Isao Tomita
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, often known simply as Tomita, was a Japanese composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of
electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of
analog synthesizer An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...
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 Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
-like rhythms. Many of his albums are electronic versions and adaptations of familiar classical music pieces. He received four
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
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 Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
and spent his early childhood with his father in China. After returning to Japan, he took private lessons in orchestration and composition while an
art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
student at Keio University, Tokyo. He graduated in 1955 and became a full-time composer for television, film and theatre. He composed the theme music for the Japanese Olympic gymnastics team for the 1956 Summer Olympics in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia. In 1965, Tomita wrote music for Osamu Tezuka's ''
Kimba the White Lion ''Kimba the White Lion'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese '' shōnen'' manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka which was serialized in the '' Manga Shōnen'' magazine from November 1950 to April 1954. An anime based on ...
'', but the American-English version had a different theme by
Bernie Baum Bernie Baum (October 13, 1929 – August 28, 1993) was a songwriter who worked extensively with Elvis Presley. He grew up in New York City and later worked with Harvey Zimmerman (better known as Bill Giant) and Florence Kaye. The majority of t ...
, Bill Giant and
Florence Kaye Florence Kaye (January 19, 1919 - May 12, 2006) was a member of a song-writing trio that also included Harvey Zimmerman (better known as Bill Giant) and Bernie Baum. She was born in New York City. She performed a radio show in Georgia and entertai ...
. In the same year he scored the original Japanese version of ''
Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon , also known as ''Space Gulliver'', is a 1965 Japanese animated feature that was released in Japan on March 20, 1965 and in the United States on July 23, 1966. Plot The story concerns a homeless boy named Ricky, or Ted in the Japanese version. ...
'', but the film was re-scored by Milton DeLugg when it was dubbed into English. In 1966, he wrote a
tone poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...
based on the ''Kimba the White Lion'', and an original video animation synchronized to this tone poem was released in 1991. With Kunio Miyauchi, he created the music for the
tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is som ...
science fiction/espionage/action television series ''
Mighty Jack was a tokusatsu science fiction/espionage/Action genre, action TV series. Created by Japanese effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, the show was produced by Tsuburaya Productions and was broadcast on Fuji Television, Fuji TV from April 6, 1968 to June ...
'', which aired in 1968. The same year, he co-founded
Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968 from former Mushi Pro staff. They worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and contributed to all stages of the process, including p ...
.


1969-1979: Electronic music

In the late 1960s, Tomita turned to electronic music with the impetus of
Wendy Carlos Wendy Carlos (born Walter Carlos, November 14, 1939) is an American musician and composer best known for her electronic music and film scores. Born and raised in Rhode Island, Carlos studied physics and music at Brown University before moving ...
and
Robert Moog Robert Arthur Moog ( ; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesi ...
's work with synthesizers. He acquired a Moog III synthesizer and began building his home studio. He eventually realized that synthesizers could be used to create entirely new sounds in addition to mimicking other instruments. His first electronic album was ''Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock'', released in Japan in 1972 and in the United States in 1974. The album featured electronic renditions of contemporary
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and pop songs, while utilizing speech synthesis in place of a human voice. Tomita then started arranging Claude Debussy's impressionist pieces for synthesizer and, in 1974, released the album '' Snowflakes Are Dancing''; it became a worldwide success and was responsible for popularizing several aspects of synthesizer programming. It was the top-selling classical music album for that year. The album's contents included ambience, realistic string simulations, an early attempt to synthesize the sound of a symphony orchestra, whistles, and abstract bell-like sounds, as well as a number of processing effects including reverberation,
phase shifting In physics and mathematics, the phase of a periodic function F of some real variable t (such as time) is an angle-like quantity representing the fraction of the cycle covered up to t. It is denoted \phi(t) and expressed in such a scale that it v ...
,
flanging Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and no ...
, and
ring modulation In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple ...
.
Quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...
versions of the album provided a spatial audio effect using four speakers. A particularly significant achievement was its polyphonic sound, created prior to the era of
polyphonic synthesizers Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ho ...
. Tomita created the album's polyphony as Carlos had done before him, with the use of multitrack recording, recording each voice of a piece one at a time, on a separate tape track, and then mixing the result to stereo or quad. It took 14 months to produce the album. In his early albums, Tomita also made effective use of analog music sequencers, which he used for pitch, filter or effects changes and processed Mellotron sounds - especially 8 Voice Choir, creating quite stunning ethereal effects. Tomita's modular human whistle sounds would also be copied in the presets of later electronic instruments. His version of " Arabesque No. 1" was later used as the theme to the astronomy television series '' Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer'' (originally titled ''Star Hustler'') seen on most
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
stations in the United States; in Japan, parts of his version of "Rêverie" were used for the opening and closing of
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
's transmissions; in Spain, "Arabesque No. 1" was also used for the intro and the outro for the children TV program ''Planeta Imaginario'' (imaginary planet). Following the success of ''Snowflakes Are Dancing'' (1974), Tomita released a number of "classically" themed albums, including arrangements of: Igor Stravinsky's ''
The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
'' (1976),
Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
's ''
Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's most famous pia ...
'' (1976), and
Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
's ''
The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...
'' (1976). ''Holst: The Planets'' introduced a science fiction " space theme". This album sparked controversy on its release, as
Imogen Holst Imogen Clare Holst (; 12 April 1907 – 9 March 1984) was a British composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and festival administrator. The only child of the composer Gustav Holst, she is particularly known for her education ...
, daughter of
Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
, refused permission for her father's work to be interpreted in this way. 1978's ''Kosmos'' featured his renditions of
Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...
's ''
Pacific 231 ''Pacific 231'' is an orchestral work by Arthur Honegger, written in 1923. It is one of his most frequently performed works. Description The popular interpretation of the piece is that it depicts a steam locomotive, one that is supported by th ...
'', Charles Ives's '' The Unanswered Question'' and the
Star Wars theme "Star Wars (Main Title)" is a musical theme composed and conducted by John Williams. The 1977 London Symphony Orchestra recording peaked at number ten on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number thirteen in Canada '' RPM'' Top Singles. Meco's disco ver ...
. While working on his classical synthesizer albums, Tomita also composed numerous scores for Japanese television and films, including the ''
Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' se ...
'' television series, two ''Zatoichi'' feature films, the ''Oshi Samurai'' (Mute Samurai) television series and the Toho science fiction disaster film, ''Catastrophe 1999, The Prophesies of Nostradamus'' (U.S. title: ''Last Days of Planet Earth'') in 1974. The latter blends synthesizer performances with pop-rock and orchestral instruments. It and a few other partial and complete scores of the period have been released on LP and later CD over the years in Japan. While not bootlegs, at least some of these releases were issued by film and television production companies without Tomita's artistic approval.


1980-2000: SoundCloud concerts

In 1984, Tomita released ''Canon of the Three Stars'', which featured classical pieces renamed for astronomical objects. For example, the title piece is his version of
Pachelbel's Canon Pachelbel's Canon (also known as the Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as ''Canon and ...
in D Major. He credits himself with "The Plasma Symphony Orchestra", which was a computer synthesizer process using the wave forms of electromagnetic emanations from various stars and constellations for the sonic textures of this album. Tomita performed a number of outdoor "SoundCloud" concerts, with speakers surrounding the audience in a "cloud of sound". He gave a big concert in 1984 at the annual contemporary music Ars Electronica festival in
Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
called ''Mind of the Universe'', mixing tracks live in a glass
pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
suspended over an audience of 80,000 people. He also performed another two special concerts otwo years later to celebrate the Statue of Liberty centennial (''Back to the Earth'') as well another one in Sydney in 1 January, 1988 produced to celebrate Australia's bicentenary as unifield country. The Australian performance was part of a A$7 million gift from Japan to the country, which included the largest fireworks display up to that time: six fixed sound and lighting systems — one of those on a moored barge in the centre of the Sydney Harbour the another was flown by Chinook helicopter during the relevant parts of the show. A fleet of barges with Japanese cultural performances,including a boat parade in which a kabuki theater performance was staged.passed by at various times. His last SoundCloud event was in Nagoya, Japan in 1997, featuring guest performances by The Manhattan Transfer,
Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, Dionne Warwick, and Rick Wakeman. In the late 1990s, he composed a symphonic fantasy for orchestra and synthesizer titled '' The Tale of Genji'', inspired by the eponymous 11th-century Japanese story. It was performed by symphony orchestras in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, and
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. A live concert CD version was released in 1999 followed by a studio version in 2000.


2001–2016: Later years

In 2001, Tomita collaborated with
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
to compose the background atmosphere music for the AquaSphere entrance at the
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual prope ...
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
outside Tokyo. Tomita followed this with a synthesizer score featuring acoustic soloists for the 2002 film , which won the 2003 Japanese Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music. The advent of the
DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The st ...
format allowed Tomita to further pursue his interests in multichannel audio with reworked releases of ''The Tale of Genji Symphonic Fantasy'' and ''The Tomita Planets 2003''. He also performed a version of Claude Debussy's " Clair de lune" for the soundtrack of '' Ocean's 13'' in 2007. In 2012 Tomita performed "Symphony Ihatov" in Tokyo, directing the Japan Philharmonic, an accompanying choir, and featuring cyber-celebrity/
diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...
, Hatsune Miku, a digital avatar created by the Japanese company
Crypton Future Media , or simply Crypton, is a Japanese media company based in Sapporo, Japan. It develops, imports, and sells products for music, such as sound generator software, sampling CDs and DVDs, and sound effect and background music libraries. The company al ...
. In 2015, a number of tracks from ''Snowflakes are Dancing'' were featured on the soundtrack to ''
Heaven Knows What ''Heaven Knows What'' is a 2014 psychological drama film directed by Ben and Joshua Safdie and written by Ronald Bronstein and Joshua Safdie. The film stars Arielle Holmes, Buddy Duress, Ron Braunstein, Eleonore Hendricks, Caleb Landry Jone ...
'', an American film directed by the Safdie brothers. The same year, in recognition of his long career and global influence on electronic music, Tomita won the
Japan Foundation Award The Japan Foundation Awards honor individuals and organizations for significant contributions to "the enhancement of mutual understanding between Japan and other countries." History Activities in an academic or cultural field have been presented ...
, an award launched "to honor individuals or organizations who have made a significant contribution to promoting understanding and friendship between Japan and the rest of the world through academic, artistic and other cultural pursuits".


Death

After having heart disease for many years, Tomita died of heart failure in Tokyo on 5 May 2016.


Legacy

Tomita is considered to be a pioneer in electronic music, but his influence spread beyond the genre both in Japan and overseas. In 1984, Stevie Wonder cited Tomita as one of the artists he respected most and a major influence exploring Romantic composers like Mussorgsky and Debussy. In 1987,
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
toured Tomita's home studio. Tomita's music was featured during the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
. "Rise of the Planet 9" from Dr. Copellius composed by Tomita was played during the cauldron lighting in the Opening Ceremony, while the Debussy piece “Moonlight” arranged by Tomita was played during the extinguishing of the torch in the closing ceremony.


Discography


Studio albums

*''Switched on Rock'' (1972) (as ''Electric Samurai'') *'' Snowflakes Are Dancing'' (1974) US #57 Can #57 *''
Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's most famous pia ...
'' (1975) US #49 Can #55 *''Firebird'' (1976) US #71 Can #88 *'' Holst: The Planets'' (1976) US #67 *''The Bermuda Triangle'' (1978) US #152 *''Kosmos'' also known as ''Cosmos'' and ''Space Fantasy'' (1978) US #115 *''Daphnis et Chloé'', also known as ''Bolero'' and ''The Ravel Album'' (1979) US #174 *''Grand Canyon'' (1982) *''Dawn Chorus'', also known as ''Canon of the Three Stars'' (1984) *''Nasca Fantasy'' (1994) (supporting Kodō) *''Bach Fantasy'' (1996) *''The Tale of Genji Symphonic Fantasy'' (2000) *''The Planets 2003'' (2003, DVD-A only) *''The Planets - Ultimate Edition'' (2011, re-recording with an additional movement) *''The Tale of Genji Symphonic Fantasy Ultimate edition'' (2011, new recording with new movements) *''Clair de Lune - Ultimate Edition'' (2012, revised and expanded '' Snowflakes Are Dancing'') *''Symphony Ihatov'' (2013) *''Pictures at an Exhibition - Ultimate Edition -'' (2014, revised and expanded) *''Space Fantasy'' (2015, revised and expanded ''Kosmos'') *''Okhotsk Fantasy'' (2016) *''Dr. Coppelius'' (2017)


Live albums

*''The Mind of the Universe - Live at Linz'' (1985) *''Back to the Earth - Live in New York'' (1988) *''Hansel und Gretel'' (Laserdisc-only 1993) *''The Tale of Genji'' (1999) *''Planet Zero'' (2011)


Compilation albums

*''Sound Creature'' (1977, demonstration/education album with part unreleased material) *''Greatest Hits'' (1979) *''A Voyage Through His Greatest Hits, Vol. 2'' (1981) *''Best of Tomita'' (1984) *''Space Walk - Impressions of an Astronaut'' (1984) RCA Records, USA *''Tomita on NHK'' (2003) *''Tomita Different Dimensions'' (1997)


Soundtracks

* ''
Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon , also known as ''Space Gulliver'', is a 1965 Japanese animated feature that was released in Japan on March 20, 1965 and in the United States on July 23, 1966. Plot The story concerns a homeless boy named Ricky, or Ted in the Japanese version. ...
'' (1965, no soundtrack album) Japanese version *'' Jungle Emperor Symphonic Poem'' (1966, 2009 re-recording, orchestral suite based on the TV series) *'' Catastrophe 1999: Prophecies of Nostradamus'' (1974) *''Demon Pond'' (1979, no soundtrack album) *''Misty Kid of Wind'' (1989) *''Storm from the East'' (1992) *'' School, Gakko'' (1993) *''Shin Nihon Kikou'' (Tomita supervised re-recordings of various TV scores 1994) *''First Emperor'' (1994) (as musical supervisor) *''
Gakko II is a 1996 Japanese film directed by Yoji Yamada. It is a sequel to Yamada's 1993 film ''A Class to Remember''. The film was Japan's submission to the 69th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted ...
'' (1996) *''
Jungle Emperor Leo ''Jungle Emperor Leo'', known in Japan as is a 1997 Japanese animated film focusing on the last half of Osamu Tezuka's manga, ''Jungle Taitei'' (known in earlier US productions as ''Kimba the White Lion'' and '' Leo the Lion''). Plot At the ...
'' (1997) *''21 seiki e no densetsushi Shigeo Nagashima'' (2000) *''
Sennen no Koi Story of Genji is a 2001 Japanese film loosely based on the classical work of Heian-period Japanese literature, '' The Tale of Genji'', directed by Tonkō Horikawa and written by Akira Hayasaka. Cast * Sayuri Yoshinaga as Murasaki Shikibu * Yūki Amami a ...
'' (2001) *''Tokyo Disney Sea Aquasphere Theme Music'' (2002) *''
The Twilight Samurai ''The Twilight Samurai'' is a 2002 Japanese historical drama film co-written and directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the lif ...
'' (2002) *''
The Hidden Blade is a 2004 film set in 1860s Japan, directed by Yoji Yamada. The plot revolves around several samurai during a time of change in the ruling and class structures of Japan. The film was written by Yamada with Yoshitaka Asama and, like its predecesso ...
'' (2004) *''
Blood Will Tell ''Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo'', released as in Japan, is a 2004 PlayStation 2 game released by Sega. It is based on the Japanese manga series ''Dororo'', which was created by Osamu Tezuka. It concerns a hero named Hyakkimaru, who ...
'' (2004) *'' Black Jack: The Two Doctors of Darkness'' (2005) *'' Love and Honor'' (2006) *'' Kabei: Our Mother'' (2008) *'' Welcome Home, Hayabusa'' (2012) *''Isao Tomita Tezuka Osamu's Work Selection of Music'' (2016) (compilation CD release in Japan)


See also

*
Hideki Matsutake Hideki Matsutake (born August 12, 1951 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese composer, arranger, and computer programmer. He is known for his pioneering work in electronic music and particularly music programming, as the assis ...
, Tomita's assistant and supporting member of
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is cons ...
*" Atimot ot Edo", a song title and
anadrome An anadrome is a word whose spelling is derived by reversing the spelling of another word. It is therefore a special type of anagram. There is a long history of names being coined as ananyms of existing words or names for entities related to the ...
of "Ode to Tomita"


References


External links

* * *
Isao Tomita
- Last.fm *
Isao Tomita Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomita Isao 1932 births 2016 deaths Anime composers Japanese classical musicians Japanese electronic musicians Japanese film score composers Japanese male film score composers Keio University alumni Musicians from Tokyo New-age composers New-age synthesizer players RCA Victor artists Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class Video game composers Vocaloid musicians