Yūji Koseki(1909-1989)
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
The son of an avid record collector, Yûji Koseki was always attracted
to making music. While attending Fukushima University, he made it his
hobby to play harmonica in a street band. Following university, at the
age of 21, Koseki joined Nippon Columbia, where he soon composed his
first classical piece, "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" (based on the fable
of the same name, Taketori Monogatari). In 1931, Koseki moved to the
Tôkyô branch of Nippon Columbia, where he toiled
in both the classical- and pop-songwriting departments. Among his
earlier film credits was one of the few Japanese animated films to
survive World War II, titled 'Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (1945). Later
he scored a far more famous fantasy film, Mothra (1961), for which he
helped write the world-famous "Mosura no Uta," which was reprised in several later
Gojira films. He is better remembered for songs such as that and others he
composed at Nippon Columbia than for his sporadic movie work.
