List of Japanese composers

This is a list of Japanese composers, arranged by the field in which each is best known and, within each section, in order of birth year.

Western art music reached Japan in earnest only after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the new government introduced Western-style music into the school curriculum and into the army and navy bands. The first generation of Japanese composers therefore wrote mainly shōka (school songs) and marches; a fully professional concert-music tradition emerged in the 1920s and 1930s around Kōsaku Yamada and the composers of the Shinkō Sakkyokuka Renmei. Since the 1950s Japanese composers have also become internationally prominent in film, television, animation and video game music, and those fields are listed separately below.

Inclusion criteria: entries should be composers who are the subject of an existing Wikipedia article, or whose notability is supported by an inline citation. Composers active in more than one field are listed once, in the section for which they are best known, with cross-references where useful. An empty death-year field indicates a living composer. Where reliable sources disagree on a date, the alternatives are noted.

Birth and death years in this list have been checked against the Japanese Wikipedia list of Japanese classical composers and against the sources cited for individual entries.

Pre-Meiji and traditional Japanese music Composers working within the indigenous hōgaku traditions (koto, shakuhachi, shamisen, gagaku and related genres).

Yatsuhashi Kengyo (1614–1685) – koto composer; credited with Rokudan no Shirabe and with establishing the modern hirajōshi tuning Hiromori Hayashi (1831–1896) – gagaku musician of the Imperial Court; associated with the melody of "Kimigayo" Nakao Tozan (1876–1956) – founder of the Tozan-ryū school of shakuhachi Michio Miyagi (1894–1956) – koto composer and performer; "Haru no Umi" (1929) Yasuo Kuwahara (1946–2003) – composer for mandolin orchestra

Shōka, art song and children's song Composers active chiefly in shōka (Meiji-era school song), dōyō (children's song) and Japanese art song. Those marked with an asterisk also appear in the classical table below.

Isawa Shūji (1851–1917) – educator; head of the Music Study Committee (Ongaku Torishirabe Gakari), which introduced Western music into Japanese schools Sakunosuke Koyama (1864–1927) – "Natsu wa Kinu" (1896) Tokichi Setoguchi (1868–1941) – naval bandmaster; "Warship March" (1897) Nobu Kōda (1870–1946)* Teiichi Okano (1878–1941) – "Furusato" (1914), "Momiji" (1911) Rentarō Taki (1879–1903) – "Kōjō no Tsuki" (1901), Minuet in B minor (1900) Tadashi Yanada (1883–1959) – "Aoi Me no Ningyō" (1921) Nagayo Motoori (1885–1945) – "Shabondama" (1922) Kōsaku Yamada (1886–1965)* – "Akatombo" (1927) Kiyoshi Nobutoki (1887–1965) – "Umi Yukaba" (1937); cantata "Kaidō Tōsei" (1940) Shinpei Nakayama (1887–1952) – "Kachūsha no Uta" (1914), "Sendō Kouta" (1921) Ryūtarō Hirota (1892–1952) – "Hamachidori" (1919) Tamezō Narita (1893–1945) – "Hamabe no Uta" (1916) Kan'ichi Shimofusa (1898–1962)* Yūji Koseki (1909–1989)* – Tokyo Olympic March (1964) Yoshinao Nakada (1923–2000)* – "Chiisai Aki Mitsuketa" (1955)

Classical and contemporary concert music Sorted by birth year; the table can also be re-sorted by clicking the column headers.

Name Birth year Death year Prominent works and notes 1870 1946 Violin Sonata in E-flat major (1895), Violin Sonata in D minor (1897); the first Japanese composer of Western-style sonatas 1886 1965 Symphonic poem "Flower of Mandala" (1913), Sinfonia "Inno Meiji" (1921), Nagauta Symphony (1934); composer of the first Japanese symphony (1912) 1895 1971 Co-founder of the Shinkō Sakkyokuka Renmei (1930) 1898 1962 Influential theory teacher at the Tokyo Music School 1898 1973 Conductor and composer; made the first complete recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony (1930) 1900 1981 To Ancient Times for orchestra (1937); teacher of Toru Takemitsu 1903 1977 Symphony No. 2 (1938), Violin Concerto (1939), Piano Sonata No. 2 (1939) 1903 1993 Early Japanese exponent of jazz-influenced concert music 1904 1949 Symphony No. 1 in D (1940), Symphony No. 2 in F (1947) 1906 1986 Symphony No. 1 (1940), said to be the first symphony by a Japanese woman; drew extensively on Okinawan folk music. Some sources give her birth year as 1911. 1906 1991 Studied with Henri Büsser in Paris; founding professor of composition at the Tokyo University of the Arts 1907 2001 Theme and Variations for Piano and Orchestra (1951), U-mai (1957), Sa-mai (1958) 1907 1952 Orchestral works rediscovered and recorded from the 1990s 1907 1953 Symphony No. 1 (1934), Piano Concerto No. 3 "Kamikaze" (1938) 1907 1959 Quatre Mouvements Parodiques (1933/1936) 1910 2002 Choral and vocal works drawing on Japanese traditional idioms 1911 2006 String Quartet No. 7 (1950), Symphony No. 1 (1957) 1911 1951 Cello Concerto (1944), Flute Concerto (1948); the Otaka Prize is named after him 1912 1991 Conductor and composer 1913 2000 Choral cycle "Mizu no Inochi" (1964) 1914 2006 Ballata Sinfonica (1943), Ritmica Ostinata for piano and orchestra (1961/1971); also the music for Godzilla (1954) 1914 1955 Ancient Dances on the Left and on the Right (1941), Yukara (1955); film scores for Akira Kurosawa including Rashomon (1950) 1914 2009 Kobiki-Uta for orchestra (1957), Symphonic Suite "Nohmen" (1959) 1916 1996 Pioneer of serial and electronic music in Japan; also a musicologist and critic 1916 1996 Sinfonia in fa diesis e do (1965) 1916 1990 Dance Suite (1953), Symphony in G (1968). Some sources give his birth year as 1915. 1918 1982 Fantasy on Osaka Folk Tunes (1955); a staple of the Japanese wind band repertoire 1921 1980 Sinfonietta (1953); composed the first Japanese twelve-tone work (1951) 1921 2009 Sinfonia Ainu (1959); operas and ballets 1922 2012 Symphony No. 1 (1961), Violin Concerto (1969), Viola Concerto (1971) 1924 2001 Opera "Yūzuru" (1952); six symphonies 1925 1989 Trinita Sinfonica (1948), Triptyque for string orchestra (1953), opera "Orpheus in Hiroshima" (1960), Concerto Ostinato for cello and orchestra (1969) 1929 2007 Achime (1957), Symphony No. 1 (1965), two piano concertos (1973, 1978), opera "Silence" (1993) 1929 1997 Bacchanale (1954), Nirvana Symphony (1958), Mandala Symphony (1960), Bugaku (1962), opera "The Golden Pavilion" (1976) 1929 1976 Symphony (1958), Cello Concerto (1960), Piano Sonata (1961), Piano Concerto (1967) 1929 2024 Projection for Seven Players (1955), Chronoplastic (1972), Scenes from Bashō; member of Jikken Kōbō 1929 2024 Three Compositions for Chorus (1958–68); opera "Narukami" (1974) 1930 1996 Requiem for string orchestra (1957), The Dorian Horizon (1966), November Steps (1967), A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden (1977); Japan's most internationally performed concert composer 1930 2011 Founder of the ensemble Pro Musica Nipponia; operas including "Jōruri" (1985) 1930 2013 Piano Concerto No. 1 (1966), Concerto for shakuhachi and 17-string koto (1975) 1930 2008 Cello Concerto "Triste" (1971), Shakuhachi Concerto (1976) 1930 2015 Owari no Nai Asa ("The Eternal Morning"); also a critic and editor-in-chief of the journal Ongaku no Sekai 1930 2023 Reflection for three string orchestras (1969, ISCM World Music Days); the Fūmon series 1931 2012 Symphony in G (1953), Viola Concerto "Elegia" (1995); also film music for Kaneto Shindo 1931 2004 Rapsodia Concertante for violin and orchestra (1983) 1931 2023 Rhapsody for Orchestra (1960), Violin Concerto No. 1 (1963) 1931 2024 Studied with Olivier Messiaen and at the Cologne electronic music studio; assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen 1931 2023 Serial and indeterminate music; son of Yoritsune Matsudaira 1933 2022 Violin Concerto "Circulating Scenery" (1983), Symphony "Berlin Renshi" (1989); introduced John Cage's music to Japan 1933 2013 Trois mouvements symphoniques (1960), Piano Concerto (1961), Violin Concerto (1965), Requiem (1970), Litania pour Fuji (1988) 1934 Jazz Orchestra 75, Symphonic Metamorphosis (Kokyoteki Hen'yo), Dies irae (Ikari no Hi); known for combining jazz, improvisation and orchestral writing81) 1936 1998 Choral and piano music 1936 2003 Sō-gū II for gagaku and orchestra (1971); son of Kan Ishii 1937 Marimba virtuoso and composer; central to the creation of the modern marimba repertoire 1937 Composer and scholar of gagaku 1937 2005 Worked mainly in France; the Hiérophonie series 1938 Pianist, composer and writer; premiered works by Iannis Xenakis 1938 2018 Fluxus artist; music director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company 1938 Fluxus artist; the "Spatial Poem" event series 1942 Radiation Missa (1981), opera "Chūshingura" (1997) 1943 Symphony No. 2 "Trias" (1979), Symphony No. 3 "Ego Phano" (1984); film scores for Akira Kurosawa and Shohei Imamura 1944 2021 Image for orchestra (1981), Fantasy for organ and orchestra (1999); son of Hisatada Otaka 1947 Sen no Ongaku ("linear music"); theorist and teacher 1947 Litania (1973); works built on resonance and slow harmonic motion 1948 Side by Side (1989); orchestral and percussion works 1953 2023 Kecak for percussion ensemble (1979), Heterophony for two pianos and orchestra (1987), Canticle of Light (1996) 1953 Threnody to Toki (1980), The Age of Birds (1986), Pleiades Dances (1986–2001) 1955 Operas Hanjo (2004) and Matsukaze (2010); Circulating Ocean (2005) 1955 The Patterns of Plants series 1957 Orchestral works and film scores 1961 Techno Etudes (2000); works often on ecological themes 1963 Composer with a developmental disability; son of the novelist Kenzaburō Ōe 1963 Concertos and vocal works 1964 Wind band and orchestral works 1967 1972 Works using theatrical and gestural performance 1977 Opera Solaris (2015); works for the Ensemble Intercontemporain and others

Film, television and anime Chumei Watanabe (1925–2022) – Mazinger Z, Kikaider, the Super Sentai series Masaru Sato (1928–1999) – film scores for Akira Kurosawa and Ishirō Honda Shunsuke Kikuchi (1931–2021) – Dragon Ball, Doraemon Kunio Miyauchi (1932–2006) – Ultra Q, Ultraman, The Human Vapor Takeo Watanabe (1933–1989) – Mobile Suit Gundam Joe Hisaishi (born 1950) – scores for Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Kitano Shirō Sagisu (born 1957) – Neon Genesis Evangelion Yoichiro Yoshikawa (born 1957) Jun Miyake (born 1958) Akira Senju (born 1960) Michiru Oshima (born 1961) – film, television and video game scores Shinkichi Mitsumune (born 1963) Yoko Kanno (born 1963) – Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Taro Iwashiro (born 1965) – Red Cliff Yuki Kajiura (born 1965) – Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sword Art Online Hiroyuki Sawano (born 1980) – Attack on Titan

Video game music Koichi Sugiyama (1931–2021) – Dragon Quest Nobuo Uematsu (born 1959) – Final Fantasy Koji Kondo (born 1961) – Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda Michiru Yamane (born 1963) – Castlevania Yoko Shimomura (born 1967) – Street Fighter II, Kingdom Hearts Yasunori Mitsuda (born 1972) – Chrono Trigger

Popular and other music Koga Masao (1904–1978) – originator of the kayōkyoku style known as the "Koga melody" Isao Tomita (1932–2016) – pioneer of synthesizer music; Snowflakes Are Dancing (1974) Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952–2023) – Yellow Magic Orchestra; Academy Award-winning score for The Last Emperor (1987) Yoko Noge (born 1957) – blues and jazz composer and bandleader Yoshiki (born 1965) – X Japan; "Anniversary", written for the tenth anniversary of the reign of Emperor Akihito (1999); theme for the Golden Globe Awards

See also Music of Japan Japan Composer's Association Japan Federation of Composers Shinkō Sakkyokuka Renmei List of composers by nationality

References

External links Japan Federation of Composers Inc.