Mamoru Samuragochi

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Mamoru Samuragochi
Native name 佐村河内 守
Born (1963-09-21) 21 September 1963 (age 60)
Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Labels Nippon Columbia
Associated acts Takashi Niigaki

Mamoru Samuragochi (佐村河内 守 Samuragōchi Mamoru?, born 21 September 1963) is a Japanese composer from Hiroshima Prefecture who falsely said that he was totally deaf.[1] He was the name credited for the video games Resident Evil: Dual Shock Ver. and Onimusha: Warlords.[2][3] He said throughout his career that he was deaf which led to foreign media dubbing him a "digital-age Beethoven".[4] In February 2014, it was revealed that most of the work attributed to him over the previous 18 years had been written by Takashi Niigaki.[5]

Biography

Samuragochi was born on 21 September 1963[6] in Hiroshima Prefecture to parents who were both hibakusha (irradiated in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima).[7] He started playing the piano at the age of four.[7] He started suffering migraines while at high school, and said that, by the time he was 35, he had completely lost his hearing.[8] After graduating from high school, Samuragochi did not attend university or music school, due to his dislike of modern composition methods, and he instead taught himself how to compose.[7]

On 31 March 2013, Samuragochi was the subject of a 50-minute Japanese TV documentary titled Melody of the Soul: The Composer Who Lost His Hearing (魂の旋律 ～音を失った作曲家～ Tamashii no Senritsu: Oto o Ushinatta Sakkyokuka?) and broadcast by NHK.[9] The documentary followed him as he met survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan.[10]

Doubts about musical abilities and deafness statements

In June 2013, a reporter from the magazine Aera interviewed Samuragochi at his apartment in Yokohama, but noticed a number of inconsistencies in Samuragochi's deafness statements, including his ability to respond to questions before the sign-language interpreter had finished, and standing up to answer a doorbell when it rang.[11] The interview was ultimately not published by the magazine due to doubts about Samuragochi's statements.[11]

When Samuragochi's first symphony was performed on tour by a full orchestra, the composer Takeo Noguchi noticed that it was an adaption of little-known works from earlier composers like Gustav Mahler, and doubted Samuragochi's story, which was sourced entirely to his record label.[12] Noguchi's article was turned down by musical publications, as Samuragochi's record label was one of their advertising sponsors,[13] and instead was published in the November 2013 issue of the newsweekly Shincho 45, as "The deaf genius composer" - Is Mamoru Samuragochi genuine? (「全聾の天才作曲家」佐村河内守は本物か?).[12] After the ghostwriting was revealed, Noguchi's article was awarded the Editors' Choice Magazine Journalism Award.

Ghostwriting admission

On 5 February 2014, it was publicly revealed that music attributed to Samuragochi since 1996 had actually been ghostwritten by Takashi Niigaki, a musician, composer, and part-time lecturer at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo.[14][15] Niigaki also said Samuragochi was not deaf and states that Samuragochi has normal hearing and was posing as a deaf man to generate a mystique around his image as a composer.[4] Niigaki also said that Samuragochi did not need to use his cane, and that most of his biography printed in album liner notes was fiction.[4][10] Niigaki went to the press because one of Samuragochi's "compositions" would be used by Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi, at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[10] On 12 February 2014, Samuragochi released a handwritten statement in which he revealed that he had a Grade 2 physical disability certificate after losing his hearing and to have partially regained his hearing three years previously.[16] He also added that he was "deeply ashamed of living a lie."[16]

Following the revelation, the city of Hiroshima announced that it would be revoking the Hiroshima Citizens' Award it presented to Samuragochi in 2008.[17] On 7 March 2014, he gave a press conference in Tokyo, appearing in public for the first time since the ghostwriting allegations arose.[18] He admitted that while his hearing ability was impaired, it did not meet the legal requirements for deafness, and had returned his disability certificate.[18]

Previously credited works

The works below were formerly credited to Samuragochi, but were later identified as having been composed by Niigaki.

  • No. 1 symphony "Hiroshima" (2003)[8]
  • Sonatina for Violin[2]

Completed in 2003, "Hiroshima" was first played at a concert held to commemorate the meeting of the Group of Eight leaders in Hiroshima in 2008.[8] It was released on CD in 2011 as part of the Nippon Columbia record label's 100th anniversary celebrations.[8]

Movie soundtracks

Video game soundtracks

References

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  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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