Yoko Kanno (b.1964)

Yoko Kanno is a lyric and song writer, arranger and music producer. Kanno has created music for movies, TV dramas, TV commercials, animation and video games. She has also produced and written music for many artists.

Her pieces include Cowboy Bebop, Genesis of Aquarion, Macross Frontier, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, music for the movie Our Little Sister, and the NHK historical TV drama Naotora: The Lady Warlord, among others. She also composed the eastern Japan earthquake (Fukushima) recovery support song, Flowers Will Bloom – Hana wa Saku, for which she has made several arrangements. In the first year of the new Reiwa era (2019), she composed the Japanese emperor’s enthronement celebration song, Ray of Water, and dedicated the performance to the emperor and the empress in front of the imperial palace. Most recently she composed the music for the Netflix version of Cowboy Bebop and The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House.