Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra
Wakasugi was born in Tokyo. His father, Kaname, served as the Japanese Consul-General in New York City, assisting Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura. In his teenage years Wakasugi worked as a répétiteur for the Tokyo Nikikai Opera. Nevertheless, he attended the Faculty of Economics at Keio University, but soon dropped out to study music with Hideo Saito and Nobori Kaneko at the Tokyo University of the Arts. After graduation he was appointed researching conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. From 1965 he led and developed the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, now one of the leading orchestras in Japan. For leading the Japanese premiere of Penderecki's "St. Luke Passion", Wakasugi was awarded the National Arts Festival Prize by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1968. He established the Tokyo Chamber Opera Theatre in 1969 and remained its artistic director for the rest of his life.