Who are Mono No Aware?
In June 2024, a Japanese indie quartet found themselves amid a dizzying viral whirlwind off the back of a video dubbed ‘Mono No Aware’ by the newfound fans hooked on their sugary pop cheer. Fronting the tight but frothy back-to-basics band set-up is a singer reeling off an infectious spoken word sprechgesang style of delivery that manages to stuff an incredible amount of syllables into a sentence—every lyrical mouthful deftly thrown with aplomb.
Nearly a year later, the clip has amassed over 10million views on YouTube. Frantic Reddit queries and social media fascination following the clip’s upload triggered a rush of intrigue in the band, perhaps wholly unexpected for such a seemingly throwaway video.
Like a piece of online lore or poured-over artwork, hints of obsession with the clip started to supplant the human beings behind the performance—as if a pristine, perfect slice of J-culture had arrived for eager consumption by an Eastern-Asian-obsessed online fandom hungry for content uncomplicated by real, human dimensions. As one profile, @andreacerratofan7305, mentions eloquently in the comments, “Understanding: 0% Vibes: 120%”.
In an age where so much is known about the stars of the day, perhaps the rush of affection for such a number is healthy and harmless enough. Resisting the urge to uncover every detail about your latest pop sensation and just immersing yourself in the effervescent joy of feeling elated and lifted by a fun video that exists as an antidote to a grey world spinning out of control.
OK, perhaps we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves; it’s a song potentially about nothing after all. But how these things take off really require investigations and analyses. What is it exactly about the Japanese indie four-piece that has enchanted so many with an ostensibly nonsensical song uploaded as a jokey studio session? The world feels deathly bereft of laughs of late, and perhaps we all need a little more ‘Mono No Aware’ in our lives.
So who are Mono No Aware?
It turns out that the performance is a cover of ‘Kamu Kamo Shikamo ni-domo Kamo!’ by Tokyo band Mono No Aware—hence the confusion of the title—and in the national language the verses are sung in are knotted with fiendishly difficult tongue-twisters and pronunciation pit-falls which, according to fluent speakers, are sung immaculately. Fronted by singer Ai, the band are Osaka’s Haku., having won a huge domestic following and looking set to win international acclaim with their sunny and high-energy numbers.
Having indulged in their love of music since high school, Haku., officially formed in 2019 while bonding over a shared love of The 1975, Radiohead and Paramore. Melding a sense of dreamy wonder atop their crisp rhythms, a coveted spot on the Juvenile White Paper talent development project in 2021 resulted in 2022’s Wakamononikki EP and their first sell-out headliner concert. The following year’s Bokurajanakyadameninatte debut LP saw Haku. thrust further into international acclaim.
Currently touring off the back of the Catch EP, Haku. have endeared themselves to Japan’s vinyl community—alongside their keen social media savvy—and garnered a following that straddles both the muso and the pop fan in happy harmony.
