Masayoshi Takanaka

Masayoshi Takanaka (born March 27, 1953) is a Japanese musician and record producer. Known for his virtuosic guitar playing and skilled musicianship, Takanaka rose to fame and achieved commercial success during the 1970s and 1980s. He composes and performs across various different music genres. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Takanaka has released more than 20 albums and continues to perform.

Takanaka was born in the Akabane district in Kita, Tokyo, to a Chinese father from Nanjing and a Japanese mother whose surname was Takanaka. His father immigrated to Japan after World War II and later married his mother. Soon after Masayoshi's birth, the family moved to Ōimachi in Shinagawa, where they ran a mahjong parlor called Sangenkaku in the local shopping district.

When he was in the fourth grade, Masayoshi was naturalized as a Japanese citizen, changing his name from Masayoshi Liu (劉 正義) to Masayoshi Takanaka (高中 正義). He began his formal education at Ono Gakuen Elementary School, a private institution, but transferred to Musashi Institute of Technology Junior High School (now Tokyo City University Junior High School) since Ono became an all-girls school at the secondary level. Although he spent most of his time playing guitar, his grades remained excellent. He attempted to transfer to Hibiya High School in order to pursue Tokyo University, but due to the group school assignment system in place at the time, he was instead placed at Kudan High School, a result he found disappointing. He opted instead to remain on the internal track and attend Musashi Institute of Technology High School.

Takanaka was introduced to music at a young age; his parents had records at home. Located near his home were dance halls where people learned to dance, especially Latin dances like the cha-cha-cha and the mambo, as his mother had particularly enjoyed those genres. In addition, his house was right next to a late-night café, so there was always music playing. He recalls going to sleep while hearing the vibrations of "Mambo No. 5".

Early on, Takanaka was only familiar with Japanese music, listening to Hibari Misora and the Crazy Cats. When he was around sixth grade, Takanaka's elder brother introduced him to the Beatles and the Ventures. Together they watched A Hard Day's Night (1964) and it was to Takanaka's shock to learn about Western music after having only known about Japanese music for so long. Soon after, he asked for an electric guitar and started taking lessons.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.