Japanese Literary Awards

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Ken Ito

いとう けん

Ito Ken

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1965-01-27 （Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Composer, Conductor, Writer, Professor
Active Years
1981-
Affiliations
Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, University of Tokyo
Influenced By
John Cage, Toru Takemitsu, Marcel Duchamp

Education

Musashi High School
Year of Graduation: 1983
Country: Japan
University of Tokyo, Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science / Department of Physics
Degree: 学士
Year of Graduation: 1990
Country: Japan
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo (Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies / Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies)
Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies
Degree: 博士（学術）
Year of Graduation: 1999
Country: Japan
Completed doctoral program (Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences)

Awards

Idemitsu Music Prize (1st)
Organization: Idemitsu Kosan
Result: 受賞
Tokyo Metropolitan 50th Anniversary Orchestral Composition Competition
1993
Organization: Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Result: 第2位
Toru Takemitsu Composition Award
1999
Organization: Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation
Result: 第2位
Hellenikon Idyllion Competition
Result: 第2位
Kaikō Ken Nonfiction Prize
2006
Work: Goodbye, Silent Navy — A Classmate Who Rode the Subway
Organization: Shueisha
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Variation (chamber ensemble)

1982 Contemporary music

An early chamber work from his student years, characterized by experimental variations and ensemble textures.

variationsonic experimentation

A Crucifix in Exile (orchestral)

1992 Orchestral

An orchestral commission for the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, notable for its expansive sonority and dramatic structure.

exilememory

Festina Lente (Make Haste Slowly)

1994 Contemporary music (orchestra / live electronics)

A series combining flute, trumpet, orchestra and live electronics, exploring temporal paradoxes and timbral layering.

timeelectroacoustic

Goodbye, Silent Navy — A Classmate Who Rode the Subway

2006 Nonfiction

A nonfiction work about Toyoda Toru (former Aum adherent), written from the perspective of a friend — combining personal engagement with investigative narrative.

religious crimefriendshipdocumentary literature

Bibliography

  • Goodbye, Silent Navy — A Classmate Who Rode the Subway (Shueisha, 2006)
  • Todai-style Absolute Informatics (Kodansha, 2006)
  • How to Cultivate a 'Todai Brain' (PHP Institute, 2007)
  • Kedamono Damono: America, Trained and Heart-broken (Shueisha, 2007)
  • Using Fools and the University of Tokyo (Asahi Shinsho, 2008)
  • Japan at a Crossroads: Lay Judge System — Emotion and Criminal Trials from the Brain (Yosensha, 2009)
  • Sound Control: Breaking the Rule of the 'Voice' (Kadokawa Gakugei, 2011)
  • The Conductor's Work Techniques (Kobunsha Shinsho, 2011)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Experimental, avant-garde sonic orientationInterdisciplinary and critical writingHybrid of narrative and documentary
Recurring Motifs
voice and silencememory and exiletechnology and the body

Legacy

Known both as a contemporary composer and as an interdisciplinary writer/researcher. His music combines experimental sonorities and electronics, while his writings address social issues and the cognitive and educational aspects of music.

Quotes

  • My co-author was releasing sarin without my knowledge.
    Source: AERA (article by Ken Ito) (2018)

Trivia

  • Wrote a nonfiction book about Toyoda Toru (Aum follower) and won the Kaikō Ken Nonfiction Prize.
  • Faculty member at the University of Tokyo's Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies (has served as associate professor and professor).
  • Has been composing since his student years and published many contemporary works since the 1980s.