Koichi Sugiyama
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person
Template:Nihongo was a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was best known for composing for the Dragon Quest franchise, along with several other video games, anime, film, television shows, and pop songs. Classically trained, Sugiyama was considered a major inspiration for other Japanese game music composers and was active from the 1960s until his death in 2021.
Sugiyama was also a council member of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers (JASRAC), board member of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society. Prior to his death, the Japanese government honored him with Order of the Rising Sun and named him a Person of Cultural Merit. Sugiyama was also active in politics and activism, promoting ideas such as Japanese nationalism while denying Japanese war crimes.
Career
Early life and television career
Sugiyama was born in Tokyo, Japan, on April 11, 1931.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While growing up, Sugiyama's home was filled with music, which ultimately inspired his passion. In high school, he began to write various small musical works.<ref name="JC">Template:Cite web</ref> He attended the University of Tokyo and graduated with full honors in 1956. He then went into the reporting and entertainment sections of Nippon Cultural Broadcasting.<ref name="JC"/> He joined Fuji TV as a director in 1958.<ref name="JC"/> He left the station in 1965 to become a freelance director but had begun concentrating solely on musical composition and orchestration by 1968.<ref name="JC"/>
From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Sugiyama composed for several musicals, commercials, kayōkyoku pop artists, animated movies, and television shows, such as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Movie, The Sea Prince and the Fire Child, and Cyborg 009. He also assisted Riichiro Manabe with the composition for Godzilla vs. Hedorah, composing the record single of the soundtrack and conducting for some of the tracks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sugiyama also wrote the 1976 single Heart Dorobō for the Japanese pop trio Candies.
In a little known foray for Matsushita Electric, Sugiyama composed, arranged & conducted a track called Disco Check, for the fourth volume of Technics '80 Audio Inspection records,<ref>2NP-2019 - Technics '80 Audio Inspection Vol. 4</ref> performed with 24 instruments by the Nova Studio Group. With these records not being for sale, this astonishing & innovative piece has probably rarely been heard outside the Technics dealers they were intended for, though copies do sometimes turn up second hand online.
Dragon Quest and other video games
Sugiyama's first contact with Enix was by a fan letter he wrote them regarding a PC shogi game in the early 1980s. After Enix's staff overcame the shock of receiving a handwritten postcard from a celebrity of Sugiyama's stature, they were so impressed by his depth of knowledge and appreciation of games that they decided to ask Sugiyama to create music for their games. Sugiyama started composing for the PC-8801, and was working for Enix at the time. His first project with the company was the 1986 game Wing-Man 2: Kītakurā no Fukkatsu. Later that year, he composed for his first major project, Dragon Quest.<ref name=opening>Template:Cite web</ref> His classical score for the game was considered revolutionary for console video game music.<ref name="1up_dw">Template:Cite web</ref>
Sugiyama was one of the first video game composers to record with a live orchestra.<ref>Template:Cite episode (Translatedby Shmuplations. on 2020-01-20. Retrieved on 2023-03-15)</ref> In 1986, the CD, Dragon Quest Suite, was released, utilizing the Tokyo Strings Ensemble to interpret Sugiyama's melodies. The soundtrack's eight melodies (Opening, Castle, Town, Field, Dungeon, Battle, Final Battle, and Ending) set the template for most role-playing video game soundtracks released since then, many of which have been organized in a similar manner.<ref name=melodies>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1987, he composed for Dragon Quest II. Music from the first two Dragon Quest games was performed at one of the first game music concerts, "Family Classic Concert". It was arranged and conducted by Sugiyama himself and was performed by the Tokyo Strings Ensemble on August 20, 1987, at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. "Dragon Quest I Symphonic Suite" and "Dragon Quest II Symphonic Suite" were performed.<ref name="HC">Template:Cite web</ref> He subsequently held the "Family Classic Concerts" annually in Japan until 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
From 1987 to 1990, Sugiyama continued to compose for various other Enix games. In 1991, he introduced a series of video game music concerts, five in all, called the Orchestral Game Concerts, which were performed by the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The performances included music from over eighteen different video game composers, such as Koji Kondo, Yoko Kanno, Nobuo Uematsu, Keiichi Suzuki, as well as Sugiyama himself. These concerts were held from 1991 to 1996; during this time, Sugiyama composed for other video games and arranged for some of them to be performed in the Orchestral Game Concerts. He served as a sound producer on 1991's Master of Monsters, composed by Hayato Matsuo.
In September 1995, Sugiyama composed the Dragon Quest Ballet. It premiered in 1996, and has since been performed regularly over the years by the Star Dancers Ballet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During those years, he also released several Dragon Quest Symphonic Suites. In late 2004, he finished and released the Dragon Quest VIII soundtrack. In 2005, Sugiyama was holding a series of concerts in Japan with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with music from Dragon Quest VIII, as well as his classic compositions from the past.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2005, his music from Dragon Quest was performed live at the European Symphonic Game Music Concert, marking the first time that his music was performed by a live symphonic concert outside of Japan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sugiyama later composed the score to Dragon Quest X and XI.<ref name="DQXSugiyama"/><ref name=eleven/> A television drama played by actor Ken Yasuda detailing Sugiyama's involvement with Dragon Quest aired on Nippon TV on August 27, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Throughout his work Sugiyama repeatedly used motifs to maintain a consistency and nostalgic quality in the different installments. Each of the Dragon Quest games that he worked on included a nearly identical, upbeat theme track titled "Overture". Sugiyama composed more than 500 pieces of music in the 35 years he was involved in the Dragon Quest franchise.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sugiyama's style of composition has been compared to late Baroque and early Classical period styles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Earlier on in his career, Sugiyama said that his process for making music for games was based on seeing initial drafts on its setting and story.<ref>Template:Cite book (Translated by Shmuplations. Archived on 2022-01-22. Retrieved on 2023-03-14)</ref>
Sugiyama's related hobbies included photography, traveling, building model ships, collecting old cameras, and reading.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has opened a camera section on his website,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and also founded his own record label, SUGI Label, in June 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sugiyama also composed the fanfares for the opening and closing of the gates at the Tokyo and Nakayama Racecourses. He was given the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, by the Japanese government in 2018 before also being named a Person of Cultural Merit by them two years later.<ref name="Award">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sugiyama died from septic shock at the age of 90 on September 30, 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Political activities and beliefs
Template:Conservatism in Japan Sugiyama engaged in Nanjing Massacre denial, stating that the facts regarding it were "selective" in nature. He was one of the signatories on "The Facts", a full-page ad published by The Washington Post on June 14, 2007, that was written by a number of Japanese politicians and academics in response to the passing of United States House of Representatives House Resolution 121, which sought an official apology from the Government of Japan regarding their involvement of using comfort women, sexual slaves used by Japanese soldiers during World War II.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sugiyama was also a board member of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2012, Sugiyama wrote an editorial saying that he thought Japan was in a state of "civil war between Japanese and anti-Japanese". Giving examples, he argued that the Japanese media portrayed acts of patriotism negatively, such as performing the National Anthem of Japan or raising the Japanese flag. He further thought that the demands of the Japanese anti-nuclear movement to immediately dismantle all nuclear energy facilities without offering any alternative solutions would affect the country's ability to defend itself.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2015, Sugiyama made an appearance on the Japanese Culture Channel Sakura television program Hi Izuru Kuni Yori where he was shown agreeing with views shared by Japanese politician Mio Sugita who said there was no need for LGBT education in Japanese schools, as well as dismissing concerns about high suicide rates among the community. Sugiyama added that the lack of children born from LGBT couples was an important topic to discuss, also suggesting that Japan was more empowering to women than South Korea.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He later made a statement seemingly indicating greater acceptance by saying that LGBT couples have existed throughout human history and he supported the use of governments to occasionally help them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notable works
Video games
Works primarily featuring re-used compositions are omitted.
Film and television
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Skyers 5 | Opening theme | <ref name=origins/> |
| 1971 | Return of Ultraman | Opening theme, "MAT Team no Uta", "Kaiju Ondo" | <ref name=ultraman>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Godzilla vs Hedorah | "Defeat Hedorah" | <ref name=hedorah>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| 1975 | Kum-Kum | Opening and ending themes | <ref name=origins/> |
| 1976 | Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi | "Watashi O Yobu No Wa Dare", "Memoir" | <ref name="manga">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1978 | Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Movie | Music | <ref name=origins/> |
| Gatchaman II | Music | <ref name=gatchaman>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| 1979 | Cyborg 009 | Music | <ref name=origins/> |
| 1980 | Space Runaway Ideon | Music | <ref name="origins" /> |
| Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy | Music | <ref name=galaxy>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| 1981 | The Sea Prince and the Fire Child | Music | <ref name=origins/> |
| 1982 | The Ideon: A Contact | Music | <ref name=origins/> |
| The Ideon: Be Invoked | Music | <ref name=origins/> | |
| 1983 | The Yearling | Music | <ref name=origins/> |
| 1989 | Godzilla vs. Biollante | Music | <ref name=origins/> |
| 1991 | Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai | Music | <ref name="origins" /> |
| Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - The Great Adventure of Dai | Music | <ref name="TAE1">Template:Cite book</ref> | |
| 1992 | Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - Avan's Disciples | Music | <ref name="TAE1"/> |
| Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - Six Great Generals | Music | <ref name="TAE1"/> | |
| 1994 | Magic Knight Rayearth | "Setsunakute" | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2019 | Dragon Quest: Your Story | Music | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
References
Template:Notelist Template:Reflist
External links
- 1931 births
- 2021 deaths
- 20th-century Japanese classical composers
- 20th-century Japanese classical pianists
- 20th-century Japanese conductors (music)
- 20th-century Japanese male musicians
- 21st-century Japanese classical composers
- 21st-century Japanese classical pianists
- 21st-century Japanese conductors (music)
- 21st-century Japanese male musicians
- Activists from Tokyo
- Anime composers
- Anti-Korean sentiment in Japan
- Composers from Tokyo
- Conservatism in Japan
- Japanese contemporary classical composers
- Japanese film score composers
- Japanese historical negationists
- Japanese male classical composers
- Japanese male classical pianists
- Japanese male conductors (music)
- Japanese male film score composers
- Japanese male television composers
- Japanese music arrangers
- Japanese nationalists
- Japanese television composers
- Japanese video game composers
- Nanjing Massacre deniers
- Orchestrators
- Persons of Cultural Merit
- Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class
- University of Tokyo alumni