Classical music by Japanese composers. Recommended classical music.
When we hear the term “classical music,” many of us immediately think of works by well-known foreign composers.
These pieces are often used in various everyday contexts with different arrangements, and there are many works that people have naturally heard at least once and can name right away.
However, if you’re asked to name classical works by Japanese composers, fewer people may be able to answer quickly.
Here, we focus on classical music composed by Japanese composers and highlight representative works.
This is recommended even for those who regularly enjoy classical music but haven’t listened much to works by Japanese composers.
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Classical music by Japanese composers. Recommended classical music (1–10)
Kobiki-uta (Woodcutters’ Song) for OrchestraKoyama Kiyoshige
Koyama Kiyoshige is a composer known for his gentle style that evokes Japan’s beautiful natural landscapes.
He wrote numerous school songs for elementary, junior high, and high schools.
His 1957 work “Kobiki-uta for Orchestra” is an orchestral piece based on folk-song motifs.
Drawn from the musical drama Yabure Waraji, it features memorable melodies that unfold in the form of variations.
Though it employs woodwinds and brass of Western origin, the sound somehow conveys a distinctly Japanese sensibility.
Why not listen to its magnificent and beautiful orchestral performance?
Symphony TapkaraIfukube Akira
Akira Ifukube was the composer who wrote the theme for Godzilla, the special-effects monster film released by Toho in 1954, and he is truly one of Japan’s most representative composers—known even by people who aren’t familiar with classical music.
Motivated by empathy and nostalgia for the Ainu with whom he interacted in his youth, the piece was composed in three movements.
It opens with a weighty sonority, and since “Tapkara” means “to stand and dance” in the Ainu language, the work as a whole features a dynamic, dance-like vitality with rich textures and folk-inspired melodies.
It is also one of the most popular pieces among Akira Ifukube’s fans.
Music for Symphony OrchestraAkutagawa Yasushi
This orchestral work is considered the breakthrough piece of composer Yasushi Akutagawa, who was active across an exceptionally wide range of fields—not only symphonies and vocal music, but also film scores and children’s songs.
Composed in 1950 as a submission for NHK’s 25th Anniversary project, it won an award alongside Ikuma Dan’s Symphony No.
1.
The work features the hallmarks of Akutagawa’s style: a bold, vigorously played sound that conveys a valiant and lively atmosphere.
Structured in two movements, it is a beautiful piece marked by a bright, grand sense of space and a powerful development that stirs the heart.
Classical music by Japanese composers. Recommended classical music (11–20)
Elegy for the Crested IbisYoshimatsu Takashi
This orchestral piece was composed between 1977 and 1980 by Takashi Yoshimatsu, a composer active across a wide range of genres including not only symphonies but also film scores and pop music.
It is said to have been inspired by the death of Nori, the last crested ibis on Honshu, which was captured in 1971.
Throughout the work, a mournful atmosphere conveys the sense that the ibis population is dwindling and nearing its end.
It feels like a requiem for the ibis, while also sounding like the bird’s own sorrow and cries.
Echo Patterns for Children’s Choir and OrchestraMiyoshi Akira
This is a piece themed around anti-war.
A children’s chorus and orchestra perform as one, using the nursery rhyme “Kagome Kagome” as a motif to evoke memories of war.
Premiered in 1984, it received high acclaim, including the Otaka Prize.
Employing a rich orchestral scoring and an array of percussion, it presents a three-dimensional sonic landscape and a distinctive musical language.
The innocent voices of the children and the complex orchestration are used in stark contrast, allowing listeners to experience, on a sensory level, the themes of “life and death” and “purity and fear.” It’s recommended not only for those interested in classical music, but also for anyone looking to explore contemporary Japanese music.
Victory Cry and PeaceYamada Kōsaku
This work, Kachidoki to Heiwa (Victory and Peace), is said to be the first symphony written in Japan.
Composed in 1912 by Kōsaku Yamada— a pioneer of Western music in Japan and a towering figure in modern Japanese music history who produced many great works— it is also known as an orchestral piece written following his Overture, the first orchestral work by a Japanese composer, likewise by Yamada.
Yamada, who had encountered Western music in his teens and was already composing, wrote this piece while studying composition at the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin in 1910.
It can be seen as the first fruit of his youthful years in Germany, where he absorbed the essence of Western music at its source.
While the style follows the late Romantic tradition, the melody heard at the opening of the first movement is said to quote the tune of Kimigayo, making it fascinating as a work in which admiration for Western music and a Japanese identity are beautifully fused.
Three Japonismes (Orchestral Version)Majima Toshio
The original piece is a wind band composition by Toshio Mashima, one of Japan’s prominent wind ensemble composers.
Commissioned by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and completed in 2001, it consists of three movements: “Dance of the Cranes,” “River of Snow,” and “Festival.” Expressing traditional Japanese aesthetics through Western musical techniques, the work ambitiously explores a fusion of East and West.
Each movement delicately yet powerfully portrays scenes such as the graceful dance of cranes, a tranquil winter landscape, and a vibrant festival, allowing listeners to experience Japan’s seasons and culture through music.
It’s highly recommended not only for fans of classical and wind band music, but also for those interested in traditional Japanese culture.