“Japan’s Beethoven” Mamoru Samuragochi has admitted he is not totally deaf, amid an ongoing scandal over his use of a ghostwriter.
Composer Mamoru Samuragochi said in a statement to Japanese media that he regained some of his hearing three years ago.
Mamoru Samuragochi shot to fame in the 1990s and is most famous for the piece Hiroshima Symphony No 1, dedicated to those killed in the 1945 atomic bomb.
Last week, music teacher Takashi Niigaki said he composed music for Mamoru Samuragochi.
Takashi Niigaki said last week that he had worked with Mamoru Samuragochi for nearly two decades and had composed his critically-acclaimed works, including Hiroshima Symphony No. 1.
The music teacher also said that he saw “no signs” Mamoru Samuragochi could not hear.
Mamoru Samuragochi has admitted he is not totally deaf
In his statement on Wednesday, Mamoru Samuragochi, 50, said his hearing had improved and he could follow conversations under certain conditions.
“In recent years I have started to be able to hear a little bit more than before… since about three years ago I can hear words if people speak clearly and slowly into my ears,” he said.
“It is true that I received a certificate proving I had a hearing disorder and that I couldn’t hear anything up until three years ago.”
Mamoru Samuragochi said he would be issuing a public apology.
“I feel deeply ashamed of myself for living a false life,” he said.
His now defunct website stated he was taught how to play the piano by his mother when he was four and began playing Beethoven and Bach when he was 10.
Mamoru Samuragochi reportedly lost his hearing when he was 35 but continued to compose music, apparently relying on his “absolute pitch”. His Hiroshima Symphony No 1, completed in 2003, became a major classical music hit, selling more than 100,000 copies in Japan.
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Takashi Niigaki has come forward to admit being part of Japan’s Beethoven fraud.
The ghostwriter for the man dubbed “Japan’s Beethoven” has admitted being his accomplice and questioned Mamoru Samuragochi’s deafness.
Mamoru Samuragochi, 50, is said to have lost his hearing at the age of 35 but continued to present acclaimed pieces.
But he has confessed that he had not composed his own music since 1996.
Takashi Niigaki, a music techer, told media: “I saw no signs that he could not hear.”
“At first he acted to me also as if he had suffered hearing loss, but he stopped doing so eventually.”
Takashi Niigaki has come forward to admit being part of Mamoru Samuragochi fraud
He told a press conference that he had worked with Mamoru Samuragochi for nearly two decades, and had in fact composed his most critically-acclaimed works including Hiroshima Symphony No 1, which was dedicated to the victims of the atomic bomb of 1945.
Takashi Niigaki said he would compose pieces for Mamoru Samuragochi, who would then choose which ones to put his name to.
“I have been composing music pieces for him for 18 years since I first met Mr. Samuragochi,” said Takashi Niigaki.
“I have been aware that Mr. Samuragochi had been publishing his pieces by deceiving the world. Yet I ended up composing the music as instructed. In this way, I am his accomplice.”
He said their working relationship ended last year.
But Mamoru Samuragochi’s lawyer, Kazushi Orimoto, denied there had been a deception over his hearing, and that he had been classified as having severe hearing loss.
Through his lawyer, Mamoru Samuragochi said on Wednesday that he was “deeply sorry as he has betrayed fans and disappointed others”.
Mamoru Samuragoch’s made his first breakthrough creating music for video games including Resident Evil and Onimusha.
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Mamoru Samuragochi, a deaf composer who has been dubbed “Japan’s Beethoven”, has admitted hiring someone else to write his music for nearly two decades.
Mamoru Samuragochi, 50, shot to fame in the mid-1990s and is most famous for his Hiroshima Symphony No 1, dedicated to those killed in the 1945 atomic blast.
He has now confessed he has not composed his own music since 1996.
The real composer of the musician’s “hits” has not been formally named.
According to his now defunct website, Mamoru Samuragochi was taught how to play the piano by his mother when he was four and began playing Beethoven and Bach when he was 10.
Mamoru Samuragochi made his first breakthrough creating music for video games including Resident Evil and Onimusha.
He completely lost his hearing when he was 35 but continued to compose music, apparently relying on his “absolute pitch”.
Mamoru Samuragochi shot to fame in the mid-1990s and is most famous for his Hiroshima Symphony No 1
Mamoru Samuragochi’s Hiroshima Symphony No 1, completed in 2003, became a major classical music hit, selling more than 100,000 copies in Japan.
It went on to become an anthemic tribute known informally as the “Symphony of Hope”, after Mamoru Samuragochi was filmed meeting survivors in the tsunami-battered Tohoku region in 2011.
Apologizing on his behalf, Mamoru Samuragochi’s solicitor said the musician was “deeply sorry as he has betrayed fans and disappointed others”.
“He knows he could not possibly make any excuse for what he has done. He is mentally distressed and not in a condition to properly express his own thoughts.”
Japanese broadcaster NHK quoted Mamoru Samuragochi saying: “I started hiring the person to compose music for me around 1996, when I was asked to make movie music for the first time.
“I had to ask the person to help me for more than half the work because the ear condition got worse.”
It is believed Mamoru Samuragochi paid for the commissions while giving the ideas for his work to the other composer.
“I’ve been told that there are certain circumstances that make it hard for the person [who composed the works] to come out in public,” his lawyer said.
“Samuragochi has therefore come to describe himself as the sole composer.”
Although the identity of the “ghost” composer has not been formally identified, Japanese media has named him as music teacher Aragaki Takashi.
Japanese Winter Olympics hopeful, figure skater Daisuke Takahashi, has also been caught up in the scandal as his program includes a dance to Mamoru Samuragochi’s Sonatina for Violin – also not penned by the musician.
Nippon Columbia, Mamoru Samuragochi’s record company, said it was “flabbergasted and deeply infuriated” by his revelation.
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