# List of Japanese composers

This is a list of Japanese composers, ordered by birth date.

## Shōka, Lied, children's song

* Isawa Shūji (1851–1917)
* Sakunosuke Koyama (1864–1927)
* Teiichi Okano (1878–1941)
* Rentarō Taki (1879–1903)
* Tadashi Yanada (1883–1959)
* Nagayo Motoori (1885–1945)
* Kōsaku Yamada (1886–1965)
* Shinpei Nakayama (1887–1952)
* Ryūtarō Hirota (1892–1952)
* Tamezō Narita (1893–1945)
* Kan'ichi Shimofusa (1898–1962)
* Yūji Koseki (1909–1989)
* Yoshinao Nakada (1923–2000)

## Classical and contemporary

| Name | Birth year | Death year | Prominent works |
| Keiko Abe | 1937 | | |
| Kōmei Abe | 1911 | 2006 | String Quartet No. 7 (1950), Symphony No. 1 (1957) |
| Yasushi Akutagawa | 1925 | 1989 | Trinita Sinfonica (1948), Triptyque for string orchestra (1953), Opera "Orpheus in Hiroshima" (1960), Concerto Ostinato for cello and orchestra (1969) |
| Masamichi Amano | 1957 | | |
| Sadao Bekku | 1922 | 2012 | Symphony No. 1 (1961), Violin Concerto (1969), Viola Concerto (1971) |
| Ikuma Dan | 1924 | 2001 | Opera "Yūzuru" (1952), 6 Symphonies |
| Mamoru Fujieda | 1955 | | |
| Keiko Fujiie | 1963 | | |
| Hiro Fujikake | 1949 | | |
| Dai Fujikura | 1977 | | |
| Shirō Fukai | 1907 | 1959 | Quatre Mouvements Parodiques (1933/36) |
| Kazuko Hara | 1935 | 2014 | |
| Kunihiko Hashimoto | 1904 | 1949 | Symphony No. 1 in D (1940), Symphony No. 2 in F (1947) |
| Fumio Hayasaka | 1914 | 1955 | Ancient Dances on the Left and on the Right (1941), Yukara (1955) |
| Hikaru Hayashi | 1931 | 2012 | Symphony in G (1953), Viola Concerto "Elegia" (1995) |
| Kozaburo Hirai | 1910 | 2002 | |
| Takekuni Hirayoshi | 1936 | 1998 | |
| Ryōhei Hirose | 1930 | 2008 | Cello Concerto "Triste" (1971), Shakuhachi Concerto (1976) |
| Toshio Hosokawa | 1955 | | |
| Toshi Ichiyanagi | 1933 | 2022 | Violin Concerto "Circulating Scenery" (1983), Symphony "Berlin Renshi" (1989) |
| Akira Ifukube | 1914 | 2006 | Ballata Sinfonica (1943), Ritmica Ostinata for piano and orchestra (1961/71), Eclogues after Epos among Aino Races for solo voice and 4 kettle drums (1950) |
| Shin-ichiro Ikebe | 1943 | | Symphony No. 2 "Trias" (1979), Symphony No. 3 "Ego Phano" (1984) |
| Sei Ikeno | 1931 | 2004 | Rapsodia Concertante for violin and orchestra (1983) |
| Tomojirō Ikenouchi | 1906 | 1991 | |
| Yoshirō Irino | 1921 | 1980 | Sinfonietta (1953) |
| Kan Ishii | 1921 | 2009 | Sinfonia Ainu (1959) |
| Maki Ishii | 1936 | 2003 | |
| Mareo Ishiketa | 1916 | 1996 | Sinfonia in fa diesis e do (1965) |
| Noboru Ito | 1903 | 1993 | |
| Kikuko Kanai | 1911 | 1986 | |
| Motoharu Kawashima | 1972 | | |
| Makiko Kinoshita | 1956 | | |
| Michio Kitazume | 1948 | | |
| Yasuji Kiyose | 1900 | 1981 | To Ancient Times for orchestra (1937) |
| Nobu Kōda | 1870 | 1946 | Violin Sonata in E-flat major (1895), Violin Sonata in D minor (1897) |
| Jo Kondo | 1947 | | |
| Hidemaro Konoye | 1898 | 1973 | |
| Yūji Koseki | 1909 | 1989 | |
| Takehisa Kosugi | 1938 | 2018 | |
| Kiyoshige Koyama | 1914 | 2009 | Kobiki-Uta (Woodcutter's Song) for Orchestra (1957), Symphonic Suite "Nohmen" (1959) |
| Kikuko Masumoto | 1937 | | |
| Yoritsune Matsudaira | 1907 | 2001 | Theme and Variations for Piano and Orchestra (1951), U-mai (1957), Sa-mai (1958) |
| Teizo Matsumura | 1929 | 2007 | Achime (1957), Symphony No. 1 (1965), Prélude pour orchestre (1968), 2 Piano Concertos (1973, 1978), Cello Concerto(1984), Opera "Silence" (1993) |
| Toshiro Mayuzumi | 1929 | 1997 | Bacchanale (1954), Tonepleromas 55 (1955), Nirvana Symphony (1958), Mandala Symphony (1960), Bugaku (1962), Opera "The Golden Pavilion" (1976) |
| Minoru Miki | 1930 | 2011 | |
| Shukichi Mitsukuri | 1895 | 1971 | |
| Haruna Miyake | 1942 | | |
| Akira Miyoshi | 1933 | 2013 | Trois mouvements symphoniques (1960), Piano Concerto (1961), Concerto for Orchestra (1964), Violin Concerto (1965), Requiem (1970), Kyômon (1984), Litania pour Fuji (1988) |
| Makoto Moroi | 1930 | 2013 | Piano Concerto No. 1 (1966), Concerto for Shakuhachi and 17 Strings-Koto (1975) |
| Saburō Moroi | 1903 | 1977 | Symphony No. 2 (1938), Violin Concerto (1939), Piano Sonata No. 2 (1939) |
| Jun Nagao | 1964 | | |
| Yoshinao Nakada | 1923 | 2000 | |
| Akira Nishimura | 1953 | 2023 | Kecak for Percussion ensemble (1979), Heterophony for Two Piano and Orchestra (1987), Canticle of Light (1996) |
| Takatomi Nobunaga | 1971 | | |
| Kiyoshi Nobutoki | 1887 | 1965 | Cantata "Kaido-Tosei" (1940) |
| Roh Ogura | 1916 | 1990 | Dance Suite (1953), Symphony in G (1968) |
| Hiroshi Ohguri | 1918 | 1982 | Fantasy on Osaka Folk Tunes (1955) |
| Hisato Ohzawa | 1907 | 1953 | Symphony No. 1 (1934), Piano Concerto No. 3 "Kamikaze" (1938) |
| Atsutada Otaka | 1944 | 2021 | Image for orchestra (1981), Fantasy for organ and orchestra (1999) |
| Hisatada Otaka | 1911 | 1951 | Cello Concerto (1944), Flute Concerto (1948) |
| Shigeaki Saegusa | 1942 | | Radiation Missa (1981) , Opera "Chushingura" (1997) |
| Somei Satoh | 1947 | | |
| Tokichi Setoguchi | 1868 | 1941 | Warship March (1897) |
| Minao Shibata | 1916 | 1996 | |
| Kan'ichi Shimofusa | 1898 | 1962 | |
| Hifumi Shimoyama | 1930 | | |
| Makoto Shinohara | 1931 | | |
| Meiko Shiomi | 1938 | | |
| Isotaro Sugata | 1907 | 1952 | |
| Yoshihisa Taira | 1937 | 2005 | |
| Yūji Takahashi | 1938 | | |
| Saburō Takata | 1913 | 2000 | |
| Toru Takemitsu | 1930 | 1996 | Requiem for String Orchestra (1957), The Dorian Horizon (1966), November Steps (1967), Asterism (1967), A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden (1977), Nostalghia (1987) |
| Rentarō Taki | 1879 | 1903 | Minuet in B minor (1900), "Urami" (1903) |
| Karen Tanaka | 1961 | | |
| Yuzo Toyama | 1931 | 2023 | Rhapsody for Orchestra (1960), Violin concerto No.1 (1963) |
| Kazuo Yamada | 1912 | 1991 | |
| Kōsaku Yamada | 1886 | 1965 | Symphonic Poem "Madara no Hana (Hawthorn flower)" (1913), Sinfonia "Inno Meiji" (1921), Nagauta Symphony (1934) |
| Jun Yamaguchi | 1967 | | |
| Hiroyuki Yamamoto | 1967 | | |
| Akio Yashiro | 1929 | 1976 | Symphony (1958), Cello Concerto (1960), Piano Sonata (1961), Piano Concerto (1967) |
| Akio Yasuraoka | 1958 | | |
| Takashi Yoshimatsu | 1953 | | Threnody to Toki (1980), The Age of Birds (1986), Pleiades Dances (1986–2001) |
| Joji Yuasa | 1929 | | |

## Others

* Yatsuhashi Kengyo (1614–1685)
* Hiromori Hayashi (1831–1896)
* Nakao Tozan (1876–1956)
* Koga Masao (1904–1978)
* Masaru Sato (1928–1999)
* Shunsuke Kikuchi (1931–2021), 20th–21st-century music producer and BGM composer
* Koichi Sugiyama (1931–2021)
* Isao Tomita (1932–2016)
* Takeo Watanabe (1933–1989)
* Yasuo Kuwahara (1946–2003)
* Joe Hisaishi (born 1950), 20th–21st century film composer
* Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952–2023)
* Yoko Noge (born 1957)
* Shirō Sagisu (born 1957)
* Yoichiro Yoshikawa (born 1957), 20th–21st century music producer and composer
* Jun Miyake (born 1958)
* Nobuo Uematsu (born 1959), 20th–21st century musician and video game composer
* Akira Senju (born 1960)
* Koji Kondo (born 1961), 20th–21st century video game composer
* Michiru Oshima (born 1961), 20th–21st century film, television and video game composer
* Michiru Yamane (born 1963), 20th–21st century video game composer
* Hikari Ōe (born 1963)
* Shinkichi Mitsumune (born 1963)
* Yoko Kanno (born 1963), 20th–21st century music producer and composer
* Yuki Kajiura (born 1965), 20th–21st century music producer and composer
* Taro Iwashiro (born 1965)
* Yoshiki Hayashi (born 1965), 20th–21st century music producer and composer
* Yoko Shimomura (born 1967), 20th–21st century music pianist and video game composer
* Yasunori Mitsuda (born 1972)
* Hiroyuki Sawano (born 1980), 20th–21st century animation, film, television and video game composer