Long Season

Front cover of Long Season reissue
Artist	Fishmans
Type	Studio album
Released	October 25, 1996
Recorded	July 1996
Genre	Dream Pop • Progressive Pop • Neo-Psychedelia
Length	35:16
Label	Polydor
Producer	ZAK

The Long Season photo location as of June 17, 2023.

The Long Season photo location circa 2019, appearing in The Fishmans Movie.

Note: this is the page for the album. For the song, see Long Season (song). For the poetry book, see Long Season (book).

Long Season (typically written in capital letters as LONG SEASON) is the sixth studio album by Fishmans. First released on October 25, 1996 by Polydor, Long Season has gained a reputation as Fishmans' most popular album in Western music culture. The album was recorded as a followup to previously-released single Season, manifesting as a single 35-minute epic heavily based upon the musical themes of said single, divided into five parts. Band members in conversation separate them into four parts, however, naming them A, B, C and D parts. Band leader Shinji Sato remarked during an interview featured in The Fishmans Movie that the band had intended on the album being at least 40 minutes in length, however they settled on 35 as the extra length proved too daunting a task. On Fishmans' official online website, the band describes the album as (translated to English):

An experimental, visually evocative album that includes gentle rhythms and Shinji Sato's unique whisper-like vocals, which take you on a journey from the heat of summer to another world of tranquility.

Long Season would be the first Fishmans release to feature guitarist Michio "Darts" Sekiguchi, as well as vocalists UA and MariMari, drummer Asa-Chang and even A&R manager Masaki Morimoto's whistling. Morimoto's whistling mimics a vocal melody present in the band's previous song Season during a lyrical segment not present on Long Season. Sessions for the album included two complete performances, later weaved together by ZAK to create a more cohesive whole. According to band collaborator Minoru Yokoo, the album's recording process was fairly nonchalant and uncoordinated. Members describe holding up cards to one another during recording, asking when certain segments of the song began and when they ended.

Fishmans' website does not list Long Season as a "canon" studio album, rather calling it a "One Track Album". This contrasts with their other studio albums, which are all listed numerically (1st album, 2nd album, et cetera). Despite containing Fishmans' longest song, Long Season is their shortest studio album, dwarfed by Orange by around four minutes.

Long Season's cover photo was taken just off of the southeast end of the formerly-standing Mitakeko Bridge, which used to be located in Mitakehoncho on Mount Mitake in Ome, Tokyo, Japan. It was an immediate neighbor of the still-standing Mitakeko Bridge, being a site mostly known for the flowing Tama River below. Below where the bridge once stood is a hill full of rocks, where tourists sometimes climb. As of 2019, Mitakeko Bridge was washed away by a typhoon, though the path next to it where the band members stand on is still present. It has not since been rebuilt.

Track listing

1. Long Season (35:16)

• Part 1 (8:43)
• Part 2 (5:24)
• Part 3 (6:33)
• Part 4 (4:47)
• Part 5 (9:49)

Artwork/Packaging

Scans are from original digipak release POCH-1602.

Back.

Inner artwork, page 1.

Inner artwork, page 2.

Inner artwork, page 3.

Paper insert.

CD.

Spine.

Personnel

Band Members

• Shinji Satoh (vocals, guitar, lyrics, composition)
• Yuzuru Kashiwabara (bass)
• Kin-Ichi Motegi (drums)

Other Musicians

• Honzi (keyboards, violin, accordion, organette 20, vocals)
• Michio "Darts" Sekiguchi (guitar, chorus)
• Asa-Chang (percussion)
• Taiji Sato (guitar)
• UA (chorus)
• MariMari (chorus)
• Masaki Morimoto (whistle)
• Butchy (chorus)
• Naoko Ohmiya (chorus)
• Yoshiko Ohmiya (chorus)

Other Personnel

• ZAK (producer, programming, recording engineer, mixing engineer)
• Yuka Koizumi (mastering engineer)
• Akiko Ueta (manager)
• Ichiro Asatsuma (executive producer)
• Yoshiyuki Okuda (executive producer)
• Tadataka Watanabe (executive producer)
• Toshiya Sano (A&R)
• Masaki Morimoto (A&R)
• Naoko Nozawa (artist promotion)
• Katsuyoshi Kinase (marketing promotion)
• Akiko Ueta (artist management)
• Mooog Yamamoto (art direction, design)
• Mariko Yamamoto (art direction, design)
• Phonic (art direction, design)
• Ayako Mogi (photography)
• Crion Yamamoto (photography)
• Junko Ishiwata (styling)

Special Thanks

• Ace Shimizu
• Minoru
• Ohmiya Family
• Nakazato Family
• Think Sync Integral Co., Ltd.
• Kazuo Nagano
• The Sadakichi
• Tsukasa Fukuoka

Issues

• 1996 - POCH-1602 (CD, Polydor, Japan)

CD was printed in a larger digipak case, making artwork a bit longer than other issues.

• 1996 - POCH-1602 (CD, Polydor, Japan)

Printed in jewel case. All further CD issues would be printed this way.

• 2009 - UMCC-9012 (Limited CD, Polydor/Milestone Crowds, Japan)

• 2012 - UPCY-9231 (Limited CD, Universal Music Japan, Japan)

  

First issue to use accompanying promo sticker which states "...we are not Four Seasons" (seen to the right). All consecutive issues possess this promo sticker.

• 2016 - UPJY-9033 (Limited 12", Universal Music Japan, Japan) - Part of reissue series Fishmans 25 - Silver Anniversary! 2016.
• 2016 - UPCY-7175 (Remastered CD, Universal Music Japan, Japan) - Part of reissue series Fishmans 25 - Silver Anniversary! 2016.