Kenji Kawai

Kenji Kawai is a Japanese composer, born on April 23, 1957 in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. He grew up listening to folk and pop music under the influence of his father, and started playing the electric guitar in high school and playing in a band. He dropped out of college because he was too absorbed in music, but began taking on composition jobs around that time. In 1986, he composed music for the anime "Mezon Ikkoku," and in 1987, he composed music for the movie "Akai Megane (Red Glasses)," which led to his being commissioned to compose music for "Mobile Police Patlabor" and "Ghost in the Shell," both directed by Mamoru Oshii. He has also been involved in a wide range of animation works, including the "Gundam Series," horror films such as the 1998 film "Ring" and its sequel "Ring 2" (1998) and "From the Bottom of the Dark Water" (2002), special effects works such as "Ultraman Series" and "Kamen Rider Series," and video games such as "Ambition of Nobunaga" and "Samkokuji. In 2008, he composed the music for the animated film "The Sky Crawlers," which won the Best Film Music Award at the 41st Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia. He is widely known as one of the leading soundtrack composers in the world.