Singer-songwriter Nanako Sato found memories of her musical past in an unexpected place — an unmarked CD.

“An old friend who used to play in my band came to one of my gigs and gave me this CD that someone they knew, a record store owner, passed on to him,” the 66-year-old artist tells The Japan Times in an interview at the Aoyama offices of Nippon Columbia.

“Nothing was written on it, so I just let it lie around for a while. Then, when I was organizing CDs, I gave it a listen. Suddenly, I was hearing music I treasured.”