is a Japanese

music composer 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 Defi ...

and arranger. Known as one of the biggest names in the soundtrack world, he has worked on a wide range of mixed media productions, including anime, TV shows, films and video games. Among his credits are Toei's

Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever is a 2018 Japanese superhero film in the Movie War line of the Kamen Rider Series. It serves as a crossover between the television series ''Kamen Rider Zi-O'' and ''Kamen Rider Build'' and is the third film of the Generations series. Aside the c ...

Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...

's ''

Seven Swords ''Seven Swords'' is a 2005 ''wuxia'' film produced and directed by Tsui Hark, starring Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung, Sun Honglei, Lu Yi and Kim So-yeon. An international co-production between Hong Kong, China, South Korea and the Nether ...

'' and '' Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon'';

Wilson Yip Wilson Yip Wai-Shun (; born 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and screenwriter. His films include ''Bio Zombie'', '' The White Dragon'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Dragon Tiger Gate'', ''Flash Point'' and the ''Ip Man'' series. Early career ...

's ''

Ip Man Ip Man, also known as Yip Man, ( / 叶问; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972) was a Hong Kong-based Cantonese martial artist and a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martial art ...

'';

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including ''Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), ''Angel's Egg'' (1985), ...

's films ''

The Red Spectacles is a 1987 Japanese film directed by Mamoru Oshii, co-written with Kazunori Ito, and starring Shigeru Chiba and Mako Hyodo. This is the first film of the '' Kerberos saga''. Plot It is the end of the 20th century. The Metropolitan Police hav ...

'', '' StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops'', ''Ghost in the Shell'', ''

Mobile Police Patlabor , also known as ''Patlabor'' (a portmanteau of "patrol" and "labor"), is a Japanese science fiction media franchise created by Headgear, a group consisting of manga artist Masami Yūki, director Mamoru Oshii, screenwriter Kazunori I ...

'' and ''Avalon''; the anime adaptations of

Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with ''Urusei Yatsura'' in 1978, Takahashi is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are popular worldwide, where they have ...

's ''

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The st ...

'' and ''

Maison Ikkoku is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1980 to 1987, with the chapters collected into 15 ''tankōbon'' volumes. ' ...

''; the live-action adaptation of ''

Gantz ''Gantz'' (stylized as ''GANTZ'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2000 to June 2013, with its chapters collected i ...

'' and

Hideo Nakata is a Japanese filmmaker. Life and career Nakata was born in Okayama, Japan. He is most familiar to Western audiences for his work on Japanese horror films such as ''Ring'' (1998), ''Ring 2'' (1999) and ''Dark Water'' (2002). Several of these we ...

's films ''Ring'', ''

Ring 2 is a 1999 Japanese supernatural horror film, directed by Hideo Nakata and serves as a sequel to '' Ring''. ''Ring'' was originally a novel written by Koji Suzuki; its sequel, ''Rasen'' (a.k.a. ''Spiral''), was also adapted into a film as the ...

'', ''

Chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements * Chaos (''Kinnikuman'') * Chaos (''Sailor Moon'') * Chaos (''Sesame Park'') * Chaos (''Warhammer'') * Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy'' * Cha ...

'', ''Dark Water'' and ''Kaidan''. His nephew, Hidehiro Kawai, is a bassist in Fox Capture Plan, an instrumental band.

Career

After dropping out of a

nuclear engineering Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of breaking down atomic nuclei ( fission) or of combining atomic nuclei (fusion), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of n ...

program at

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Un ...

, Kawai began studying music at Shobi Music Academy. However, he dropped out after half a year. With a few friends, he created the band Muse, playing fusion rock and participating in music competitions. Through competing in such contests, the band members became technically competent to enter the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

and decided to part ways. After leaving Muse, Kawai began composing music for

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

in his home studio. While recording music for radio actor and voice actor

Yūji Mitsuya (born October 18, 1954) is a Japanese actor, voice actor, director of audiography, voice director and sound supervisor from Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture who is affiliated with Combination. He graduated from Meiji University. He is best known for ...

, he met music director Naoko Asari, who advised him to compose anime soundtracks. Some of his work for anime soundtracks can be found in ''

'' and ''Ghost in the Shell''. According to Kawai, he is not good at creating music from nothing, as he draws sounds from the visuals of the works. In the majority of cases, the images of the anime are not yet created, so he creates music when referencing storyboard visuals. Following his success as an anime movies music composer, he became involved in live action movies. He contributed music to

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

s: ''Ring'', ''

'', ''Dark Water'', Japanese-Polish science-fiction film ''Avalon'', the Hong Kong film ''

'' and in the 2017 live action film ''

Death Note ''Death Note'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to May ...

''. Kawai has worked on several projects with director

(both

Headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, de ...

members) and has written scores for all of the

's films. The most recent film featuring his music is 2009's ''

Assault Girls is a 2009 Japanese science fiction action live-action feature film written and directed by Mamoru Oshii. It was released in Japan on December 19, 2009. The movie was developed as a spiritual sequel to the '' Assault Girl: Hinako The Kentucky'' an ...

'' by director Oshii. Kawai's music has received the

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desi ...

and

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, act ...

. In 2005, for ''Innocence: Kôkaku kidôtai'' ( ''Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence'') he was nominated for an

. For the music found in ''Seven Swords'' and ''A Battle of Wits'' he was nominated for Best Original Film Score Awards at both the 25th and 26th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2006 and 2007.

Works

Anime/television

Film

Video games

Documentary

Awards and honors

* Asteroid 117582 Kenjikawai, discovered by Roy A. Tucker in 2005, was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on January 9, 2020 ().

References

External links

* *
Kenji Kawai
at Media Arts Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawai, Kenji 1957 births 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century Japanese male musicians Anime composers Japanese conductors (music) Japanese film score composers Japanese guitarists Japanese male film score composers Living people New-age composers People from Shinagawa Video game composers

Career

Works

Anime/television

Film

Video games

Documentary

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links