East (1989, Epic Records/CBS)

Track List:
1. Midtown Higashi [東]
2. East
3. Tabo*
4. Living in America*
5. Daydreamer
6. The Golden Age+
7. Streetcorner Paradise
8. Come to Me*
9. You And Me
10. Thousand Cranes*+

* = Vocal Track
+ = Personal Favorite

Notes:

• "Thousand Cranes" honors Sadako Sasaki [佐々木禎子], a three year old child living in the city of Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. Although she lived for another eight years, she ultimately died of related radiation sickness. During her fight to stay alive, a fellow bomb survivor told her of the old legend of the origami cranes: fold 1,000 of them and your wish will be granted. While she did complete the 1,000 (her surviving brother claims she completed 1,400), she ultimately died at age 12. This song was written in rememberance of her and her story. After I personally visited Hiroshima's Peace Park (including the Children's Memorial ) in 2005, June Kuramoto & I spoke about the importance of re-telling Sadako's story.
• This album was also the "soundtrack" for the play "Sansei [三世]" which was performed at the Mark Taper Forum, and, (obviously) featured the music of Hiroshima.
• This album features the vocals of Margaret "Machun" Sasaki-Taylor [a/k/a Machan Taylor] (this was her only album with the band).