Kenji Kawai

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Kenji Kawai 川井 憲次
Kawai in 2007
Background information
Also known as	Kaai (かーいさん, Kāi-san)
Born	(1957-04-23) April 23, 1957 (age 64) Shinagawa, Japan
Genres	Film score Electronic music Instrumental music
Occupation(s)	Composer, arranger
Instruments	Guitar, keyboard, drums, multi instruments
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	Mamoru Oshii
Website	Kenji Kawai Official Site

Kenji Kawai (川井 憲次, Kawai Kenji, born April 23, 1957) is a Japanese music composer and arranger. Known as one of the biggest names in the soundtrack world, he has worked on a wide range of mixed media productions, including anime, TV shows, films and video games.^[1] Among his credits are Toei's Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever, Tsui Hark's Seven Swords and Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon; Wilson Yip's Ip Man; Mamoru Oshii's films The Red Spectacles, StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops, Ghost in the Shell, Mobile Police Patlabor and Avalon; the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku; the live-action adaptation of Gantz and Hideo Nakata's films Ring, Ring 2, Chaos, Dark Water and Kaidan.

His nephew, Hidehiro Kawai, is a bassist in Fox Capture Plan, an instrumental band.

Career[]

After dropping out of a nuclear engineering program at Tokai University, Kawai began studying music at Shobi Music Academy. However, he dropped out after half a year. With a few friends, he created the band Muse, playing fusion rock and participating in music competitions. Through competing in such contests, the band members became technically competent to enter the music industry and decided to part ways.^[2]

After leaving Muse, Kawai began composing music for commercials in his home studio. While recording music for radio actor and voice actor Yūji Mitsuya, he met music director Naoko Asari, who advised him to compose anime soundtracks. Some of his work for anime soundtracks can be found in Ranma ½ and Ghost in the Shell. According to Kawai, he is not good at creating music from nothing, as he draws sounds from the visuals of the works. In the majority of cases, the images of the anime are not yet created, so he creates music when referencing storyboard visuals.^[3]

Following his success as an anime movies music composer, he became involved in live action movies. He contributed music to horror films: Ring, Ring 2, Dark Water, Japanese-Polish science-fiction film Avalon, the Hong Kong film Seven Swords and in the 2017 live action film Death Note.

Kawai has worked on several projects with director Mamoru Oshii (both Headgear members) and has written scores for all of the Hideo Nakata's films. The most recent film featuring his music is 2009's Assault Girls by director Oshii. Kawai's music has received the Annie Award and Hong Kong Film Award. In 2005, for Innocence: Kôkaku kidôtai (Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence) he was nominated for an Annie Award.

For the music found in Seven Swords and A Battle of Wits he was nominated for Best Original Film Score Awards at both the 25th and 26th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2006 and 2007.

Works[]

Anime/television[]

Film[]

Video games[]

Documentary[]

Awards and honors[]

• Asteroid 117582 Kenjikawai, discovered by Roy A. Tucker in 2005, was named in his honor.^[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on January 9, 2020 (M.P.C. 120069).^[6]

See also[]

• Anime
• Cinema of Japan
• Hideo Nakata
• Japanese horror
• Mamoru Oshii

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kenji Kawai.

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Kenji Kawai at IMDb
• Kenji Kawai at Media Arts Database (in Japanese)
• Video on YouTube