Japan
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Rentaro Taki
Tokyo, Japan
Archival Overview
Pioneering Meiji-era Japanese composer and pianist who wrote the beloved song Kojo no Tsuki (The Moon over the Ruined Castle), fusing Western classical harmony with Japanese pentatonic lyricism.
Biographical Record
Rentaro Taki (1879–1903) graduated from the Tokyo Music School and traveled in 1901 to the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany to study piano and composition, becoming one of the first Japanese musicians to study classical music in Europe.
Falling gravely ill with tuberculosis in Leipzig, he was forced to return to Japan. His 1901 song 'Kojo no Tsuki' ('The Moon over the Ruined Castle'), inspired by the ruins of Oka Castle in Taketa, became an enduring national classic, famously arranged for jazz saxophone by Thelonious Monk. Taki died at just twenty-three.
Key Life Milestones
Composition of 'Kojo no Tsuki'
Composed the immortal melancholic art song fusing traditional Japanese scales with piano accompaniment.
Final Piano Piece 'Urami'
Composed his poignant final piano miniature 'Regret' on his deathbed at age twenty-three.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialOita, Japan