[2] One of the foremost Japanese composers of the first half of the twentieth century,[3] he grew up in Kobe, studying piano, organ and choral singing.

He moved to the United States in 1930 to study composition with Frederick Converse and Carl McKinley at Boston University and the New England Conservatory of Music, also taking some lessons with Arnold Schoenberg.

He returned to Japan in 1936, where his works were met with mixed reactions, being technically too difficult for Japanese orchestras of the time, and being in a fairly modern style.

He composed light music, jazzy concertos for saxophone and trumpet, created an orchestra, and hosted his own radio show featuring the orchestra, which featured popular classics, as well as more modern works by such composers as Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovich.

1, with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kazuki Yamada (Public concert at Suntory Hall on September 3, 2017).