Bandiria Travellers

The word "Bandiria" is a play on "bandphilia".

Hirasawa's original guitar solo was in his usual style, but featured more ornate phrases and played notes than usual. After recording it, he asked Sound & Recording Magazine writer Susumu Kunisaki for feedback, who immediately blurted out that it sounded like jazz fusion. Hirasawa then re-recorded it, playing less notes while emphasizing the highest and lowest pitches.

Lyrics

 * 1 "Mizugame is written with the kanji for “water” and “jug”. Mizugame no hoshidan refers to the constellation Aquarius, which is Latin for “water-bearer”."

Versions
Strings and guitar were recorded at Key-Stone Studio. Hirasawa felt the first take of the string section didn't match his intent, so he asked the players to loosen the tuning of their instruments for the second, which they refused to. Right after the string part finished recording, Hirasawa sat in a control room sofa and recorded the guitar solo there, overdubbing layers of synths at a later date; Kunisaki cannot tell how much of the second take is present in the final mix.
 * Virtual Rabbit, 1991

Two remixes of this recording were made. One, subtitled "Physical Navigation Version", places the chorus after the intro, new percussion lines play throughout the song and the guitar solo is double-tracked. The other, titled "Sunset", is short and instrumental.

The horns have far more prominence in this version, with a new intro led entirely by them that overlaps with the first "lalalalala" and continued presence in usually quieter early stanzas. Drums back the choral segment, and instead of fading out, the song closes off with more horns.
 * HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours: Lower, 1994


 * Sim City Tour, 1995

A symphonic, orchestral, string-oriented style arrangement. An electronic intro was added and the guitar solo was slightly altered. Hirasawa released 5 sketches of it on "The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS" website as he worked on it. This version was also released as a free MP3.
 * Hen-Gen-Ji-Zai, 2010

Live performance of the Kangen Shugi arrangement.
 * Tokyo I-jigen Kudou, 2011

Connections

 * The situation with the string players brought a bitter smile to Hirasawa's face that day: the exact same sequence of events happened years earlier when recording "Ohayo".