passive familiarity with it, and it’s quite common to see people online wonder where they first heard it, or why it seems so very familiar.

I mean it, people wondering where the theme may come from is practically a genre of online interaction of its own:

And these are only examples I could find because the poster did eventually find out the name of the theme. A much more common occurence is to hear it in a context where you cannot even identify it, and to be left puzzled about it for months —I was myself in this exact position some years ago:

Yes, this is a bit of a self-own.

This has all become, apparently, a potential source of ridicule for more well-versed music fans:

The simple truth is that a lot of media in Japanese and Chinese pop culture use similar patterns and instruments in their soundtracks for their more “emotional” themes. I’m not learned enough in music to analyse how in more details (although Sakamoto has spoken about it in the past), but that’s definitely something I’d love to read about someday!

In addition, Sakamoto’s theme may have had quite the influence itself. The Ghibli theme that people most often associate or confuse with Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is The Path of the Wind, composed by Hisaishi for Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro, and the similarity is definitely there.

About the mix

I’ve been obsessed about this music piece (and by the movie itself too), ever since I finally learnt about them, and I’ve been building a playlist with similar music themes ever since. This mix is an attempt to share it in a presentable way, with proper attribution to the original creators.

Other than Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence itself, it contains music from:

• 1 other live-action movie
• 1 ambient music album
• 2 anime movies/series
• 2 visual novels
• 5 games

They’re from the mid-80s to 2009, with a peak in the 2000s (3 media from 1999, 2 from 2000 and 2 from 2006).

I did include an instrumental version of the Path of the Wind, but because Ghibli does not allow YouTube videos to reuse it (even if you demonetise your upload), I’ve had to use a different arrangement; otherwise, I would have had to mute that segment.

I hope you enjoy listening to this mix as much as I enjoyed creating it!

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Full Tracklist

1. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence [メリー・クリスマス ミスターローレンス]
   Composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto [坂本龍一]
   From the 1983 movie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence [戦場のメリークリスマス]
   Directed by Nagisa Ōshima [大島渚]

2. Sunset [日没]
   Composed by Bun Itakura [板倉文]
   From the 1988 movie Kaisha Monogatari: Memories of You [会社物語 Memories of You]
   Directed by Jun Ichikawa [市川 準]

3. Beautiful Memory [美しい想い出]
   Composed by Kaoru Wada [和田薫]
   From the 2000 Inuyasha anime series by Sunrise

4. Maple Syrup Factory [Maple Syrup Factory メイプル・シロップ・ファクトリー]
   Composed by Hiroshi Yoshimura [吉村弘]
   From his 2006 ambient music album Flora 1987

5. Sunflowers and Illusions [ひまわりとまぼろし]
   Composed by Shogo Sakai [酒井省吾]
   From the 2006 video game Mother 3, by HAL Laboratory and Brownie Brown

6. Snow White Ground [白雪地]
   Composed by Sky God Corridor
   From the 2007 video game Rosenkreuzstilette by [erka:es]

7. pure snows
   Composed by Shinji Orito [折戸伸治]
   From the 1999 visual novel Kanon by Key

8. Track 08
   Composed by Keita Haga [芳賀敬太]
   From the 2000 visual novel Tsukihime [月姫] by TYPE-MOON

9. The Place Where the Sun Sets [日のあたる場所で]
   Composed by Osamu Murata [村田理]
   From the 1999 video game Shenmue [シェンムー 一章 横須賀]
   Directed by Yu Suzuki [鈴木裕]

10. To All People [すべての人へ]
    Composed by Riei Saito [齋藤理詠]
    From the 2009 video game Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon [フラジール ～さよなら月の廃墟～]
    By Namco Bandai Games and Tri-Crescendo

11. The Path of the Wind (Instrumental) [風のとおり道 (インストゥルメンタル)]
    Composed by Joe Hisaishi [久石譲]
    From the 1988 animated movie My Neighbor Totoro [となりのトトロ]
    Directed by Hayao Miyazaki [宮崎駿]

12. Track 09
    Composed by Keita Haga [芳賀敬太]
    From the 2000 visual novel Tsukihime [月姫] by TYPE-MOON

13. Last Regrets (Full Chorus Version)
    Sung by Ayane [彩菜]
    From the 1999 visual novel Kanon by Key

14. Gentle Rays
    Composed by Naoshi Mizuta [水田直志]
    From the 1999 video game Parasite Eve II by SQUARE

15. Father Christmas [ファーゼル・クリスマス]
    Composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto [坂本龍一]
    From the 1983 movie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence [戦場のメリークリスマス]
    Directed by Nagisa Ōshima [大島渚]