Kanichi Shimofusa, born in Saitama on March 31 in 1898, left his marks on the modern Japanese music world as a composer and as a music educator. His real name is Kakuzō Shimofusa.

Shimofusa graduated from Saitama Normal School and entered a teacher course at Tokyo Ongaku Gakkō (Tokyo Academy of Music, now the Faculty of Music at Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1917. He subsequently worked as a teacher at various schools in areas such as Niigata, Akita, Iwate, and Tochigi. From 1932, he went to Germany as a researcher of the Ministry of Education where studied the German laws of harmony and counterpoint under P. Hindemith in Berlin. He returned to Japan in 1934 and became an assistant professor in Tokyo Academy of Music, and eight years later he took up the position of professor. After the Pacific War, he trained the younger generation of students at the newly reorganized Tokyo University of the Arts. He passed away at the age of 64 on July 8 in 1962.

Shimofusa’s works include songs such as “Hanabi (Fireworks)”, “Nogiku (Wild Chrysanthemum)”, “Tanabata-sama” and various school songs. “Ichikotsu-chō Koto Kyōsōkyoku (Koto Concerto in Ichikotsu)” which was collaborated with Michio Miyagi and “Shamisen Kyōsōkyoku (Shamisen Concerto)” are two pieces which make use of traditional Japanese instruments. Shimofusa contributed to the field of music education by composing songs and writing harmonies. He also wrote many books about music theory such as “Taiihō (Counterpoint)” and “Sakkyoku-hō (the Way of Composition)”. Most important of all is the “Wasei-gaku (the Laws of Harmony)” which explains the basis of harmony and which has been an important reference to many Japanese musicians. The theory of music scale presented by Shimofusa attracted moreover the attention of the famous musicologist, Fumio Koizumi.

In the fields of composition, music education, and music research, Kanichi Shimofusa can be seen as an influential figure.