is a Japanese

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 themselv ...

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 producer. He was born in 1953 in the

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

ward in Tokyo, Japan. Takanaka's music was influential in the

city pop is a loosely defined form of Japanese pop music that emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in the 1980s. It was originally termed as an offshoot of Japan's Western-influenced "new music", but came to include a wide range of styles – including ...

genre of the late 1970s and '80s.

Early life

Takanaka was born to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother. His father came to Japan from

Nanjing, China Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and married his mother, whose surname was Takanaka. Takanaka was born in Akabane ward, but moved to Oimachi,

ward soon after birth. Masayoshi was naturalized in Japan when he was in the fourth grade of elementary school, and changed his name from Masayoshi Liu to Masayoshi Takanaka.

Career

Masayoshi Takanaka began his professional career in 1971 by playing guitar and bass guitar in the prog rock band Flied Egg under

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

. In 1972, Takanaka joined the

Sadistic Mika Band was a Japanese rock band formed in 1972. Its name is a parody of the late 60s band Plastic Ono Band. Produced by Masatoshi Hashiba on Toshiba-EMI Records (now EMI Music Japan), the band was led by guitarist Kazuhiko Katō and singer , who were a ...

. The band fragmented after the divorce of two of its main members, and, in 1976, Takanaka released his first solo album, ''

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

''. Throughout the '70s and '80s, Takanaka continued his output, releasing over twenty albums and singles under Kitty Records until 1984 and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

from 1985 to 2000. In 2000, he formed his own record label, Lagoon Records. Takanaka is known for his flashy guitars, including a gold colored

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

. He also has a trademark "lagoon-blue"

Yamaha SG Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

guitar that he plays during live performances. He has collaborated with several other musical acts, notably

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

and

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

. His 1981 song "Penguin Dancer" was sampled by

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has in ...

on her song "

Butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

" in 2015. His 1979 popular song "Bu - Blue Lagoon" was named the 14th best guitar instrumental by ''

Young Guitar Magazine ''Young Guitar Magazine'' is a Japanese guitar magazine first published in May 1969 by Shinko Ongaku Shuppansha (now Shinko Music Entertainment), with a focus on folk music. Starting from the 1970s, it started covering hard rock in the 1970s, an ...

'' in 2019.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1976) *''Takanaka'' (1977) *'' An Insatiable High'' (1977) *'' Brasilian Skies'' (1978) *''Jolly Jive'' (1979) *''T-Wave'' (1980) *''The Rainbow Goblins'' (1981) *''Alone'' (1981) *''Saudade'' (1982) *''Can I Sing?'' (1983) *''夏・全・開 (Open All Summer)'' (1984) *''Traumatic - Far Eastern Detectives'' (1985) *''Jungle Jane'' (1986) *''Rendez-Vous'' (1987) *''Hot Pepper'' (1988) *''Gaps!'' (1989) *''Nail the Pocket'' (1990) *''Fade to Blue'' (1992) *''Aquaplanet'' (1993) *''Wood Chopper's Ball'' (1994) *''Guitar Wonder'' (1996) *''The White Goblin'' (1997) *''Bahama'' (1998) *''Walkin (1999) *''Hunpluged'' (2000) *''Guitar Dream'' (2001) *''The Moon Rose'' (2002) *''Surf & Turf'' (2004) *''Summer Road'' (2009) *''Karuizawa Daydream'' (2010) *''Ukulele Seychelles'' (2011) *''40th Year Rainbow'' (2011) *''Takanaka All Time Super Best'' (2022)

Selected compilation albums

*''All Of Me'' (1979) *''The Lover'' (1993) *''Golden Best'' (2004)

Live albums

*''Super Takanaka Live!'' (1980) *''Ocean Breeze'' (1982) *''Rainbow Goblins Story / Live at Budokan'' (1986) *''Jungle Jane Tour Live'' (1986) *''One Night Gig'' (1991) *''Niji Densetsu II - Live at Budokan - Time Machine to the Past'' (1997) *''The Man with the Guitar (Recorded at Liveteria)'' (2001) *''30th Anniversary Power Live With Friends'' (2001) *''Super Studio Live!'' (2014)

Instructional albums

*''On Guitar'' (1978) *''

Little Richard Meets Masayoshi Takanaka ''Little Richard Meets Masayoshi Takanaka'' is a rock and roll album recorded by American rock pioneer Little Richard and Japanese jazz fusion guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka. Released on the Eastworld label in 1992, it was Little Richard's final stu ...

'' (1992)

References

External links

*
Masayoshi Takanaka's personal blog
1953 births Living people Japanese jazz Japanese rock guitarists Japanese jazz guitarists Japanese people of Chinese descent Musicians from Tokyo Sadistic Mika Band members {{jazz-musician-stub