Hiromori Hayashi

The final version of the anthem was first played for Emperor Meiji for his birthday, on 3 November 1880.

[5] Historian Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney writes, "The composer is nominally identified as Hayashi Hiromori, a musician at the Imperial Court, but Oku Yoshiisa, who worked under Hayashi, is believed to have composed the music, with some rearrangement by Franz Eckert (1852–1916).

"[6] The melody that Hayashi was credited for replaced an arrangement by John William Fenton, a visiting Irish military band leader, that was rejected in 1870.

The Court then adopted a new melody composed by Yoshiisa Oku and Akimori Hayashi.

[7] The German musician Franz Eckert applied the melody with Western style harmony.