Do you know who some of Japan's best composers/ lyricist are? There's a lot to select from, to be sure. Japan has a vast musical history and has pioneered whole new genres of anime and video game soundtracks in recent years. In this article, we'll look at some of the most well-known Japanese songwriters currently active.
1. Joe Hisaishi
Joe Hisaishi is a legend in his own right, having composed unforgettable tunes for some of the most iconic scenes in anime history. Hisaishi was born Mamoru Fujisawa in Nakano, Japan, on December 6, 1950. He's best known for writing the soundtracks for Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke, all of which are Studio Ghibli animated films.
2. Ryuichi Sakamoto
With musicians Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto founded the Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Electropop, technopop, electronica, synthpop, cyberpunk, and ambient house are just a few of the electronic music genres influenced by the band. Sakamoto's work isn't limited to electronic music; in 1987, he won an Academy Award for his score for Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. He also composed the score for Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, a Japanese animated science fiction film.
3. Yoko Kanno
She joined the band Tetsu as the lead guitarist when she was 22 years old, and she produced songs with them for three years. During this time, she developed an interest in writing music and began collaborating with her husband on video game and film compositions. She established herself as one of the greatest anime composers of all time after composing the score for Vision of Escaflowne in 1996.
4. Nobuo Uematsu
At Squaresoft, he worked on a number of games, including the original Final Fantasy, which was released in 1987. He continued to create music for the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy series until the release of Final Fantasy XI in 2002. He composed scores for numerous other games and released a solo electronic keyboard album named Phantasmagoria in 1994 during his Final Fantasy years.
5. Akira Yamaoka
Metallica, Depeche Mode, and Angelo Badalamenti are among Yamaoka's biggest influences. Yamoako made his debut in 1991 with the soundtrack to the Smart Ball game, which he co-wrote with Yasuhiko Fukuda and Manabu Saito. Yamoako became the franchise's principal composer once Silent Hill became a best-seller. In addition to his work on the Silent Hill franchise, Yamoako published an electronic album in 2006 called iFUTURELIST.
6. Junichi Masuda
For Pokemon Red and Green, he would compose all of the music and create all of the soundtracks. Masuda made his debut as the franchise's director with Pokemon Crystal. Masuda also directed Ruby and Sapphire, FireRed and LeafGreen, Diamond and Pearl, Black and White, and X and Y, among other Pokemon games. Despite the fact that his contributions to the game's soundtrack have dwindled, he composed all of the music for Pokemon Go.
7. Kenji Kawai
During his time with the band, he honed his musical skills and got the technical knowledge he needed to break into the music industry. He put his skills to good use by writing commercial jingles. He went on to compose anime soundtracks after that. Compositions for Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, Tsui Hark's Seven Swords, and Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever are among his most renowned works.
8. Toshio Hosokawa
In 1998, the German city of Munich commissioned his debut opera, The Vision of Lear, which premiered to critical acclaim. Hosokawa has written operas, wrote orchestral works such as Circulating Ocean, and served as composer-in-residence at the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin since then.
9. Somei Satoh
His career has been heavily influenced by Shintoism and Zen Buddhism. His earliest works were for the piano, but he swiftly expanded his instrumentation to incorporate electronics and traditional Japanese instruments. Throughout his career, Satoh has composed over thirty pieces for piano, orchestra, theatre, and other instruments.
10. Nozomi Aoki
After a friend invited him to form a band, he dropped out of junior high school to pursue a career as a professional musician. Aoki has spent the majority of his career as a music arranger, working on a variety of pop and folk songs. He's most known for writing music for anime series such as Hokuto no Ken, Harmagedon, and Ginga Tesudo Three-Nine. He made substantial contributions to Leiji Matsumoto's classic space opera anime programmes Galaxy 999 and The Galaxy Railways.
