Japanese Literary Awards

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Joji Yuasa

ゆあさ じょうじ

Yuasa Jōji

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1929-08-12 （Kōriyama, Fukushima, Japan）
Died
2024-07-21 （Tokyo, Japan (home)） age 94
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese, English
Residence History
Kōriyama, Fukushima, Japan → Tokyo, Japan (residence and activity) → San Diego, California, USA

Career

Occupations
Composer, Educator, Music writer
Active Years
1951-2024
Affiliations
University of California, San Diego (faculty, emeritus professor), Nihon University College of Art (visiting professor), Tokyo College of Music (visiting professor), Toho Gakuen University (special-appointed professor), International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) — honorary member, Keio University Art Center (visiting fellow)
Memberships
International Society for Contemporary Music (honorary member)
Influenced By
Shūzō Takiguchi, Ichiji Nakata (teacher, briefly), Toru Takemitsu (contemporary collaborator/influence)
Influenced
Mamoru Fujieda, Hiroyuki Ito, Noriko Hisada, Manabu Nakahashi, Julian Yu

Education

Keio University (Faculty of Medicine, liberal arts courses)
Faculty of Medicine (left before graduation)
Period: 1948-1951
Country: Japan
Left medical faculty liberal arts courses to pursue composition

Awards

Berlin International Film Festival — Special Jury Prize
1961
Work: TV work 'Beauty of Japan: Buddhas'
Organization: Berlin International Film Festival
Result: 受賞
Prix Italia
1966
Work: Radio drama 'Comet Ikeya'
Organization: Prix Italia
Result: 受賞
San Marco Golden Lion (film award)
1967
Work: Film 'Mothers'
Organization: San Marco (Golden Lion)
Result: 受賞
Otaka Prize
1973
Work: Chronoplastic
Organization: Otaka Foundation (music)
Result: 受賞
Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival — Grand Prize (radio)
1973
Work: Chronoplastic
Category: ラジオ部門
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan)
Result: 受賞
Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival — Grand Prize (radio)
1983
Work: Perspectography for Orchestra
Category: ラジオ部門
Organization: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan)
Result: 受賞
Otaka Prize
1987
Work: Time Enlightened (for viola and orchestra)
Organization: Otaka Foundation (music)
Result: 受賞
Kyoto Music Award — Grand Prize
1995
Organization: Kyoto Music Award
Result: 受賞
Suntory Music Award
1996
Work: Violin Concerto
Organization: Suntory
Result: 受賞
Order of the Purple Ribbon
1997
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 叙勲受章
Japan Art Academy Prize & Imperial Prize
1999
Organization: Japan Art Academy
Result: 受賞
Japan Academy Prize — Best Music
2000
Work: Film 'Owl's Castle'
Category: 映画音楽
Organization: Japan Academy Prize Association
Result: 受賞
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays
2007
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: 叙勲受章
Person of Cultural Merit
2014
Organization: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)
Result: 顕彰
Otaka Prize
2024
Work: Elegy - for my wife, Reiko -
Organization: Otaka Foundation (music)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Projection for Koto and Orchestra 'Kachōfūgetsu'

1967 Orchestral (contemporary music)

A projection piece combining koto with Western orchestra, merging Japanese timbres with contemporary techniques.

Japanese motifsacoustic spaceprojection

Chronoplastic I

1972 Orchestral / experimental

One of his representative pieces exploring temporal transformation of sound; notable in both recorded and live performance contexts.

temporalitysound transformation

Interoceptive Universe (series)

1957 Piano / contemporary music

A long-running series reflecting his conception of sound as an acoustic-energy body.

acoustic energycosmology

Violin Concerto 'In Memory of Toru Takemitsu'

1996 Concerto

A concerto dedicated to Toru Takemitsu, premiered in 1996 and widely acclaimed (including Suntory Music Award recognition).

memorialEast-West synthesis

Bibliography

  • Life's Midpoint — Toward an Open Horizon of Music. Keio University Press, 1999
  • Contemporary Japanese Music 18: Joji Yuasa. Shunjusha, 2007
  • The Unheard Universe, Adventures in Composition (co-authored with Akira Nishimura). Shunjusha, 2008
  • Neuroscience and Art (co-authored). Kōbōsha, 2008

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Descriptive/spatial approach treating sound as an energy bodyExperimental methods crossing electronic music and traditional instruments
Recurring Motifs
Use of 'Projection' in titlesCosmology (integration of personal, historical, ethnic elements)Quotations or references to haiku/Japanese textures

Health

  • Pneumonia
    2024-07（罹患〜死去）
    Died at home in Tokyo in July 2024 from pneumonia. The illness was a proximate cause of his death and the end of active work.

Legacy

One of postwar Japan's leading contemporary composers. A pioneer in electronic music whose teaching and international work influenced a generation of composers.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Art Academy
  • International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM)

Archives

  • National Diet Library (related materials and recordings)
  • Various music publishers and university archives (manuscripts, scores)

In Popular Culture

  • TV drama themes and scores (e.g., NHK serial 'Ai yori Aoku')
  • Commercial music (Kewpie, Yamaha, Yebisu Beer, etc.)

Quotes

  • For me, music is the spatial and temporal progression of an acoustic-energy body.
    Source: Joji Yuasa, Life's Midpoint — Toward an Open Horizon of Music, 1999 (1999)

Trivia

  • Born into a family of physicians; originally intended to become a surgeon and entered Keio University Medical Faculty but left to pursue composition.
  • An early pioneer of electronic and computer music in Japan, working with UPIC and MUSIC-N systems.
  • 'Subliminal Hey J' is a title combining The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' and his own name Joji.