Masakazu Yoshizawa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Masakazu Yoshizawa
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 10, 1950 |
| Origin | Hida, Gifu, Japan |
| Died | October 24, 2007 (aged 57) |
| Instruments | Shakuhachi |
| Associated acts | John Williams, Kokin Gumi |
Masakazu Yoshizawa (born September 10, 1950 – died October 24, 2007) was a talented Japanese American musician. He was especially known for playing the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute. Yoshizawa was a master of many different Japanese flutes and other musical instruments, both Japanese and Western. He was also an expert in both old and new Japanese traditional music.
You might have heard his music in famous Hollywood movies! His work was featured in films like The Joy Luck Club and Memoirs of a Geisha.
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Early Life and Musical Start
Masakazu Yoshizawa was born on September 10, 1950, in Hida, Gifu, Japan. His mother was a doctor for babies, and his father was a vet for animals.
When he was 9 years old, Masakazu had to play a musical instrument for school. He started with the accordion, then moved to the piano. Soon, he began playing several woodwind instruments and the shakuhachi. The shakuhachi is the instrument that made him famous around the world!
He quickly became a very skilled musician, especially with the shakuhachi. By the time he was 19, Yoshizawa was playing in recording studios and with orchestras in Tokyo. He studied Western music at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he earned a degree in the early 1970s.
A Career in Hollywood
In the mid-1970s, Yoshizawa moved from Japan to Los Angeles, USA. At first, he played the clarinet and saxophone. He even worked as a sushi chef!
But then, someone specifically asked him to play the shakuhachi for a job. This made him very interested in the instrument and Japanese music again. Yoshizawa went back to Japan to take more shakuhachi lessons. After that, he returned to California.
Soon, he started getting hired to play the shakuhachi for movies and TV shows. This quickly turned his love for Japanese music into a full-time job. In a 2005 interview, Yoshizawa explained why Hollywood wanted his music: "they wanted a sound that Western music didn't have . . . that was new and fit the film."
Yoshizawa played the shakuhachi in many movies and TV shows. Some of his early movie work included the Karate Kid sequels and the 1993 film, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
Working with John Williams
Masakazu Yoshizawa began working with the famous film composer, John Williams, on Steven Spielberg's huge 1993 movie, Jurassic Park. He once said that Williams asked him to play the shakuhachi for Jurassic Park because the instrument "sounds like a dinosaur's cry." How cool is that!
Yoshizawa worked with John Williams again on the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, which came out in 2005. He was first hired to play drums for the movie's soundtrack. But soon, he was asked to play the shakuhachi and other traditional instruments instead. John Williams later turned the movie's music into a special concert piece. Yoshizawa played the shakuhachi, and Yo-Yo Ma played the cello. They performed it at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts in 2006.
His Final Years
Masakazu Yoshizawa passed away at his home in San Gabriel, California, on October 24, 2007. He had stomach cancer. He was survived by his daughter, Chrissy Tama Yoshizawa; his son, James Naoki Yoshizawa; his sister, Chieko; and his granddaughter, Cassandra Marie Langley.
After Yoshizawa's death, John Williams shared a message with the Los Angeles Times: "Masa was a brilliant musician and a very important member of the orchestra, and he will be greatly missed."
