Taro Hakase facts for kids

Taro Hakase is a famous Japanese musician. He was born on January 23, 1968, in Suita, Osaka, Japan. He is best known as a talented violinist and a composer, which means he writes music.

All About Taro Hakase

His Musical Journey

Taro Hakase started his music career in a Japanese band called Kryzler & Kompany. This band formed when he was in college. Taro played the violin, Tsuneyoshi Saito played keyboards, and Yoshinobu Takeshita played bass.

Their first album came out in September 1990. It sold 74,000 copies! Their second album, Kryzler And Company #, sold even more. People loved their music.

Working with Famous Singers

Kryzler & Kompany helped create the music for Celine Dion's song "To Love You More". This song was used for a Japanese TV show called Koibito Yo. The song became very popular in Japan.

Taro Hakase even joined Celine Dion on her tours. He played the violin with her on stage. He performed with her during her 1996–1997 Falling into You Tour and her 1998–1999 Let's Talk About Love Tour.

When Celine Dion took a break, Taro Hakase started his own solo music career. Kryzler & Kompany stopped playing together for a while after making 11 albums.

In 2006, Taro Hakase met up with Celine Dion again. They performed "To Love You More" together in Las Vegas. This was to celebrate his 10 years of success.

Other Cool Projects

Taro Hakase has worked on many other exciting projects. He played a song called "Addio monti" for an album that honored the famous composer Ennio Morricone.

He also helped write music for the video game Final Fantasy XII. The music was called Symphonic Poem "Hope".

In Japan, his song "Another Sky" is the theme song for All Nippon Airways, a big airline. His song "Color Your Life" is also used by Shinsei Bank.

Collaborations with Pop Stars

Taro Hakase has worked with many popular artists.

• In 2013, he played on a song called "I Love You" by D-Lite from the K-pop group BigBang.
• In 2014, he was featured on a new version of Namie Amuro's song "Can You Celebrate?".
• He also played on a remix of Ariana Grande's song "Baby I" in 2014. This remix was on the Japanese version of her album My Everything.

Kryzler & Kompany Reunion

Kryzler & Kompany later got back together! They released a new album called New World in February 2015. This was to celebrate their 25th anniversary.

His Family Life

Taro Hakase is married to Japanese actress Mayuko Takata. They live together in Tokyo, Japan.

His Music Albums

Taro Hakase has released many albums throughout his career. Here are some of them:

• Watashi (1997)
• Canary (1998, with Toshi)
• Duets (1999)
• Endless Violin (2001)
• The Best Track (2002)
• Violinism II (2002)
• Traveling Notes (2003)
• Migration (2003)
• What a Day... (2004)
• Violinism with Love (2005)
• Sweet Melodies: Taro Plays Hakase (2006)
• Songs (2007)
• Classical Tuning (2008)
• My Favorite Songs (2009)
• Emotionism (2010)
• The Best of Taro Hakase (2011)
• With One Wish (2012)
• Japonism (2013)
• Etupirka (Best Acoustic) (2014)

Singles

He has also released several single songs:

• "Ben" (1997)
• "Natural High" (1997, with Toshi)
• "Brazil" (1997)
• "So Nice (Summer Samba)" (1999)
• "交響詩「希望」Symphonic Poem 'Hope'" (2006)

Special Collaborations

• "Baby I" with Ariana Grande, on the Japanese edition of her album My Everything (2014).