Masaru Yokoyama

Masaru Yokoyama, born on November 3, 1982, in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese composer and arranger known for his work on television dramas and anime series. Yokoyama began taking piano lessons at the age of three, developing a serious interest in music during elementary school where he began creating his own compositions. In middle school, he started composing music in earnest using a synthesiser and his computer, and he also briefly played in a band. Yokoyama then attended the National Institute of Technology, Nagano College, where he studied electronic engineering for five years. Influenced by Joe Hisaishi's music in Studio Ghibli films and musician Tetsuya Komuro, Yokoyama decided to pursue a career in music, attending Kunitachi College of Music at nineteen, encouraged by his aunt. During his time in college, he met guitarist Hiroaki Tsutsumi, who would later collaborate with him on numerous projects. After graduating, Yokoyama worked as a freelancer, writing songs for various artists, before joining the music production company Miracle Bus in 2009. He began producing soundtracks for television dramas, anime, and other media, with his first work as a sole composer being for the 2011 television drama series Mitsu no Aji: A Taste of Honey. Yokoyama's career in music took off as he began composing for various anime series, films, and video games, most notably Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso), and Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, which gained him a dedicated following. He also scored the 2019 remake of Fruits Basket, the romantic comedy Horimiya (2021), Aoashi (2022), and Tsurune: The Linking Shot (2023). In 2024, he returned with the soundtrack to Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night, which climbed to number 63 on the Billboard Japan Top 100 Albums chart.