Michio Miyagi

Lore & Background

Michio Miyagi was a Japanese musician renowned for his mastery of the koto. He was born in Kobe and lost his sight at the age of eight, after which he began studying the instrument under Nakajima Kengyo II, devoting his entire life to it. By the time he was eighteen, he had achieved the highest possible rank for a koto performer, that of kengyo. His early life included a period living in Incheon, in southern Korea, where his family moved when he was a teenager. He later relocated to Tokyo, where he gave his first recital of his own compositions and became a prominent figure in the new Japanese music movement, gaining particular recognition during the early Shōwa period. Miyagi was also an early participant in radio broadcasts and signed an exclusive recording contract with the Victor Record Company. His most famous composition, *Haru no Umi* (The Sea in Spring), was created in 1929 and later gained international attention when a French violinist, after hearing him perform it, arranged the shakuhachi part for violin and recorded it with him. He became a lecturer and later a professor at the Tokyo College of Music, and after the Second World War was appointed to the Academy of Arts of Japan. Over his lifetime, he wrote more than five hundred pieces, improved traditional Japanese string instruments, and invented new kotos, including a seventeen-string bass koto and an eighty-string model. In addition to his musical work, he was an essayist who published over ten books. He died in 1956 after falling from a train during a tour.

Reader's Guide

Michio Miyagi’s significance stems from his role as a central figure in the new Japanese music movement during the early Shōwa period, where he was regarded as an authority. After losing his sight at age eight, he devoted his life to the koto, studying under Nakajima Kengyo II. By eighteen he had attained the highest rank for a koto performer, kengyo. His first composition, written at fourteen, was *Mizu no Hentai*. After moving to Tokyo in 1917, he gave his first recital of original works two years later. In 1920 he participated in the Great Recital of the New Japanese Music alongside Seifu Yoshida and Nagayo Motoori. He was among the first to take part in a radio presentation in Japan in 1925, and in 1929 signed an exclusive contract with Victor Record Company. That same year he composed his most famous piece, *Haru no Umi* (The Sea in Spring). In 1932, French violinist Renée Chemet, after hearing the piece, arranged the shakuhachi part for violin, and they recorded it for distribution in Japan and Europe. Miyagi became a lecturer at the Tokyo College of Music in 1930 and was appointed professor in 1937. After the war, he was appointed to the Academy of Arts of Japan in 1948. He wrote over five hundred pieces, improved existing Japanese string instruments, and invented a 17-string bass koto and an 80-string koto. He also published more than ten books of essays, including *Ame no Nenbutsu*. He died in 1956 after falling from a train during a tour. His legacy is preserved at the Michio Miyagi Memorial Hall in Shinjuku, Tokyo, opened in 1978 on the site of his last home.

Did You Know?

• He invented a 17-string bass koto and an 80-string koto.