Shintarō Tokita (常田真太郎, Tokita Shintarō) is a member of the J-pop band, Sukima Switch. He was born February 25, 1978…
Shintarō Tokita (常田真太郎, Tokita Shintarō) is a member of the J-pop band, Sukima Switch. He was born February 25, 1978, in Midori-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture Japan. He has also produced Chitose Hajime's comeback single "Kataritsugu Koto", ending theme to Blood+. He enjoys soccer, judo and skiing. He especially loves music. He is usually identified with his large afro and wispy goatee. In 2008, Tokita produced the winner of the second annual Animax Anison Grand Prix competition, Catherine St. Onge's debut theme song for the anime adaptation of Valkyria Chronicles.
Famous People from Aichi Prefecture
Aichi Prefecture: 9 people
Mari Sano (Aichi, Seto, b. 17 June 1968) is a Japanese artist and composer working in multiple media, including the…
Mari Sano (Aichi, Seto, b. 17 June 1968) is a Japanese artist and composer working in multiple media, including the charango, the ocarina, percussion and photography. She lives in Mexico and Argentina. She produced three albums From Beginning (1996), Latin Park (1999) and Friendship Musical (2008). Her compositions have received awards and cultural recognition in music, photography and performance.
Kyoko Takezawa (竹澤 恭子, Takezawa Kyōko) is a prominent Japanese-born violinist. She has recorded for the RCA Victor Red…
Kyoko Takezawa (竹澤 恭子, Takezawa Kyōko) is a prominent Japanese-born violinist. She has recorded for the RCA Victor Red Seal label. Born in Ōbu, Aichi in 1966, she started her training in Japan as a part of the Suzuki Method program and was part of a tour of the United States. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School (1989) where her teacher was Dorothy DeLay. Ms. Takezawa won the gold medal in 1986, and subsequently served as a judge for the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. She played on the Stradivarius loaned to her by the Nippon Music Foundation until it was sold at auction in 2006 for US$3,544,000.
Michiyo Yagi (八木美知依, Yagi Michiyo), a Japanese musician who studied koto under Tadao Sawai, Kazue Sawai and Satomi…
Michiyo Yagi (八木美知依, Yagi Michiyo), a Japanese musician who studied koto under Tadao Sawai, Kazue Sawai and Satomi Kurauchi, and graduated from the NHK Professional Training School for Traditional Musicians. Between 1989 and 1990, during her tenure as visiting professor of music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, U.S.A., she premiered numerous modern compositions for koto and came under the influence of maverick American composers such as John Cage, Conlon Nancarrow, and John Zorn. Her solo koto CD Shizuku was produced by Zorn and released on the Tzadik label in 1999. In 2001 she recorded "Yural" with her koto ensemble Paulownia Crush for the East Works label. Under the auspices of the Japan Foundation, Yagi toured Russia with this ensemble in the fall of 2004. An eclectic musician, Yagi has frequently appeared on Japanese TV and has performed at the Moers Jazz, Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Archipel, Bang on a Can, Tokyo Summer, Vision, Punkt, Instal, Music Unlimited, Météo-Mulhouse, Born Creative, and Jazztopad Festivals. Yagi's koto has been featured in ex-Judy and Mary guitarist/singer Takuya's rock band, and she has recorded and appeared onstage with Ayumi Hamasaki, one of Japan's best-selling pop singers. Yagi was a founding member of the quartet Koto Vortex with fellow Sawai apprentices Yoko Nishi, Miki Maruta and Etsuko Takezawa, as well as Kokoo, a trio which performs originals and progressive rock covers exclusively on traditional Japanese instruments. She was also one-third of the avant-pop girl group Hoahio which recorded two CD's for Tzadik. Yagi is one of the few improvising koto players on the international stage. She has performed with Eivind Aarset, Mark Dresser, John Zorn, Peter Brötzmann, Elliott Sharp, Han Bennink, Akira Sakata, Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Altered States), Natsuki Kido (Bondage Fruit), Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Otomo Yoshihide, Bugge Wesseltoft, Saadet Türköz, Ned Rothenberg, Hoppy Kamiyama, Samm Bennett, Yuji Katsui (Rovo), Lauren Newton, Hans Reichel, Sabu Toyozumi, Mino Cinelu, Satoko Fujii, Joëlle Léandre, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), Bill Laswell, Kazutoki Umezu, Carl Stone, Kang Tae Hwan, Christian Marclay, Koichi Makigami, Zeena Parkins, Masahiko Satoh, Billy Bang, Keiji Haino, Jason Roebke, Sachiko M, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love, MZN3 (Kjetil Møster, Per Zanussi, Kjell Nordeson), Chris Mosdell, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), WHO Trio, Mani Neumeier, The Geordie Approach, Chrome Hill, Hamid Drake (Jazztopad Festival Wroclaw /Poland 2022, and others. Among Yagi's post-Tzadik recordings are Seventeen, entirely performed on the giant 17-string koto; Live! at SuperDeluxe, a trio session with Flaten and Nilssen-Love; Head On and Volda as a member of the trio Brötzmann/Yagi/Nilssen-Love; Reflexions, a duo album with guitarist Elliott Sharp; Ichi no Maki and Ni no Maki by Dōjō, her duo with drummer Tamaya Honda; and Into The Forest featuring Yagi on kotos and vocals, with instrumental support from members of her Double Trio.
Masanori Takahashi (高橋 正則, Takahashi Masanori; born February 4, 1953), professionally known as Kitarō (喜多郎), is a…
Masanori Takahashi (高橋 正則, Takahashi Masanori; born February 4, 1953), professionally known as Kitarō (喜多郎), is a Japanese musician, composer, record producer, and arranger noted for his electronic-instrumental music, and is often associated with and regarded as one of the most prominent musical acts of new-age music. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for Thinking of You (1999), with a record 16 nominations in the same category. He received a Golden Globe Award for the original score to Heaven & Earth (1993).
Shigeharu Mukai (向井 滋春, Mukai Shigeharu; born January 21, 1949 in Nagoya) is a Japanese jazz trombonist. Mukai attended…
Shigeharu Mukai (向井 滋春, Mukai Shigeharu; born January 21, 1949 in Nagoya) is a Japanese jazz trombonist. Mukai attended Doshisha University but left before obtaining his degree to become a professional musician. Early in his career he worked with Yoshio Otomo, Ryo Kawasaki, and Hiroshi Fukumura, then led his own ensemble, including a performance at the Shinjuku Jazz Festival. He went on to work with Terumasa Hino, Akira Sakata, Kazumi Watanabe, and Yosuke Yamashita, as well as the ensemble Spik and Span and international musicians like João Bosco, Billy Hart, and Elvin Jones. In the 1970s, while living in Musashino, Tokyo, Mukai performed at Peter Cat, the jazz café that novelist Haruki Murakami opened and ran. In the 1990s and 2000s he taught jazz at Senzoku Gakuen school of music.
Kōji Makaino (馬飼野 康二, Makaino Kōji; born 26 January 1948) is a Japanese pop music composer, arranger, and musician. He…
Kōji Makaino (馬飼野 康二, Makaino Kōji; born 26 January 1948) is a Japanese pop music composer, arranger, and musician. He is the elder brother of composer Shunichi Makaino.
Jiro Nakano (中野 二郎 = Nakano Jirō) (10 April 1902 – 10 June 2000) was a Japanese composer, conductor and arranger from…
Jiro Nakano (中野 二郎 = Nakano Jirō) (10 April 1902 – 10 June 2000) was a Japanese composer, conductor and arranger from Aichi Prefecture. He composed works for solo guitar, solo mandolin and Mandolin orchestra.
Shinichi Suzuki (鈴木 鎮一, Suzuki Shin'ichi; 17 October 1898 – 26 January 1998) was a Japanese violinist, philosopher…
Shinichi Suzuki (鈴木 鎮一, Suzuki Shin'ichi; 17 October 1898 – 26 January 1998) was a Japanese violinist, philosopher, composer, and educator and the founder of the international Suzuki method of music education and developed a philosophy for educating people of all ages and abilities. An influential pedagogue in music education of children, he often spoke of the ability of all children to learn things well, especially in the right environment, and of developing the heart and building the character of music students through their music education. Before his time, it was rare for children to be formally taught classical instruments from an early age and even more rare for children to be accepted by a music teacher without an audition or entrance examination. Not only did he endeavor to teach children the violin from infancy and early childhood, his school in Matsumoto also did not screen applicants for their ability for admittance. Suzuki was also responsible for the early training of some of the earliest Japanese violinists to be successfully appointed to prominent western classical music organizations. During his lifetime, he received several honorary doctorates in music including from the New England Conservatory of Music (1956), and the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. He was proclaimed a Living National Treasure of Japan, and in 1993 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.