Person: Sugiyama Kouichi 332l6d

Sugiyama Kouichi (his birth name is 椙山 浩一, which is pronounced the same as his stage name) (born April 11, 1931) was a Japanese music composer, council member of JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers), and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society. He is best known for composing music for the Dragon Quest video game series, which is published by Square Enix and several Japanese TV shows, such as Space Runaway Ideon, Cyborg 009, and Gatchaman.

A classically trained conductor, he is considered a primary inspiration for other game music composers such as Nobuo Uematsu, and has been referred to as a "Big boss of game music." He is also known as a Japanese right-wing revisionist.

Sugiyama Kouichi was born in Tokyo, Japan. While growing up, Sugiyama's home was filled with music, which ultimately inspired his ion. In high school, he began to recognize his ion, and wrote various small musical works.

After graduating from the University of Tokyo with full honours in 1958, he went into the reporting and entertainment sections of cultural broadcasting. In addition, he ed the Fuji Telecasting Co. as a director. In 1965, he left the telecasting company as a freelance director, and in 1968, he quit directing and concentrated on music composition.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sugiyama composed for musicals, commercials, pop artists, and for animated movies and television shows, such as Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman and Cyborg 009. He also assisted Riichiro Manabe with the composition for Godzilla vs. Hedorah, composing the record single of the soundtrack, and conducting for some of the tracks.

Sugiyama's first with Enix was by a fan letter he wrote them regarding a PC shogi game in the early 1980s. After Enix's staff overcame the shock of receiving a handwritten postcard from a celebrity of Sugiyama's stature, they were so impressed by his depth of knowledge and appreciation of games that they decided to ask Sugiyama to write the music for Dragon Quest.

Sugiyama started composing with a smaller Japanese home computer called the "PC-8801," and was working for Enix at the time. In 1986, he composed for the hit RPG video game Dragon Quest for the Famicom. Dragon Quest introduced an orchestral sound to the video game world.

Sugiyama was the very first video game composer to record his video game music with a live orchestra. In 1986, the CD "Dragon Quest I Symphonic Suite" was released, utilizing the London Philharmonic Orchestra to interpret Sugiyama's melodies.

In 1987, he composed for Dragon Quest II, and then held the very first video game music concert in the world. "Family Classic Concert" was arranged and conducted by Sugiyama himself. It was performed by the Tokyo String Music Combination Playing Group on August 20, 1987 at Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan. "Dragon Quest I Symphonic Suite" and "Dragon Quest II Symphonic Suite" were performed. The "Family Classic Concerts" have always had excellent turn outs; since then, Sugiyama has held over eighteen of them all across Japan.

Throughout Sugiyama's works, motifs repeat themselves to maintain a consistency and nostalgic quality in the different installments. This is especially true for the Dragon Quest series. Each of the games include a nearly identical, upbeat theme song titled "Overture." In addition, Dragon Quest III-VIII include a simple, casual tune on the saved game selection screen titled "Intermezzo."

Sugiyama's style of composition has been compared to late Baroque and early Classical period styles. Composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel are some of his inspirations, along with the type of melodic styles heard during the mid-20th century of American cinema.