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“The Eighth JASRAC Music Culture Award”
JASRAC Music Culture Award was established in November 2014 to shed light on individuals, organizations, and works in various fields that contribute to the development of music culture through important activities that may otherwise not be heralded. While the activities may not have achieved impressive statistics in sales and usages, the Award is presented to provide encouragement for future endeavor.
The Eighth Award was presented to the following individuals on November 18, 2021, along with plaques and additional prizes.
ARITA Masahiro
– Ancient Music Flute Player
©Rika Takei
Reason for the award
Playing both the “Fraut Traverso” - woodwind flutes which have evolved over 400 years from the Renaissance era to the modern times - and the brass flutes of today, Arita Masahiro brings back historic sounds and playing techniques back to life through his performances and studies of musical scores. As the founder and conductor of the Tokyo Bach Mozart Orchestra, the first full-fledged Japanese orchestra comprised of original instruments, and the Classical Players Tokyo, which extended its repertoire to Romantic music, he has actively participated in and has supported performances of ancient music from its early days for more than half a decade.
Comments
Ever since I was a child, my mind has wandered over the great musicians of the past, the moments when musical masterpieces were born, their backgrounds, the instruments and the playing methods in each era…by choosing to perform and study ancient music, I have gradually been able to clarify some of these. However, the world of the unknown still continues to expand, and to this day, I continue my travel visiting the mysteries of music. Thanks to those who encourage and support a person like myself, I have been able to deliver the outcome of my studies in performances and in communications to young people at schools. It brings me tremendous happiness to be presented with this honorable award, which will lead to future encouragement. Thank you so much.
©Rika Takei
Profile of the Awardee
Arita Masahiro graduated at the top of his class from Toho Gakuen School of Music in 1972. In the same year, he won first place at the 40th Japan Music Competition. The following year, he studied abroad at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Belgium. He had been a member of the Collegium Aureum since 1974. In 1975, he graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels at the first prize and won first place in the Fraut Traverso category of the International Competition Musica Antiqua Bruges (Bruges International Ancient Music Competition). In 1977, he went to the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, the Netherlands, where he received the highest honors soloist diploma in six months. In 1989, he formed the Tokyo Bach Mozart Orchestra. In 2009, he formed the Classical Players Tokyo. He won the Artwork Award of the Agency for Cultural Affairs National Arts Festival in 1985, the 21st Suntory Music Award in 1989, and the Classic Division Special Award of the 30th Music Pen Club Award in 2017. He is currently a specially appointed professor at Toho Gakuen School of Music.
USUI Makoto
– Elementary School Music Teacher and University Associate Professor
Reason for the award
Hoping that children would enjoy singing, Usui Makoto has been offering unique and distinct classes using songs written by himself. His wish for children to grow and become “those who understand gentleness and other people’s heartaches, those who know the beauty of things unseen, and those who are moved and can shed tears for various things” through music, together with his attitude to devote himself to communication with students, fructified into a song of resurrection, repose of the soul, and hope on the occasion of an unprecedented and painful disaster. It continues to be sung in 12 languages over the world and has displayed the power of music which overcomes language and cultural barriers, healing and encouraging many people’s hearts.
Comments
This has been a memorable year, being presented with this Award at the same timing as my retirement from a 38-year career as a teacher. I am very honored and filled with appreciation. I miraculously survived the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake 26 years ago, but it destroyed my home completely and left more than 2,000 people evacuated in the elementary school where I worked at. It was in this hopelessness that I created “Shiawase Hakoberuyouni (literal translation: So that happiness can be carried),” placing hope in the pure and clear voices of children. The song was established this year as the song of Kobe City, my hometown, and the presentation of the Award in the same year gives me double pleasure. I will strive to continue creating songs which can weave together the gentleness of many people. Thank you.
Profile of the Awardee
Usui Makoto was born in Kobe City in 1960. Since 1983, he had written songs for chorus for elementary school students while he worked as a music teacher at an elementary school in Kobe City. By the time he retired in March 2021, he wrote over 400 original musical works. "Shiawase Hakoberuyouni", a song written in 1995 after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (which completely destroyed his home), caught the hearts of many people and became a symbol song hoping the reconstruction of Kobe. This work with the lyrics "with a strong heart which can withstand earthquakes" has spread to the disaster-stricken areas both in Japan and overseas, such as the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake, the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Kumamoto Earthquake, and the Iran Bam Earthquake through concerts, books and musical scores, CDs / DVDs, and news reports. The song is currently translated into 12 languages and continues to be sung in many countries. In 2020, the song was published in music textbooks for Japanese elementary schools. In 2011, he was commended by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as an excellent teacher, and in 2021, by Hyogo Prefecture as a cultural contributor, etc. He is currently an associate professor at Kobe Shinwa Women's University.
TANAKA Mitsukazu
– Mastering Engineer
KOTETSU Toru
– Mastering Engineer / Cutting Engineer
Tanaka Mitsukazu
©Takashi Yashima
Kotetsu Toru
Reason for the award
Tanaka Mitsukazu and Kotetsu Toru are Japanese pioneers who have committed themselves to the field of “mastering,” the final process upon production and online distribution of CDs and records in which the volume, quality, and pressure of sounds, their balance, and the length between the songs in sound recordings are adjusted and fixed onto masters. Valuing both the intention of artists and the listeners’ point of view, their sound-making has been widely praised, achieving great accomplishments in drawing public attention to the importance of mastering engineers in the music industry and their creativity. To this day, they continue to be regarded as expert craftsmen and are appointed both domestically and internationally to master recordings.
Comments
TANAKA Mitsukazu
Mastering is the final process in music production to merchandise music in forms such as CDs and online distribution. I have been surprised and am grateful for being recognized, as it is a discreet technique different from recording of live performances. Nowadays, sound recordings can be mixed on PCs and more than 100 sounds can be controlled individually, and this has led me to study ways in which I can mix and master simultaneously. I will keep challenging the possibilities to extend the scope of creation while continuing to pay attention to work efficiency and productiveness.
KOTETSU Toru
I believe that records and CDs are artists’ cherished children. How artists wish to have this song listened to – concentrating and trying to find ten things from one single word spoken by the artist, I strive for artists’ satisfaction. So I start off every single mastering session by remotivating myself to create something satisfactory this time around, but it’s difficult. Imitating the great words of Charlie Chaplin, I have been saying that “my best masterpiece is the next one” and have continued on and on. This unexpected Award has enabled me to remotivate myself again. Thank you very much.
Profile of the Awardees
Tanaka Mitsukazu was born on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture in 1942. He joined CBS/SONY (currently named Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) / SMEJ) in 1969. Since the hit of Honda Rutsuko 's "Akidemo Nainoni" for which he was in charge of the recording for the first time, he had worked with artists such as FOUR LEAVES, Yoshida Takuro, Yamaguchi Momoe, and Watanabe Machiko, and became a mastering engineer at the timing of the release of the CD in 1982. As the mastering engineer, he has worked in a wide range of categories including pops, club music, Enka, classical music, and Okinawan folk songs with the artists such as Sano Motoharu, REBECCA, UNICORN, DREAMS COME TRUE, X JAPAN, DENKI GROOVE, SPITZ, JUDY AND MARY, THE GOSPELLERS, Fuji Ayako, and QUARTETTO ClASSICO. In 2018, he won an Excellence Award of the 25th Japan Professional Music Recording Award. After he retired from SMEJ, he worked for Bernie Grundman Mastering, Studio ATLIO, and currently manages Studio Chatri.
Profile of the Awardees
Kotetsu Toru was born in Niimi City, Okayama Prefecture in 1943. He was assigned to the mastering department of Victor Company of Japan (currently named JVCKENWOOD Creative Media Corporation) in 1973. Since then, he has worked in the production of analog records and CDs as a mastering engineer and one of the few cutting engineers in Japan. He has mastered more than 11,000 works including re-releases of overseas JAZZ masterpieces, CDs and records of many artists such as Inoue Yosui, Hosono Haruomi, Sakamoto Ryuichi, Yagami Junko, Yamashita Tatsuro, Iwasaki Hiromi, SOUTHERN ALL STARS, THE BLUE HEARTS, Original Love, LUNA SEA, Saito Kazuyoshi, Dragon Ash, MISIA, QURULI, and Hata Motohiro. In 2018, he received the 23rd "Oto no Takumi (master of sound)" Award by the Japan Audio Society.
