is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

, composer, and arranger. He was the keyboardist in the Japanese band Spectrum from 1979-1981. In 2009, he won the JASRAC International Award for the background music used in the '' Ashita no Nadja'' anime television series from

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

Biography

Oku was born in

Shiga is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

, Japan. He graduated from the music composition program at the

Tokyo University of the Arts or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

. He was enrolled in the university's master's program but dropped out. As a grad student he performed in a

backup band A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such a ...

for

Hiromi Go , is a Japanese singer, part of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. His real name is . In the 1970s, he was called the with Goro Noguchi and Hideki Saijo. He belonged to Johnny & Associates, but later left the agency. He also effectively became ...

. On August 25, 1979 he debuted as a member of the rock band

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

. After Spectrum broke up in 1981, he participated in a number of recording sessions as a studio musician. Soon after, he began working as a composer and arranger for numerous artists and on March 21, 1981 he released his solo debut album ''Misty Morning''. As of April 2005, he serves as a guest professor at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music for the music and sound design course. In May 2009, he was awarded the 2008

JASRAC The , often referred to as JASRAC, is a Japanese copyright collection society. It was founded in 1939 as a nonprofit organization, and is the largest musical copyright administration society in Japan. Overview JASRAC's main business activity i ...

International Award for his music for Ashita no Nadja.

Composer

Film

*'' Miyuki'' (1983, with Mitsuo Hagita) *'' Bobī no Kubittake'' (1985) *'' Ultraman Company'' (1996) *''

Ojamajo Doremi , alternatively titled ''Magical DoReMi'' in English, is a Japanese magical girl anime television series created by Toei Animation. It focuses on a group of elementary school girls, led by Doremi Harukaze, who become witch apprent ...

'' **''Ojamajo Doremi #: The Movie'' (2000) **''Motto! Ojamajo Doremi: Secret of the Frog Stone'' (2001) *'' Digimon Savers the Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!!'' (2006)

Television

*'' Higashi Chūgaku 3-nen 5-gumi'' (1984) *'' Wing-Man'' (1984-1985) *'' Kinjirareta Mariko'' (1985-1986) *''

Magical Emi, the Magic Star is a magical girl anime series by Studio Pierrot. It was simultaneously released as a manga by Kiyoko Arai. The third magical girl series created by Studio Pierrot, ''Magical Emi'' also appears in two feature-length OVAs, as well as the '' ...

'' (1985-1986) *'' Hana no Arashi'' (1988) *''

Tatakae!! Ramenman is a Japanese manga series created by the duo Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, known as Yudetamago. It follows Suguru Kinniku, a superhero who must win a wrestling tournament to retain the title of prince of Planet Kinniku. N ...

'' (1988) *'' Natsu no Arashi'' (1989, also appeared as a guest star) *'' Hana no Chikai'' (1991) *'' Saigō Satsu'' (1991, the "Matsumoto Seichō-sakka Katsudō 40-Shōnen Kinen Dorama Special") *'' Hōkago'' (1992) *'' Chance!'' (1993, additional music composer and orchestrator. Music composed by

Toshinobu Kubota is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, music producer, and radio personality. He has produced six million-seller records and thirty-three Top 40 singles during his career. Kubota is currently part of Sony Music Japan. In addition, he has co ...

) *'' Jaja Uma Narashi'' (1993, as arranger, music composed by

T-Square A T-square is a technical drawing instrument used by draftsmen primarily as a guide for drawing horizontal lines on a drafting table. The instrument is named after its resemblance to the letter T, with a long shaft called the "blade" and a sh ...

) *'' 17-sai: At Seventeen'' (1994) *'' Seimei 40-oku Nen Haruka na Tabi'' (1994,

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

Special) *''

Marmalade Boy is a shōjo manga series by Wataru Yoshizumi. It was published by Shueisha in the magazine ''Ribon'' from May 1992 to October 1995 and collected in eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series was adapted by Toei Animation as a 76-episode an ...

'' (1994-1995) *''

Haō Taikei Ryū Knight is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Itō. It was originally published monthly in the Shueisha magazine ''V-Jump'' starting in 1993. A 52-episode anime television adaptation of the series was produced by Sunrise ...

'' (1994, for the last half of the series) *'' Hōdō 2001'' (1997, theme song) *''

Denji Sentai Megaranger is Toei's twenty-first production of the Super Sentai metaseries, and the Second Sentai where all heroes are high school students. The footage was also used in the American series, '' Power Rangers in Space''. ''Megaranger'' premiered on Februa ...

'' (1997-1998) *'' Amagigoe'' (1998) *'' Hakui no Futari'' (1998) *''

'' (1999-2000) *'' Kiken na Shamen'' (2000, Matsumoto Seichō Tokubetsu Kikaku) *'' Ojamajo Doremi #'' (2000-2001) *''

Mōtto! Ojamajo Doremi is the third season of ''Ojamajo Doremi''. The series was directed by Takuya Igarashi and produced by Toei Animation. It is a direct sequel to the previous series, '' Ojamajo Doremi Sharp'' and was broadcast on TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5 ...

'' (2001-2002) *'' Ojamajo Doremi Dokka~n!'' (2002-2003) *'' Ashita no Nadja'' (2003) *''

Peacemaker Kurogane is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated created by Nanae Chrono. It is unrelated to the ''Peace Maker'' manga by Ryōji Minagawa. The story begins in 19th century Japan before the Meiji Restoration, a chain of events that led to e ...

'' (2003-2004) *'' Asutoro Kyūdan'' (2005) *''

Digimon Data Squad ''Digimon Data Squad'', known in Japan as , is the fifth anime television series in the ''Digimon'' franchise, produced by Toei Animation. The series aired in Japan on Fuji TV from April 2, 2006 to March 25, 2007. A standalone film based on ...

'' (2006-2007) *'' Nami no Tō'' (2006, Matsumoto Seichō Drama Special) *'' Dream Eater Merry'' (2011) *''

A Town Where You Live is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōji Seo. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from May 2008 to February 2014 and the chapters collected into 27 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series follows the d ...

'' (2013)

Video

*''The Good Bad Girl Again'' (1983) *''

Fire Tripper is a Japanese manga by Rumiko Takahashi published in August 1983 issue of '' Shōnen Sunday Zōkan''. The manga was later compiled in '' Rumic World'' books, which are available in English from Viz Media. It was adapted into an anime OVA. In ...

'' (1985) *''

Crusher Joe is a series of science fiction novels written by Haruka Takachiho and published by Asahi Sonorama from 1977 to 2005 (an additional trilogy was published between 2013 and 2016). During the late 1970s one of the founding fathers of Studi ...

'' **''The Ice Prison'' (1989) **''The Ultimate Weapon: Ash'' (1989) *''

'' **''Adeu's Legend'' (1994-1995) **''Adeu's Legend II'' (1995-1996) **''Adeu's Legend Final - Onsen Dungeon no Kettō'' (1996) *'' Denji Sentai Megaranger vs. Carranger'' (1998) *'' Seijū Sentai Gingaman vs. Megaranger'' (1999) *''

Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho ''Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho'' is an original video animation series created by Toei Animation in 2004. It focuses on elementary school students who become witch apprentices. Led by Doremi Harukaze, the girls must maintain their double lives in secre ...

'' (2004) *

Honda Legend :''Sections of this article are translated from Japanese Wikipedia''. The Honda Legend is a series of V6-engined executive cars/mid-size luxury sedans produced by Honda since 1985 which currently serves as its flagship vehicle. It is larger th ...

Premium DVD (2004) *'' A Town Where You Live: Twilight Intersection'' (2012) *''

'' (2014)

Video games

*''

Arc the Lad is a series of tactical role-playing games created by Toshiro Tsuchida and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Each ''Arc the Lad'' game often features recurring characters and locations, as well as a consistent timeline. Most of the ...

'' (1995)

Discography

The albums for all the works above are not currently listed here.

Contemporary works

*''Illumination pour orchestre'' (1978, created as part of his graduation from Tokyo Geidai, only available at the university) *''Sileno - Sonata per violino e pianoforte'' (2011, premiered on March 8, 2012 at the 8th JFC Independent) *''Sette canzoni per bambini'' (2012, premiered on March 28, 2012 at the JFC solo piano concert "To the Children") *''Bridge Across Two Heavens'' (2015, original opera that premiered on October 11, 2015 to commemorate the opening of the Narita Cultural Art Center)

Original albums

*''Misty Morning'' (1981, Victor) *''The Good Bad Girl'' (1981, Victor) *''The Good Bad Girl Again'' (1983, Victor) * (1986,

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

, Sound Museum Series 1)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oku, Keiichi 1955 births 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese male musicians Anime composers Japanese film score composers Japanese jazz keyboardists Japanese male film score composers Japanese music arrangers Japanese rock keyboardists Japanese television composers Living people Male jazz composers Male television composers Musicians from Shiga Prefecture