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Schott Journal Explores The Sound of Japan

Oct. 30, 2026

The Schott Journal's recent edition, The Sound of Japan, highlights the tremendous diversity and depth of music by Japanese composers, from Toru Takemitsu and Joji Yuasa, to Toshio Hosokawa, Noriko Koide, Osamu Kawakami, Atsuhiko Gondai, and others.

Yuki Yokota, President of Schott Music Tokyo notes:

"Around the age of 20, Joji Yuasa attended a premiere of a new work by Toru Takemitsu. Deeply moved by the music, he visited Takemitsu backstage, marking a fateful encounter. Both were active members of Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop), an innovative interdisciplinary arts collective of visual artists and musicians. While sharing a deep interest in Japanese and Eastern aesthetics, each pursued his own unique path. Takemitsu sought silence in sound and the beauty of sensuous sonorities, whereas Yuasa pursued music as an expression of cosmology and unheard sounds; together, they profoundly influenced Japanese avant-garde music. The year 2029 marks the centenary of Yuasa’s birth, followed by Takemitsu’s centenary in 2030, when Toshio Hosokawa will also turn 75. Deeply influenced by both masters, Hosokawa represents the next generation and is now active on the global stage. In this issue, we introduce our Japanese composers with some of their key works." 


Kent Nagano conducts Ensemble InterContemporain in a performance of Joji Yuasa's Nine Levels by Ze-Ami


An introduction to Toshio Hosokawa's Natasha | New National Theatre Tokyo

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