Koichi Sugiyama

Koichi Sugiyama (すぎやま こういち, Sugiyama Kōichi, born April 11, 1931) is a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. Sugiyama is known for composing the music for the Dragon Quest video game series, along with several other games, anime, film, and television shows. A classically trained conductor, Sugiyama is considered a major inspiration for other Japanese game music composers, such as Nobuo Uematsu, who cited him as the "big boss of game music".[1] He is also a council member of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers (JASRAC), board member of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society.

For the Japanese footballer and coach, see Koichi Sugiyama (footballer).

Koichi Sugiyama
すぎやま こういち
Background information
Birth name椙山 浩一
Born (1931-04-11) April 11, 1931
Tokyo, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • arranger
  • conductor
  • orchestrator
Years active1958–present
LabelsSUGIlabel
Associated actsHayato Matsuo
WebsiteSugimania

Career

Early life and television career

Sugiyama was born in Tokyo, Japan. While growing up, Sugiyama's home was filled with music, which ultimately inspired his passion. In high school, he began to recognize his passion, and wrote various small musical works.[2]

After graduating from the University of Tokyo with full honours in 1958, he went into the reporting and entertainment sections of cultural broadcasting.[2] In addition, he joined Fuji TV as a director. In 1965, he left the station as a freelance director, and in 1968, he quit directing and concentrated solely on musical composition and orchestration.[2]

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sugiyama composed for musicals, commercials, pop artists, and for animated movies and television shows, such as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Movie, The Sea Prince and the Fire Child, and Cyborg 009. He also assisted Riichiro Manabe with the composition for Godzilla vs. Hedorah, composing the record single of the soundtrack, and conducting for some of the tracks.

Video games and Dragon Quest

Sugiyama's first contact with Enix was by a fan letter he wrote them regarding a PC shogi game in the early 1980s. After Enix's staff overcame the shock of receiving a handwritten postcard from a celebrity of Sugiyama's stature, they were so impressed by his depth of knowledge and appreciation of games that they decided to ask Sugiyama to create music for their games.

Sugiyama started composing for the PC-8801, and was working for Enix at the time. His first project with Enix was the 1985 game World Golf. In 1986, he composed for his first major project, Dragon Quest, for the Famicom. Dragon Quest would become the series he was most known for. Sugiyama says it took him five minutes to compose the original opening theme.[3] His classical score for the game was considered revolutionary for console video game music.[4]

Sugiyama was the first video game composer to record his video game music with a live orchestra. In 1986, the CD, Dragon Quest I Symphonic Suite, was released, utilizing the London Philharmonic Orchestra to interpret Sugiyama's melodies. The soundtrack's eight melodies (Opening, Castle, Town, Field, Dungeon, Battle, Final Battle, and Ending) set the template for most role-playing video game soundtracks released since then, hundreds of which have been organized in a similar manner.[5]

In 1987, he composed for Dragon Quest II, and then held the very first video game music concert in history. "Family Classic Concert" was arranged and conducted by Sugiyama himself. It was performed by the Tokyo String Music Combination Playing Group on August 20, 1987 at Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan. "Dragon Quest I Symphonic Suite" and "Dragon Quest II Symphonic Suite" were performed.[6] The "Family Classic Concerts" have always had excellent turn outs; since then, Sugiyama has held over eighteen of them all across Japan.[7]

From 1987 to 1990, Sugiyama continued to compose for various other Enix games. In 1991, he introduced a series of video game music concerts, five in all, called the Orchestral Game Concerts, which were performed by the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.[8] The performances included over eighteen different video game composers, such as Koji Kondo, Yoko Kanno, Nobuo Uematsu, Keiichi Suzuki, as well as Sugiyama himself. These concerts were held from 1991 to 1996; during this time, Sugiyama composed for other video games and arranged for some of them to be performed in the Orchestral Game Concerts.

In September 1995, Sugiyama composed the Dragon Quest Ballet. It premiered in 1996, and returned in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2002.[2] During those years, he also released the Symphonic Suites for the Dragon Quest games he had worked on thus far. In late 2004, he finished and released the Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King soundtrack, and conducted the Dragon Quest VIII Symphonic Suite in 2005.

In 2005, Sugiyama was holding a series of concerts in Japan with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with music from Dragon Quest VIII, as well as his classic compositions from the past.[9] In August 2005, his music from Dragon Quest was performed live at the European Symphonic Game Music Concert. There, for the first time, his music was presented in a live symphonic concert outside Japan.[10] Sugiyama returned once again to compose the music for Dragon Quest X, and its expansions Nemureru Yuusha to Michibiki no Meiyuu Online and Inishie no Ryuu no Denshou Online.

Sugiyama's non-work related hobbies include photography, traveling, building model ships,[11] collecting old cameras, and reading. He has opened a camera section on his website,[12] and he also has his own record label "SUGI Label" which he started on June 23, 2004.[13] Sugiyama also has completed other projects, such as the fanfares for the opening and closing of the gates in the Tokyo Race Track and the Nakayama Race Track.

Style

Throughout Sugiyama's works, motifs repeat themselves to maintain a consistency and nostalgic quality in the different installments. This is especially true for the Dragon Quest series. Each of the games include a nearly identical, upbeat theme song titled "Overture." In addition, Dragon Quest III-IX include a simple, casual tune on the saved game selection screen titled "Intermezzo." Sugiyama's style of composition has been compared to late Baroque and early Classical period styles.

Political activities and controversy

Sugiyama is a Nanjing Massacre denialist, stating that the facts regarding it are "selective in nature". He was one of the signatories on "The Facts", a full-page ad published by the Washington Post on June 14, 2007, which was written by a number of Japanese politicians and academics in response to the passing of United States House of Representatives House Resolution 121, which sought an official apology from the Government of Japan regarding their involvement of using "comfort women", which were women who were used as sexual slaves by Japanese soldiers during World War II.[14][15][16]

In 2012, Sugiyama wrote an editorial where he thought that Japan was in a state of "civil war between Japanese and anti-Japanese". Giving examples, he argued that the Japanese media portrayed acts of patriotism negatively, such as performing the National Anthem of Japan or raising the Japanese flag. In addition, he thought that the demands of the Japanese anti-nuclear movement, which grew following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011, to immediately dismantle all nuclear energy facilities without offering any alternate solutions damaged the country's ability to defend itself.[17]

In 2015, Sugiyama made an appearance on the Japanese Culture Channel Sakura television program Hi Izuru Kuni Yori, in which he was shown agreeing with views shared by Japanese politician Mio Sugita who claimed there was no need for LGBT education in Japanese schools, as well as dismissing concerns about high suicide rates among the community. Sugiyama added that the lack of children born from homosexual couples was an important topic to discuss, also suggesting that Japan was more empowering to women than South Korea.[18][19]

He is also a board member of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals.[20]

Works

Film and television
YearTitle Ref.
1967Skyers 5[lower-alpha 1] [21]
1971The Return for Ultraman[lower-alpha 1] [21]
1976Machine Hayabusa[lower-alpha 1] [21]
1978Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Movie [21]
1979Cyborg 009 [21]
Jigoku no Mushi [22]
1980Space Runaway Ideon [21]
Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy [23]
1981The Sea Prince and the Fire Child [21]
1983The Yearling [21]
1989Godzilla vs. Biollante [21]
1991Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai [21]
1992Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken Tachiagare!! Aban no Shito
Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken Buchiya bure!! Shinsei Rokudai Shoguo
2019Dragon Quest: Your Story[24]

Video games
YearTitle Ref.
1985World Golf [25]
1986Wingman 2[3]
Dragon Quest[3]
1987Dragon Quest II[26]
Jesus: Kyōfu no Bio Monster [21]
Gandhara: Buddha no Seisen [21]
Animal Land Satsujin Jiken [27]
World Golf II [27]
Wingman Special: Saraba Yume Senshi [27]
1988Dragon Quest III[26]
1989Angelus: The Gospel on Evil [21]
Star Command: Kurayami no Shinryakusha [21]
1990Dragon Quest IV[28]
46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron [29]
World Golf III [27]
1991Akagawa Jirou no Yuurei Ressha [21]
Jesus 2 [21]
Tetris 2 & BomBliss [21]
1992Dragon Quest V[26]
Hanjyuku Hero: Aah Sekai yo Hanjuku Nare [21]
E.V.O.: Search for Eden [21]
1993Monopoly [21]
Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon [21]
1995Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer [21]
Dragon Quest VI[26]
1998Dragon Quest Monsters [27]
1999Torneko: The Last Hope [21]
2000Dragon Quest VII[30]
Shiren the Wanderer 2 [21]
2001Dragon Quest Monsters 2 [27]
Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibouken 2 Advance [27]
2002 Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibouken 3 [27]
2003Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest [27]
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart [27]
2004Dragon Quest VIII[31]
2005Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime [27]
2006Dragon Quest: Shounen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon[lower-alpha 2] [27]
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker [27]
2009Dragon Quest Wars [32]
Dragon Quest IX[33]
2010Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2
2011Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3
2012Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D
Dragon Quest X[34]
2014Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru and Luca's Marvelous Mysterious Key
2015Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below [35]
2016Dragon Quest Builders [36]
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 [37]
Dragon Quest Heroes II [38]
2017Dragon Quest XI[39]
2018Dragon Quest Builders 2 [40]
2020Dragon Quest Tact[41]

Footnotes

Notes
  1. Opening theme only
  2. Co-composed with Hayato Matsuo

References
  1. Eric Steffens (February 1999). "Nobuo Uematsu interview". Archived from the original on April 24, 2012.
  2. "Koichi Sugiyama's Official Profile". Archived from the original on May 16, 2011.
  3. Gifford, Kevin (February 24, 2010). "Dragon Quest Composer Reflects on 24 Years of Games: Kouichi Sugiyama on Japan's most recognized game music". 1up. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
  4. Gifford, Kevin. "The Essential 50 Part 20 – Dragon Warrior". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  5. Patrick Gann. "The "Eight Melodies" Template: How Sugiyama Shaped RPG Soundtracks". RPGFan. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  6. "Koichi Sugiyama's Official Concert index". Archived from the original on August 20, 2006.
  7. "Koichi Sugiyama's Official Family Classic Concerts Listing". Archived from the original on November 25, 2016.
  8. "Unofficial Koichi Sugiyama Biography". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009.
  9. "Koichi Sugiyama's Official Concert announcement page". Archived from the original on September 20, 2006.
  10. "Symphonic Game Music Concert Official website". Archived from the original on February 14, 2005.
  11. Nich Maragos (July 20, 2005). "Gaming's Rhapsody: First Movement". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2006.
  12. "Koichi Sugiyama's Official camera page". Archived from the original on August 20, 2006.
  13. "Koichi Sugiyama's Official SUGI Label page". Archived from the original on August 20, 2006.
  14. "Signatories to the June 14th Washington Post "The Facts" Advertisement – Politicians, Professors, and Journalists" (PDF). July 25, 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 9, 2008.
  15. "ワシントン・ポスト紙に「慰安婦意見広告」― その経緯と波紋 / SAFETY JAPAN [花岡 信昭氏] / 日経BP社". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011.
  16. "The Complex Question". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009.
  17. Nakamura, Toshi. "This Aged Right-Wing Japanese Composer Is Betting On The Internet Generation". Kotaku. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  18. Loveridge, Lynzee; Sherman, Jennifer. "Square Enix Responds to Dragon Quest Composer's 2015 Anti-LGBTQ Statements". AnimeNewsNetwork. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  19. Hart, Aimee. "Anti-LGBT Dragon Quest Composer Spurs Square Enix Response". Game Revolution. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  20. "Japan Institute for National Fundamentals". en.jinf.jp.
  21. Greening, Chris (October 15, 2014). "Koichi Sugiyama Profile". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  22. "すぎやまこういち*, 東京八重奏団* – 組曲「地獄の蟲」= Suite Jigoku No Mushi". Discogs. January 1, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  23. "すぎやまこういち* – サイボーグ009 超銀河伝説". Discogs. January 1, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  24. Antonio Pineda, Rafael. "Dragon Quest: Your Story CG Anime Film Reveals 5 Character Roles". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  25. MCV Staff (January 1, 2016). "Dragon Quest songwriter named as world's oldest games composer". MCV Develop. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  26. Damien Thomas (2007). "Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 2". Retrieved July 23, 2007.
  27. "Koichi Sugiyama :: Game Projects". Square Enix Music Online. January 1, 2010. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  28. Lucy Rzeminski, Lucy (January 1, 2007). "Dragon Quest IV soundtrack". RPGfan. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
  29. "Symphonic Synth Suite 46okunen Monogatari -THE Shinkaron-". Video Game Music Database. June 29, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  30. Gann, Patrick. "Dragon Quest VII ~Warriors of Eden~ on Piano". RPGFan. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  31. Wilson, Mike (2005). "Dragon Quest VIII OST". RPGfan.com. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
  32. McFerran, Damien (May 18, 2009). "Square Enix Confirms Dragon Quest Wars For DSiWare". NintendoLife. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  33. Nunneley, Stephany (July 22, 2009). "Dragon Quest IX music composer gets angry when games are pirated". VG247. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  34. すぎやま氏「『DQX』の曲はかなりできあがりました」――恒例のコンサート前取材でコメント (in Japanese). Famitsu. October 7, 2011. Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  35. Seto, Dan (February 25, 2015). "Dragon Quest Heroes Coming to PS4 in 2015". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  36. Roberts, David; Loveridge, Sam (February 7, 2018). "Dragon Quest Builders Review: "The Minecraft/Zelda Hybrid You Still Didn't Know You Needed"". Gamesradar. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  37. Masem, Matt (September 6, 2018). "Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 Import Review". RPGamer. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  38. Romano, Sal (April 1, 2015). "Dragon Quest Heroes II announced for PS4, PS3, and PS Vita". Gematsu. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  39. Alexandra, Heather (August 30, 2019). "I Keep Quitting Dragon Quest XI Thanks To Its Atrocious Music". Kotaku. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  40. Hamilton, Andi (July 11, 2019). "Review: Dragon Quest Builders 2 Is a Perfect Sequel". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  41. Romano, Sal. "Tactical RPG Dragon Quest Tact announced for iOS, Android". Gematsu. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
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