[1] Joji Yuasa was born in Kōriyama, Fukushima on 12 August 1929,[2] and was a self-taught composer.

He first became interested in music while a pre medical student at Keio University, and in 1952 he joined a young artists’ group Jikken Kobo (Experimental Workshop, 1951–1957) in Tokyo, an organization for the exploration of new directions in the arts, including multimedia.

He also served as a guest professor at the Tokyo College of Music from 1981, a professor at Nihon University from 1993, and an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary Music.

His style has been described as "consistent explorations of a distinctive, maverick yet elegant voice" that has elements of twelve tone, impressionism, romantic, and traditional classical composition.

[7] His works have been commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Saarland Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Canada Council, Suntory Music Foundation, IRCAM and National Endowment for the Arts of the U.S.A. [4] He received a number of fellowships and awards, from: Japan Society Fellowship (1968–69), Composer in Residence at the Center for Music Experiment UCSD (1976), Berlin Artist Program by DAAD (1976–77), the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music in Sydney (1980), the University of Toronto (1981) and IRCAM (1987).