Three examples of contemporary Japanese music, and when I mention contemporary I mean of course 55 years old. Music by Miyoshi, Takemitsu and Mayuzumi, performed by the orchestra of the NHK, the Nippon Hoso Kyokai, the national broadcaster. I know most of these composers just by name, but heard none of them before.
Of these three composers, Takemitsu is maybe the best known. Toru Takemitsu was also known for his writing about easthetics and music theory, and he can be considered as one of the founders of Japanese musique concrète, when he was experimenting with electronic music. He was able to fuse Japanese traditional music with western classical music, and here he meets his contemporary Toshiro Mayuzumi.
Quite interesting music from a theoretical view, but when listening to it, it keeps failing to draw my attention. I don’t think it can be the performance. It was the NHK Symphony Orchestra that caught Stravinsky’s attention when he heard them play Takemitsu on a visit there.