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Japanese Composers
This is a list of Japanese composers, ordered by birth date. Shōka, Lied, children's song * Isawa Shūji (1851–1917) * Sakunosuke Koyama (1864–1927) * Teiichi Okano (1878–1941) * Rentarō Taki (1879–1903) * Tadashi Yanada (1883–1959) * Nagayo Motoori (1885–1945) * Kōsaku Yamada (1886–1965) * Shinpei Nakayama (1887–1952) * Ryūtarō Hirota (1892–1952) * Tamezō Narita (1893–1945) * Kan'ichi Shimofusa (1898–1962) * Yūji Koseki (1909–1989) * Yoshinao Nakada (1923–2000) Classical and contemporary Others * Yatsuhashi Kengyo (1614–1685) * Hiromori Hayashi (1831–1896) * Nakao Tozan (1876–1956) * Koga Masao (1904–1978) * Masaru Sato (1928–1999) * Shunsuke Kikuchi (1931–2021), 20th–21st-century music producer and BGM composer * Koichi Sugiyama (1931–2021) * Isao Tomita (1932–2016) * Takeo Watanabe (1933–1989) * Yasuo Kuwahara (1946–2003) * Joe Hisaishi (born 1950), 20th–21st century film composer * Ryuichi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Composers
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and definition The term is descended from Latin, ''compōnō''; literally "one who puts together". The earliest use of the term in a musical context given by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is from Thomas Morley's 1597 ''A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music'', where he says "Some wil be good descanters ..and yet wil be but bad composers". "Composer" is a loose term that generally refers to any person who writes music. More specifically, it is often used to denote people who are composers by occupation, or those who work in the tradition of Western classical music. Writers of exclusively or primarily songs may be called composers, but since the 20th century the terms 'songwriter' or ' singer-songwriter' are more often used, part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gunkan Kōshinkyoku
The is a Japanese march composed in 1897 by Tokichi Setoguchi. It was the official march of the Imperial Japanese Navy and is the official march of its successor, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). In Japan, the march is also commonly referred to as the . History The march, which sets to music lyrics by Hiraku Toriyama, was originally composed in B-flat major, but was transposed to F-major in the Taishō era in order to make it more manageable for men's voices. The third part of the song contains the lyrics of ''Umi Yukaba''. Three years after its composition, Setoguchi made an instrumental arrangement of the song for the Imperial Japanese Navy Band where he served as its bandleader. The march was subsequently adopted as the Imperial Japanese Navy's official march. The Warship March was performed in Europe during the Imperial Japanese Navy Band's tour of Europe in 1907. When under the Nipponophone label Japan produced its first gramophone records in 1910, the Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeo Watanabe
Takeo Watanabe' Animeland Retrieved November 11, 2009. was a Japanese musician and composer. In addition to composing the well known theme song for ''Cutie Honey'' he has also composed music for multiple anime television series and films including ''Lone Wolf and Cub'', ''Candy Candy'', and ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. ''Tomei Tengu BGM'' written and performed by Takeo Watanabe was used in the soundtrack of the 2003 movie '' Lost in Translation'' fourteen years after his death. In 2008 Takeo Watanabe posthumously received an Award of Merit from the Tokyo International Anime Fair. He died at the age of 56. Biography Eldest son of . Graduated from Musashi(?) University he studied music in Paris, France. Works Television Animation * * * - See The Little Mermaid * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (In the English version of this series as well as in adaptations based on the English version, Watanabe's score was replaced with one by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy.) * * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isao Tomita
, often known simply as Tomita, was a Japanese composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements. In addition to creating note-by-note realizations, Tomita made extensive use of the sound-design capabilities of his instrument, using synthesizers to create new sounds to accompany and enhance his electronic realizations of acoustic instruments. He also made effective use of analog music sequencers and the Mellotron, and featured futuristic science-fiction themes, while laying the foundations for synth-pop music and trance-like rhythms. Many of his albums are electronic versions and adaptations of familiar classical music pieces. He received four Grammy Award nominations for his 1974 album based on music by Claude Debussy, '' Snowflakes Are Dancing''. Biography 1932–1968: Early life and composing career Tomita was born in Tokyo and spent his early childhood with his father in C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koichi Sugiyama
was a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was best known for composing for the ''Dragon Quest'' franchise, along with several other video games, anime, film, television shows, and pop songs. Classically trained, Sugiyama was considered a major inspiration for other Japanese game music composers and was active from the 1960s until his death in 2021. Sugiyama was also a council member of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers (JASRAC), board member of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society. Prior to his death, the Japanese government honored him with Order of the Rising Sun and named him a Person of Cultural Merit. Sugiyama was also active in politics and activism, promoting ideas such as Japanese nationalism while denying Japanese war crimes. Career Early life and television career Sugiyama was born in Tokyo, Japan, on April 11, 1931. While growing up, Sugiyama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shunsuke Kikuchi
was a Japanese composer who was active from the early 1960s until 2017. He specialized in incidental music for media such as television and film. Kikuchi was regarded as one of Japan's most highly demanded film and TV composers, working principally on ''tokusatsu'' and anime productions, and also popular action films, ''jidaigeki'', and Japanese television drama, television dramas. Early life and education Kikuchi was born on 1 November 1931 in the city of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. He graduated from Aomori Prefectural Hirosaki Technical High School, specializing in mechanics. Kikuchi then attended the Nihon University College of Art. Career After graduating from the Nihon University College of Art, he made his debut composing for the 1961 film . ''The Tō-Ō Nippō Press'' wrote that the contrast between the heroic opening theme and the melancholic ballad ending theme that Kikuchi composed for the 1969 ''Tiger Mask'' anime, "changed Japanese anime music." Kikuchi composed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masaru Sato
(sometimes transliterated Satoh) was a Japanese composer of film scores. Following the 1955 death of Fumio Hayasaka, whom Sato studied under, Sato was the composer of Akira Kurosawa's films for the next 10 years. He was nominated for Best Music at the 15th Japan Academy Prize in 1992. In 1999, the Japanese government decorated Sato with the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette for his contributions to the arts. Career He was born in Rumoi, Hokkaido, and raised in Sapporo. While studying at the National Music Academy, Sato came under the influence of Fumio Hayasaka, Akira Kurosawa's regular composer for his earlier films. He became a pupil of Hayasaka's, studying film scoring with him at Toho Studios, and working on the orchestration of '' Seven Samurai'' (1954). When the older composer died suddenly in 1955, leaving the scores to Kenji Mizoguchi's '' New Tales of the Taira Clan'', and Kurosawa's '' I Live in Fear'' incomplete, Toho assigned Sato to fini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koga Masao
was a Japanese composer, mandolinist, and guitarist of the Shōwa era who was dubbed "Japan's Irving Berlin" by Universal Press Syndicate. His melancholy style, based upon Nakayama Shimpei's '' yonanuki'' scale, was popularly known in Japan as . He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Fourth Class) and the People's Honor Award for his contributions to Japanese music. Life Koga was born in 1904 in the village of Taguchi (today part of the city Ōkawa) in the Mizuma District of Fukuoka Prefecture; he was the sixth of eight children. In 1910, Koga's father, Kitarō, died. As a result, Koga, his mother, older sister, and younger brother moved to Korea in 1912, where his eldest brother had migrated for work. His family first traveled to Incheon, before settling in Keijo (today part of Seoul). During this period, Koga was gifted a '' taishōgoto'' from his cousin; then later, while enrolled at the Keijō Good Neighbor Trade School, a mandolin from an older brother livi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakao Tozan
Rinzō Nakao (known professionally as Nakao Tozan, 中尾都山, October 5, 1876 in Ōsaka prefecture to October 10, 1956 in Kyōto, aged 80), was the founder of the most important school of shakuhachi playing in late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth-century Japan and was both a performer and prolific composer. His influence continues to the present day. Life Rinzō Nakao was born in 1876 in Suita-Gun (present-day Hirakata City), near Ōsaka, the second son of Nakao Jirohei and his wife Mitsu. His father was a merchant and his mother an accomplished shamisen player who knew Sōetsu Kondō, himself the founder of a shakuhachi school. In his childhood Rinzō learnt shakuhachi and violin whilst his mother taught him to sing traditional Jiuta.Ingrid Fritsch, Die Solo-Honkyoku der Tozan-Schule: Musik für Shakuhachi zwischen Tradition und Moderne Japans. Florian Noetzel Verlag, Heinrichshofen-Bücher, Wilhelmshaven. 2nd Edn., 2005. First published in 1979. . p. 29 At the age of ninet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiromori Hayashi
was a Japanese composer credited with composing the Japanese national anthem "Kimigayo". Life and career He held several positions in the royal court starting in his youth. He moved to Tokyo after the Meiji Restoration and in 1875 helped carry out 1875 orders to fuse Western musical theory with Japanese theory. The final version of the anthem was first played for Emperor Meiji for his birthday, on 3 November 1880.Chizuko Izawa, Nobuo Ohta (2005). ''Human learning and memory: advances in theory and application : the 4th Tsukuba International Conference on Memory.'' Routledge, Sources conflict over who composed the music.Jun Hongo (July 17, 2007). Hinomaru, 'Kimigayo' express conflicts both past and future. ''Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...'' Historia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yatsuhashi Kengyo
Yatsuhashi Kengyō ( 八橋 検校; 1614–1685) was a Japanese musician and composer from Kyoto. The name kengyō is an honorary title given to highly skilled blind musicians. Yatsuhashi, who was born and died in Japan, was originally a player of the shamisen, but later learned the koto from a musician of the Japanese court. While the instrument was originally restricted to the court, Yatsuhashi is credited as the first musician to introduce and teach the koto to general audiences. He is thus known as the "Father of Modern Koto." He changed the limited selection of six pieces to a brand new style of koto music which he called '' kumi uta''. Yatsuhashi changed the '' Tsukushi goto'' tunings, which were based on tunings used in gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794–1185) a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleiades Dances
{{italic title The ''Pleiades Dances'' are a series of solo piano pieces written by contemporary Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu. They are, in the words of the composer, "a newly conceived set of preludes for the modern piano which takes its material from the seven colours of the rainbow, the seven pitches of church modes, and seven metrical units ranging from three to nine beats." Currently ranging from I to IX, these works were written between 1986 and 2001. Each set of Pleiades Dances contains 7 movements, which "are not placed in the order in which they appear in the work for any specific structural or contextual reasons, nor should too much be read into the curious titles e gavethem." Yoshimatsu, in the preface to these works, encourages free interpretation of these pieces "including tempo, dynamics and frequency of repetition," and suggests that "It may also be enjoyable to play along with the rhythm by a small percussion instrument like the triangle or the tambourine. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
