He is often credited with the international success of Yamaha and was also widely influential as a community music educator.
[1] Born in Hamakita, Kawakami was a graduate of Takachiho College of Commerce.
He started working for Yamaha in 1937, where his father, Kaichi Kawakami had been the president since 1927.
[3] Retired in 1976, he wrote several books on music and founded the largest and most popular system of community music schools in the world.
Kawakami was married to Tamiko and had a son and a daughter.