Masanori Takahashi (高橋正則, ''Takahashi Masanori''; born February 4, 1953), professionally known as , is a Japanese musician, composer, record producer, and arranger noted for his electronic-

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

music, and is often associated with and regarded as one of the most prominent musical acts of

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

. 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 The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for the original score to '' Heaven & Earth'' (1993).

Early life: 1954–76

Masanori Takahashi was born in

Toyohashi is a Cities of Japan, city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefec ...

, Aichi, Japan, and is a graduate of Sahid University. Kitarō, which is his boyhood name meaning "man of love and joy", a practicing

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

himself, was born in a family of

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

-Buddhist farmers. After graduating his parents were first opposed to the idea of their son having a musical career. In an effort to maneuver him towards their vision, they made arrangements for him to take a job at a local company. In response, he silently did not show up for the job, eventually convincing them that he should work on something he loved. In high school Kitarō played electric guitar in a band that played American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and covers by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. After graduating, and learning to play drums and bass, Kitaro moved to Tokyo to experience and become a part of the music scene, and it was there that he discovered the

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

. His first synthesizer was analog, and he recalls having "just loved the analog sound that it made compared to today's digital sound". In the early 1970s, he changed completely to keyboard and joined the Japanese

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band and recorded four albums with them. While in Japan and Europe in 1975, he met the German

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

and former

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the grou ...

member

Klaus Schulze Klaus Schulze (4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022) was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers ...

. Schulze produced two albums for the band and gave Kitaro some tips for controlling synthesizers. In 1976, Kitaro left Far East Family Band and travelled through Asia (China,

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, Thailand, India).

Solo career: 1977–1993

Back in Japan, Kitaro started his solo career in 1977. The first two albums '' Ten Kai'' and ''Daichi'' were released in 1978 and 1979. He performed his first symphonic concert at the "Small Hall" of the Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in

Shinjuku, Tokyo , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

Silk Road

''The Silk Road: The Rise And Fall Of Civilizations'' is an

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

Tokushu documentary series that first aired on 7 April 1980, with sequels being broadcast over a 10-year period. It took a total of 17 years from conception to complete what many consider a landmark in Japan's broadcasting television history. The intention of the program was to reveal how ancient Japan was influenced by the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

trade route. The documentary was narrated by Ishizaka Koji with music composed by Kitaro, who insisted that the show be broadcast in stereo. The music was composed mainly using a

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

, miniKORG 700, and Maxikorg DV800. The score received a Galaxy Award, and the series of soundtracks sold millions of copies. The success created from the program brought Kitaro international attention.

1984–1993

In 1984, Kitaro embarked on a "Live in Asia" tour. Notably, he was forced to cancel a leg in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

because he had long hair and at that time the country had a policy banning it. He entered into a worldwide distribution arrangement with

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

in 1985–1986. This included a re-releasing of six prior albums entitled ''Ten Kai'' (aka ''Astral Voyage''), ''Daichi'' (aka ''Full Moon Story''), ''Millennia'', ''India'', ''Silver Cloud'' and ''Live in Asia'' (aka ''Asia'') (each packaged with Japanesque obi strips) as well as a new album, aptly titled ''Toward the West''. Due to his combination of electronic and acoustic sounds, mellow music, and repeating chords which resembled the

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

New age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than tra ...

category in the United States and Europe, his music was labeled as "new age". While he is not comfortable with the term, it doesn't mean much to him: "Whether people say my music is new age or not, it's OK with me. I'm just going to keep calling it Kitaro's music". On his music he noted that his outlook on life, study of philosophy, and responsibility to create music which has a good influence on society, influence his musical creation. In 1987, he collaborated with

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

for the album '' The Light of the Spirit'' (which sold two million copies) and in 1992 with

Jon Anderson Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...

(

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

) for the album ''

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

''. In 1988, his record sales soared to 10 million worldwide following a successful US tour. He was nominated three times for Grammy Award for Best New Age Album during his tenure at Geffen Records. In 1990 the studio album ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' was released, inspired by the Japanese 8th century chronicle ''

''; the album reached #159 on

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

, and #1 on ''Billboard'' New Age chart. His soundtrack for the movie '' Heaven & Earth'' (1993) won the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications out ...

. Kitaro also produced an album '' Scenes'' (1992) released by

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

with former

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

guitarist

Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...

1994–present

Domo Records

Since his 1994 debut for Domo Records, and the Grammy-nominated ''

Mandala A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid ...

'', Kitaro has released 24 studio albums. Among them, the live '' An Enchanted Evening'' (1995), '' Gaia-Onbashira'' (1998), and ''

Ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

'' (2001) were all Grammy nominated. In 1999, '' Thinking of You'' won the Grammy for Best New Age Album. Kitaro and Randy Miller's soundtrack album '' The Soong Sisters'' (2000) received Best Original Music Award from the

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual List of film awards, film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies typically take place in April, and have mostly been held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Cent ...

(1998), as well as the Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival and Award (1997).

Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai series

Kitaro’s music has long been recognized for its messages of peace and spirituality. In the wake of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

the artist began to record the conceptual endeavor, which he envisioned as an artistic means to help unify people globally, '' Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai'' (2003). This was a series of peace-themed albums inspired by the Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage - the travel of

Kūkai , born posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the Vajrayana, esoteric Shingon Buddhism, Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) und ...

more than 1100 years ago. The four volumes in the album series were released in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2011, respectively. Every track on the 4 volumes of ''Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai'' contains samples from ancient Japanese temple bells (Peace Bells) from 88 sacred temples on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, Japan.

Impressions of the West Lake

In 2007, Kitaro composed the music for ''Impression West Lake'', a large-scale opera, directed by the renowned Chinese film director

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 14 November 1950) is a Chinese filmmaker.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retrieved 21 August 2008. A leading figure of China's Cinem ...

. The opera reflects Hangzhou city’s history and culture through music and dance. Using modern technology, the stage is 75 centimeters below the lake’s surface during the day so as not to affect the landscape and boating activities. In the evening, the stage is a few centimeters below the lake’s surface so actors can walk and perform freely over a surprising water mirror that compose with the lights and colors. The one-hour event had its opening night in March 2007. In 2009, Domo Records released the original soundtrack album '' Impressions of the West Lake'' which was nominated for the Grammy in Best New Age Album category.

Recent projects

Kitaro's latest studio album is '' Final Call'', which is a homage to Kitaro's lifetime reverence for nature and was released in September 2013. A year later, in September 2014, his latest live album '' Symphony Live in Istanbul'' was released. It was recorded live at the Halic Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey during Kitaro's Symphonic World Tour, balancing the artist's trademark signature sound and expanding it to new heights with the addition of a 38-piece chamber symphony orchestra. Both ''Final Call'' and ''Symphony Live in Istanbul'' were nominated for Best New Age Album, becoming Kitaro's 15th and 16th career Grammy Award nominations. More recently he has reissued his critically acclaimed studio albums ''Kojiki'' in 2015 and ''Tenku'' in 2016.

Touring and other activities

In 2007 to 2009, he launched the "Love and Peace World Tour," an international tour with which Kitaro hoped to inspire his message of world peace with his music. Kitaro toured Southeast Asia in 2007, Greece in 2008 and Hong Kong, Japan, Southeast Asia in 2009. During his visit to Greece, Kitaro met Greek composer

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

, and exchanged musical experience and creative ideas. In 2010, Kitaro performed in Singapore in March, in Mexico for the Zacatecas Cultural Festival in April, in Xi'an, China for the opening event of Daming Palace National Heritage Park in September, in Aichi, Japan, for the Thousand Drums Event at COP10 for the

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

in October. From March to April, 2011, Kitaro was on tour titled The Silk Road – East & West, visiting Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. He donated part of the CD sales and concert profits to Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami Relief. For the same purpose he participated in the 2011 edition of Musicians United for Safe Energy. In 2012 he released '' Let Mother Earth Speak'', a collaboration album with Native American activist

Dennis Banks Dennis J. Banks (April 12, 1937 – October 29, 2017) was a Native American activist, teacher, and author. He was a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement, which he co-founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1968 to represent urban Indian ...

Personal life

From around 1983 to 1990, Kitarō was married to Yuki Taoka, daughter of Kazuo Taoka. They have a son. In the early 1990s, he moved from Japan to the United States. In the mid-1990s, he married Keiko Matsubara, a musician who played on several of his albums. Along with Keiko's son, the couple lived in

Ward, Colorado Ward is a home rule municipality in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The population was 128 at the 2020 census. The town is a former mining settlement founded in 1860 in the wake of the discovery of gold at nearby Gold Hill. Once one ...

, on a 180-acre (72.85 hectare) spread and composed in his 2500-square-foot (230 m²) home studio "Mochi House" (it is large enough to hold a 70-piece orchestra). Around 2005, they relocated to

Sebastopol, California Sebastopol ( ) is a city in Sonoma County, California, with a recorded population of 7,521, per the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. Sebastopol was once primarily a plum- and apple-growing region. Wine grapes are the predominant a ...

. Kitaro subsequently divorced Keiko (she was visibly absent from the performances during 2020-2021 period). On 24 February 2022, he married Brazil-born, ethnically Japanese artist Franci Shimomaebara in a private ceremony attended by friends and relatives. They had met in 1990, and after becoming friends worked together on ''The Wind'', which was featured on Kitarō's Grammy-nominated 2003 album, ''Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai, Volume 1.'' In 2012 they collaborated on the album ''Symphony of my Dreams'' where Franci recorded vocal renditions of some of Kitarō’s famous pieces, including Silk Road.

Discography

;Studio albums *''

Tenkai was an influential Japanese Tendai Buddhist monk of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods. He achieved the rank of ''Daisōjō'', the highest rank of the Tendai priesthood and was an influential advisor to various Shoguns, including To ...

'' (1978) *''Daichi'' (1979) *''Oasis'' (1979) *''Ki'' (1981) *''Silver Cloud'' (1983) *''Toward the West'' (1985) *''Tenku'' (1986) *'' The Light of the Spirit'' (1987) *''

'' (1990) *''

'' (1992) *''

'' (1994) *'' Peace on Earth'' (1996) *''Cirque Ingenieux'' (1997) *'' Gaia-Onbashira'' (1998) *'' Thinking of You'' (1999) *''

'' (2001) *''An Ancient Journey'' (2002) *'' Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 1'' (2003) *'' Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 2'' (2005) *'' Spiritual Garden'' (2006) *'' Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 3'' (2007) *'' Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 4'' (2010) *'' Final Call'' (2013) *'' Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 5'' (2017)

Tours

*1986: "Japan Tour" (17 cities) *1987: "1st North American Tour" (24 cities, 26 shows) *1989: "1st Europe Tour" (15 cities, 16 shows) *1990: "Kojiki World Tour" U.S., Japan, Europe (39 cities, 41 shows) *1992: "Dream World Tour" U.S., Japan, Asia *1992: "Her Majestry Queen" Sirikit Birthday Anniversary Concert, in Bangkok, Thailand *1994: "The Kitaro Mandala World Tour" Latin America Tour (4 cities, 6 shows) *1994: "The Kitaro Mandala World Tour" The USA Tour (32 shows) *1995: "Southeast Asia tour" (4 cities, 9 shows) *1995: "Kitaro Enchanted Evening Tour" (22 cities, 22 shows) *1997: "Kitaro's Peace on Earth Holiday Tour" in USA (5 cities, 5 shows) *1998: "Europe Tour" (13 cities) *1999: "Kitaro 1999 New Millennium World Tour in USA" (21cities) *1999: "Kitaro 1999 New Millennium World Tour in South America" *2000: "Kitaro Asia 2000" in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong *2002: "The Silk Road Tour in USA" (6 cities) *2002: "The concert for 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and China" in China (2 cities) *2004: "Asia Tour 2004" (7 cities, 8 shows) *2007: "Love & Peace World Tour 2007" in Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand *2008: "Love & Peace World Tour 2008" in Athens *2009: "Love & Peace Planet Music Tour 2009" in Malaysia, Singapore, India, Japan, Hong Kong *2009: "31st Harmony Festival" in Santa Rosa, California *2009: "Silk Road Arts Festival" in Hong Kong, China *2010: "Love & Peace Planet Music Tour 2010" in Singapore *2010: "Zacatecas Cultural Festival" in Mexico *2010: "Opening Ceremony for 32nd Harmony Festival" in Santa Rosa, California *2010: "Opening Event of Daming Palace National Heritage Park" in Xi'an, China *2010: "Thousand Drums Event at COP10 for Convention on Biological Diversity" in Aichi, Japan *2010: "Asian Art Museum" in San Francisco, California *2011: "Silk Road East & West Tour" in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Singapore and Malaysia *2011: "Closing Ceremony for 33rd Harmony Festival" in Santa Rosa, California *2011: "Opening Ceremony for Musicians United For Safe Energy (MUSE) Benefit Concert" in Mountain View, California *2012: "Festival International Farosor 2012" in Montevideo, Uruguay *2014: "Symphonic World Tour, Symphonic World Tour 2014"

Awards

*1985: Hong Kong Film Awards nomination for

Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States and Canada. United St ...

*1987: Grammy nomination for The Field *1990: Grammy nomination for

*1991: Gold Disc Award winner (Japan) for

*1992: Grammy nomination for

*1993: Golden Globe Award winner for Heaven & Earth *1994: Grammy nomination for

*1995: Grammy nomination for An Enchanted Evening *1998: Grammy nomination for Gaia Onbashira **Golden Horse Award winner (Hong Kong) for Soong Sisters *1999: Grammy Award winner for Thinking Of You *2002: Grammy nomination for

*2003: Grammy nomination for An Ancient Journey *2004: Grammy nomination for Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Volume 1 *2006: Grammy nomination for Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai Volume 2 *2008: Grammy nomination for Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai Volume 3 *2009: Grammy nomination for Impressions Of The West Lake *2011: Grammy nomination for Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai Volume 4 *2013: Grammy nomination for Final Call *2014: Grammy nomination for Symphony Live In Istanbul *2017: Grammy nomination for Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 5

References

External links

Kitaro's Official Website
(English)
Kitaro's Official Channel
on YouTube * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitaro 1953 births Living people Ambient composers Ambient musicians Domo Records artists Electronic composers Geffen Records artists Golden Globe Award–winning musicians Gramavision Records artists Grammy Award winners Japanese film score composers Japanese electronic musicians Japanese expatriates in the United States Japanese male film score composers Musicians from Toyohashi New-age composers New-age synthesizer players People from Boulder County, Colorado People from Sebastopol, California