Kitarō

The recorded working language is Japanese. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are new age music, ambient music and electronica. Distinctions recorded are Grammy Award for Best New Age Album, Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Score.

Masanori Takahashi was born in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan, and is a graduate of Toyohashi Commercial High School. Kitarō, which is his boyhood name meaning "man of love and joy", a practicing Buddhist himself, was born in a family of Shinto-Buddhist farmers. After graduating his parents were first opposed to the idea of their son having a musical career. In an effort to maneuver him towards their vision, they made arrangements for him to take a job at a local company. In response, he silently did not show up for the job, eventually convincing them that he should work on something he loved. In high school Kitaro played electric guitar in a band that played American rhythm and blues of Otis Redding and covers by The Beatles. After graduating, and learning to play drums and bass, Kitaro moved to Tokyo to experience and become a part of the music scene, and it was there that he discovered the synthesizer. His first synthesizer was analog, and he recalls having "just loved the analog sound that it made compared to today's digital sound". In the early 1970s, he changed completely to keyboard and joined the Japanese progressive rock band Far East Family Band and recorded four albums with them. While in Japan and Europe in 1975, he met the German electronica and former Tangerine Dream member Klaus Schulze. Schulze produced two albums for the band and gave Kitaro some tips for controlling synthesizers. In 1976, Kitaro left Far East Family Band and travelled through Asia (China, Laos, Thailand, India).

Back in Japan, Kitaro started his solo career in 1977. The first two albums Ten Kai and Daichi were released in 1978 and 1979. He performed his first symphonic concert at the "Small Hall" of the Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

The Silk Road: The Rise And Fall Of Civilizations is an NHK Tokushu documentary series that first aired on 7 April 1980, with sequels being broadcast over a 10-year period. It took a total of 17 years from conception to complete what many consider a landmark in Japan's broadcasting television history. The intention of the program was to reveal how ancient Japan was influenced by the Silk Road trade route. The documentary was narrated by Ishizaka Koji with music composed by Kitaro, who insisted that the show be broadcast in stereo. The music was composed mainly using a Minimoog, miniKORG 700, and Maxikorg DV800. The score received a Galaxy Award, and the series of soundtracks sold millions of copies. The success created from the program brought Kitaro international attention.

In 1984, Kitaro embarked on a "Live in Asia" tour. Notably, he was forced to cancel a leg in Singapore because he had long hair and at that time the country had a policy banning it. He entered into a worldwide distribution arrangement with Geffen Records in 1985–1986. This included a re-releasing of six prior albums entitled Ten Kai (aka Astral Voyage), Daichi (aka Full Moon Story), Millennia, India, Silver Cloud and Live in Asia (aka Asia) (each packaged with Japanesque obi strips) as well as a new album, aptly titled Toward the West. Due to his combination of electronic and acoustic sounds, mellow music, and repeating chords which resembled the umbrella New age music category in the United States and Europe, his music was labeled as "new age". While he is not comfortable with the term, it doesn't mean much to him: "Whether people say my music is new age or not, it's OK with me. I'm just going to keep calling it Kitaro's music". On his music he noted that his outlook on life, study of philosophy, and responsibility to create music which has a good influence on society, influence his musical creation. In 1987, he collaborated with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead for the album The Light of the Spirit (which sold two million copies) and in 1992 with Jon Anderson (Yes) for the album Dream. In 1988, his record sales soared to 10 million worldwide following a successful US tour. He was nominated three times for Grammy Award for Best New Age Album during his tenure at Geffen Records. In 1990 the studio album Kojiki was released, inspired by the Japanese 8th century chronicle Kojiki; the album reached #159 on Billboard 200, and #1 on Billboard New Age chart. His soundtrack for the movie Heaven & Earth (1993) won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. Kitaro also produced an album Scenes (1992) released by Shrapnel Records with former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman.

Since his 1994 debut for Domo Records, and the Grammy-nominated Mandala, Kitaro has released 24 studio albums. Among them, the live An Enchanted Evening (1995), Gaia-Onbashira (1998), and Ancient (2001) were all Grammy nominated. In 1999, Thinking of You won the Grammy for Best New Age Album. Kitaro and Randy Miller's soundtrack album The Soong Sisters (2000) received Best Original Music Award from the Hong Kong Film Award (1998), as well as the Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival and Award (1997).

Kitaro's music has long been recognized for its messages of peace and spirituality. In the wake of 9/11 the artist began to record the conceptual endeavor, which he envisioned as an artistic means to help unify people globally, Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai (2003). This was a series of peace-themed albums inspired by the Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage - the travel of Kūkai more than 1100 years ago. The four volumes in the album series were released in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2011, respectively. Every track on the 4 volumes of Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai contains samples from ancient Japanese temple bells (Peace Bells) from 88 sacred temples on the island of Shikoku, Japan.

In 2007, Kitaro composed the music for Impression West Lake, a large-scale opera, directed by the renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou. The opera reflects Hangzhou city's history and culture through music and dance. Using modern technology, the stage is 75 centimeters below the lake's surface during the day so as not to affect the landscape and boating activities. In the evening, the stage is a few centimeters below the lake's surface so actors can walk and perform freely over a surprising water mirror that compose with the lights and colors. The one-hour event had its opening night in March 2007. In 2009, Domo Records released the original soundtrack album Impressions of the West Lake which was nominated for the Grammy in Best New Age Album category.

Kitaro's latest studio album is Final Call, which is a homage to Kitaro's lifetime reverence for nature and was released in September 2013. A year later, in September 2014, his latest live album Symphony Live in Istanbul was released. It was recorded live at the Halic Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey during Kitaro's Symphonic World Tour, balancing the artist's trademark signature sound and expanding it to new heights with the addition of a 38-piece chamber symphony orchestra. Both Final Call and Symphony Live in Istanbul were nominated for Best New Age Album, becoming Kitaro's 15th and 16th career Grammy Award nominations. More recently he has reissued his critically acclaimed studio albums Kojiki in 2015 and Tenku in 2016.

From around 1983 to 1990, Kitarō was married to Yuki Taoka, daughter of Kazuo Taoka. They have a son. In the early 1990s, he moved from Japan to the United States. In the mid-1990s, he married Keiko Matsubara, a musician who played on several of his albums. Along with Keiko's son, the couple lived in Ward, Colorado, on a 180-acre (72.85 hectare) spread and composed in his 2500-square-foot (230 m2) home studio "Mochi House" (it is large enough to hold a 70-piece orchestra). Around 2005, they relocated to Sebastopol, California. Kitaro subsequently divorced Keiko (she was visibly absent from the performances during 2020-2021 period). On 24 February 2022, he married Brazil-born, ethnically Japanese artist Franci Shimomaebara in a private ceremony attended by friends and relatives. They had met in 1990, and after becoming friends worked together on The Wind, which was featured on Kitarō's Grammy-nominated 2003 album, Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai, Volume 1. In 2012 they collaborated on the album Symphony of my Dreams where Franci recorded vocal renditions of some of Kitarō's famous pieces, including Silk Road.

1986: "Japan Tour" (17 cities) 1987: "1st North American Tour" (24 cities, 26 shows) 1989: "1st Europe Tour" (15 cities, 16 shows) 1990: "Kojiki World Tour" U.S., Japan, Europe (39 cities, 41 shows) 1992: "Dream World Tour" U.S., Japan, Asia 1992: "Her Majestry Queen" Sirikit Birthday Anniversary Concert, in Bangkok, Thailand 1994: "The Kitaro Mandala World Tour" Latin America Tour (4 cities, 6 shows) 1994: "The Kitaro Mandala World Tour" The USA Tour (32 shows) 1995: "Southeast Asia tour" (4 cities, 9 shows) 1995: "Kitaro Enchanted Evening Tour" (22 cities, 22 shows) 1997: "Kitaro's Peace on Earth Holiday Tour" in USA (5 cities, 5 shows) 1998: "Europe Tour" (13 cities) 1999: "Kitaro 1999 New Millennium World Tour in USA" (21cities) 1999: "Kitaro 1999 New Millennium World Tour in South America" 2000: "Kitaro Asia 2000" in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong 2002: "The Silk Road Tour in USA" (6 cities) 2002: "The concert for 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and China" in China (2 cities) 2004: "Asia Tour 2004" (7 cities, 8 shows) 2007: "Love & Peace World Tour 2007" in Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand 2008: "Love & Peace World Tour 2008" in Athens 2009: "Love & Peace Planet Music Tour 2009" in Malaysia, Singapore, India, Japan, Hong Kong 2009: "31st Harmony Festival" in Santa Rosa, California 2009: "Silk Road Arts Festival" in Hong Kong, China 2010: "Love & Peace Planet Music Tour 2010" in Singapore 2010: "Zacatecas Cultural Festival" in Mexico 2010: "Opening Ceremony for 32nd Harmony Festival" in Santa Rosa, California 2010: "Opening Event of Daming Palace National Heritage Park" in Xi'an, China 2010: "Thousand Drums Event at COP10 for Convention on Biological Diversity" in Aichi, Japan 2010: "Asian Art Museum" in San Francisco, California 2011: "Silk Road East & West Tour" in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Singapore and Malaysia 2011: "Closing Ceremony for 33rd Harmony Festival" in Santa Rosa, California 2011: "Opening Ceremony for Musicians United For Safe Energy (MUSE) Benefit Concert" in Mountain View, California 2012: "Festival International Farosor 2012" in Montevideo, Uruguay 2014: "Symphonic World Tour|Symphonic World Tour 2014"