was a Japanese composer, mandolinist, and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

of the Shōwa era who was dubbed "Japan's

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

" by Universal Press Syndicate. His melancholy style, based upon Nakayama Shimpei's '' yonanuki''

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

, was popularly known in Japan as . He was awarded the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest tw ...

(Fourth Class) and the People's Honor Award for his contributions to Japanese music.

Life

Koga was born in 1904 in the village of Taguchi (today part of the city Ōkawa) in the Mizuma District of

Fukuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kumamo ...

; he was the sixth of eight children. In 1910, Koga's father, Kitarō, died. As a result, Koga, his mother, older sister, and younger brother moved to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

in 1912, where his eldest brother had migrated for work. His family first traveled to Incheon, before settling in Keijo (today part of Seoul). During this period, Koga was gifted a ''

taishōgoto The , or Nagoya harp, is a Japanese stringed musical instrument. The name derives from the Taishō period (1912–1926) when the instrument first appeared. It has also become naturalized in East Africa, often under the name ''Taishokoto''. Hi ...

'' from his cousin; then later, while enrolled at the Keijō Good Neighbor Trade School, a

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

from an older brother living in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. He was regarded as a notable figure for establishing the genre ''

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than '' ryūkōka'' music, ...

'', though Koga considered that he was a '' ryūkōka'' composer. He wrote numerous songs for Ichiro Fujiyama and Hibari Misora. Koga’s songs have been heard by Western audiences in various films, including ''

Come See the Paradise ''Come See the Paradise'' is a 1990 American drama film written and directed by Alan Parker, and starring Dennis Quaid and Tamlyn Tomita. Set before and during World War II, the film depicts the treatment of Japanese Americans in the United States ...

'', and '' Memoirs of a Geisha''. He was the first president of the

Japan Composer's Association The Japan Composer's Association, or JACOMPA (日本作曲家協会 in Japanese) is an organization of Japanese composers, established in 1959. Among its members are some of Japan's most renowned composers of contemporary classical music. Preside ...

from 1958 to 1978. A museum was built in

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

to honor his achievements, and visitors to the are able to view exhibits, and memorabilia featuring his work.

References

1904 births 1978 deaths 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century guitarists 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians Japanese classical guitarists Japanese male composers Musicians from Fukuoka Prefecture Nippon Columbia artists People from Ōkawa, Fukuoka People's Honour Award winners Teichiku Records artists Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th class Presidents of the Japan Composer's Association {{Japan-musician-stub