Ryo Yoshimata –Composer/Arranger

Born in Kagoshima City in 1959, Ryo Yoshimata is one of the most well-known composers in Japan now. In 1977, he moved to Tokyo to enter Yokohama City University.

While he was a student, Ryo worked with many disco bands as a pianist and keyboardist. He turned professional in 1982 when he became a member of the band for the award-winning singer/actress and a first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honor Award, Hibari Misora (1937-1989), through audition. While Ryo worked as a keyboardist with Revolver from 1984 to 1992, he also worked as a recording musician and an arranger for all sorts of musical genres. His first composition of soundtrack music was for “Delicious Relationship,” a Fuji Broadcasting TV drama in 1996.

Since then he has composed soundtrack music for numerous movies and TV programs, including “One Million Falling Stars from the Sky”(2002), “Dr. Koto‘s Clinic”(2003, 2006), “Kokoro”(NHK morning drama series in 2003), “Garden of the Wind” (2008), “The Flower Shop without Roses” (2008), Korean drama “Iljimae”(2008), “The Legend of the Blue Sea”(2016), a Saturday historical drama “Chushingura’s Love-The 48th Loyalist”(2016), “What the point of Love, done seriously?”(2022), “18/24-Dreams and Love for Two”(2023) and many others.

His work of “Atsuhime,” a 2008 Taiga Drama Series by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) became an unprecedented hit amidst the Atsuhime Boom. Ryo received the Special Prefectural Governor Award from Kagoshima, his hometown, and the setting of “Atsuhime” and became the Satsuma Good Will Ambassador in 2008. Also, he was appointed as a Kagoshima City Hometown Ambassador in 2019.

Subsequently, he also composed all the music of a 2011 NHK Taiga Drama Series “GOU ~War Era of Princesses.”

As a film composer, his soundtrack for “Between Calmness and Passion,” a major hit movie in Japan in 2001, has become popular in Korea as well and has been appointed for many commercials. Also, he is the composer for the Japanese movies “A battery” (2007), “Hankyu Railways - a 15-minute miracle” (2011), “Your Lie in April” (2016), “Dr. Death’s Legacy-BLACK FILE” (2020), documentary film “A Comedian We Can’t Meet on TV” (2022), “Dr. Koto’s Clinic” (2022), among others. In recent years, he has produced and arranged music for many well-known Japanese artists including Hiroko Yakushimaru, Yoshida-Yamada, aiko and more.

In 2008, the first solo concert featuring a total of 24 members was held at the Hama-Rikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo. He eagerly engaged in collaborations with orchestras and artists, composing the commemorative song for the 80th anniversary of the Hibiya Public Hall’s opening and the theme song for the 30th National Cultural Festival Kagoshima 2015, expanding his activities as a solo artist. Mr. Yoshimata received the Best Dresser Award in the “Academic and Cultural Division” in 2018. Additionally, in 2019, he composed the commemorative song “Connecting Kagoshima to the Future” for the 130th anniversary of Kagoshima City’s founding. He also composed the ceremonial music for the “A Flaming Passion-Japan Games in Kagoshima” in 2023.

In 2011, Ryo composed and played music for the Off-Off Broadway play “KUTSUKAKE TOKIJIRO,” which was performed 17shows in three weeks at the Flea Theater in New York. He performed orchestral concerts at the Sejong Center in Seoul, Korea, and the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan in 2017. Furthermore, since 2018, he has collaborated three times with the Rome Italy Orchestra at venues such as the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, receiving high acclaim.

In 2024, he is in charge of the music for the 100th anniversary project of Ikenami Shotaro’s birth, “Onihei Hankacho” SEASON 1.