Mamoru Samuragochi

Samuragochi was born on 21 September 1963{{cite web |url= http://columbia.jp/artist-info/samuragochi/prof.html|title= Profile|year= 2011|publisher= Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.|location= Japan|language= Japanese|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111117172519/http://columbia.jp/artist-info/samuragochi/prof.html|archive-date= 17 November 2011|access-date= 7 February 2014}} in Hiroshima Prefecture to parents who were both hibakusha (irradiated in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima).{{cite web |url= http://columbia.jp/samuragochi|title= Mamoru Samuragochi|publisher= Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.|location= Japan|language= Japanese|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130209162527/http://columbia.jp/samuragochi|archive-date= 9 February 2013|access-date= 6 February 2014}} He started playing the piano at the age of four. He started having migraines while in high school, and said that, by the time he was 35, he had completely lost his hearing.{{cite news | url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/08/09/news/deaf-composer-pens-hiroshima-opus/ |title=Deaf composer pens Hiroshima opus| work=The Japan Times | date=9 August 2011 | agency=Kyodo |location=Japan |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140206043457/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/08/09/news/deaf-composer-pens-hiroshima-opus/|archive-date= 6 February 2014| access-date=7 February 2014 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-02-05/resident-evil/onimusha-co-composer-admits-his-music-was-ghostwritten| title=Resident Evil/Onimusha Co-Composer Admits His Music Was Ghostwritten|publisher=Anime News Network| work=CNN | date=5 February 2014 | access-date=5 February 2020}} 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.

On 31 March 2013, Samuragochi was the subject of a 50-minute Japanese TV documentary titled {{Nihongo|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.{{cite web |url= http://www.nhk.or.jp/special/detail/2013/0331/|script-title=ja:魂の旋律 ～音を失った作曲家～|trans-title=|date= 2013|work= NHK Special |publisher= Japan Broadcasting Corporation|location= Japan|language= Japanese|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131031183702/http://www.nhk.or.jp/special/detail/2013/0331/|archive-date= 31 October 2013|access-date= 9 February 2014}} The documentary followed him as he met survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan.

==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.{{cite web |url= http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/p-et-tp0-20140210-1255583.html|script-title=ja:偽ベートーベン、インターホン聞こえてた|trans-title=Fake Beethoven was able to hear a doorbell|date= 10 February 2014|work= Nikkan Sports |publisher= Nikka Sports News|location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 14 March 2014}} The interview was ultimately not published by the magazine due to doubts about Samuragochi's statements.

When Samuragochi's first symphony was performed on tour by a full orchestra, the composer Takeo Noguchi noticed that it was an adaptation of little-known works from earlier composers like Gustav Mahler, and doubted Samuragochi's story, which was sourced entirely to his record label.{{cite web |url= http://www.j-cast.com/tv/2014/02/06196193.html?p=all|script-title=ja:佐村河内守「やめるなら妻と一緒に自殺する」と脅し！感動話の裏の醜悪な素顔|trans-title=Mamoru Samuragochi: Threatened to commit suicide with wife|first= Masahiko|last=Motoki|date= 6 February 2014|work= J-Cast|publisher= |location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 12 February 2014}} Noguchi's article was turned down by musical publications, as Samuragochi's record label was one of their advertising sponsors,{{cite web |url= http://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/entame/entertainment/236379/|script-title=ja:専門家が「佐村河内氏の曲は“パクリ”」と酷評|trans-title=Experts criticize Samuragochi's works as plagiarism|first= |last= |author= |authorlink= |date= 20 February 2014|work= Tokyo Sports Web|publisher= Tokyo Sports|location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 14 March 2014}} and instead was published in the November 2013 issue of the newsweekly Shincho 45, as {{Nihongo|"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}}. After the ghostwriting was revealed, Noguchi's article was awarded the Editors' Choice Magazine Journalism Award.

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.{{cite news | url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/japanese-composer-momoru-samuragochi-admits-to-musical-fraud-1.2524658 | title=Japanese composer Momoru Samuragochi admits to musical fraud | publisher=CBC | work=CBC News | date=5 February 2014 | access-date=6 February 2014}}{{cite web | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/06/world/asia/japan-mamoru-samuragochi-beethoven/index.html| title=Uproar as 'Japanese Beethoven' Mamoru Samuragochi exposed as a fraud|publisher=Cable News Network| work=CNN | date=5 February 2014 | access-date=6 February 2014}} 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. 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/arts/music/renowned-japanese-composer-mamoru-samuragochi-admits-fraud.html |first= Martin|last=Fackler|title=Beloved Deaf Composer in Japan Appears to Be None of the Above |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2014-02-06 |access-date=2014-02-06}} 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. 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.{{cite web | url=http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140212p2a00m0na010000c.html | title=Apologetic 'deaf' composer Samuragochi says he regained hearing about 3 years ago | publisher=Mainichi Newspapers | date=12 February 2014 | access-date=13 February 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212231403/http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140212p2a00m0na010000c.html | archive-date=12 February 2014 | df=dmy-all }} He also added that he was "deeply ashamed of living a lie."

Following the revelation, the city of Hiroshima announced that it would be revoking the Hiroshima Citizens' Award it presented to Samuragochi in 2008.{{cite web |url= http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20140206-OYT1T01208.htm|archive-url= https://archive.today/20140207003658/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20140206-OYT1T01208.htm|url-status= dead|archive-date= 7 February 2014|script-title=ja:裏切られた…佐村河内さんの広島市民賞取り消し|trans-title=Betrayed - Samuragochi's Hiroshima Citizens' Award to be revoked|date= 6 February 2014|work= Yomiuri Online|publisher= The Yomiuri Shimbun|location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 9 February 2014}} On 7 March 2014, he gave a press conference in Tokyo, appearing in public for the first time since the ghostwriting allegations arose.{{cite web|url=http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/people/AJ201403070065|title='Beethoven of Japan' apologizes for 'causing trouble with my lies'|work=The Asahi Shimbun Asia & Japan Watch|publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company|date=7 March 2014|access-date=14 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307181206/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/people/AJ201403070065|archive-date=7 March 2014|df=dmy-all}} He admitted that while his hearing was impaired, it did not meet the legal requirements for deafness, and that he had returned his disability certificate.

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

• No. 1 symphony "Hiroshima" (2003)
• Sonatina for Violin

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. It was released on CD in 2011 as part of the Nippon Columbia record label's 100th anniversary celebrations.

• Remembering the Cosmos Flower / Cosmos (1997){{cite web |url= http://movie.walkerplus.com/mv30263/|script-title=ja:秋桜（コスモス）|trans-title=Remembering the Cosmos Flower / Cosmos|date= |work= MovieWalker|publisher= Kadokawa Corporation|location= Japan|language= Japanese|access-date= 6 February 2014}}
• Orpheus' Lyre / {{Interlanguage link multi|Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako|ja|3=ふたたびの加奈子#映画}} (2013){{cite web |url= https://www.asagei.com/excerpt/21472|title= Composer Mamura Samuragochi angry at news that DVDs of film he scored to be withdrawn from sale|publisher= Weekly Asahi Geinō|location= Japan|language= Japanese|date=25 March 2014|access-date= 30 December 2018}}

• Resident Evil: Director's Cut Dual Shock Ver. (1998)
• Onimusha: Warlords (2001)

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111117172519/http://columbia.jp/artist-info/samuragochi/prof.html Nippon Columbia profile] {{in lang|ja}}

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Category:1963 births

Category:Impostors

Category:Japanese composers

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Category:Japanese male composers

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Category:Musicians from Hiroshima Prefecture