Background
Akutagawa Yasushi was born in Tokyo on July 12, 1925. The third son of novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
Akutagawa Yasushi was born in Tokyo on July 12, 1925. The third son of novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
In 1954, when Japan did not have diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union yet, he entered the Soviet Union illegally, and made friends with Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian and Dmitri Kabalevsky. Akutagawa was the only Japanese composer whose works were officially published in the Soviet Union at that time. His 1950 Music for Symphony Orchestra reflects his love of the music of Shostakovich and his debt to the Russian's great film scores. His compositions were influenced by Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Akira Ifukube. He was popular as a master of ceremonies of TV shows as well. As an educator, he devoted himself to train an amateur orchestra, Shin Kokyo Gakudan ("The New Symphony Orchestra"). Almost one year after Akutagawa died.
