Composer and musicologist, born in Yokohama and living in Paris (1932- ). His grandfather, Keizo Tamba (1854-1927), was a professor of pharmacy at Tokyo University. He was raised in a family where his father liked to sing utai (singing parts of Noh), while her mother often practiced the violin sitting on the tatami. This atmosphere making him decide on a career as a composer, he graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geidai).

When he told his teacher, Tomojirō Ikenouchi, that he would like to pursue his study in America or France, the latter advised him to go to France. Obtaining French government scholarships, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he won deuxième prix (the second prize) and in 1963 premier prix (the first prize) at the composition class of Tony Aubin. Then, in 1964, he gained premier accesit (the third prize) and deuxième prix at the analyze class of Olivier Messiaen. The latter, paying attention to the career of his students, advised Tamba that he should study either the technique of serial music or that of musique concrète. Tamba selected the latter. Showing a letter of recommendation written by Messiaen to Pierre Schaeffer, he entered the GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) in the ORTF (present-day Radio France). The ORTF contributed to the reputation of Tamba, publishing some of his works and organizing a concert titled ‘Journée d’Akira Tamba (Day of Akira Tamba)’ in 1979.

He also began to research Japanese traditional music at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), following the advice of Messiaen and Jacques Chailley, a leading French musicologist. Tamba’s theses ‘La structure musicale du Nô

(The Musical Structure of Noh)’ and ‘La théorie musicale japonaise du 8e à la fin du 19e siècle (The Japanese Musical Theory from 8th Century to the 19th Century)’, both submitted to the University of Paris, gave him his PhD in musicology in 1971, and his Doctorat d’État in 1986. A research director (directeur de recherche) at the CNRS, Tamba often taught at the University of Paris. He wrote number of essays on Japanese music, like liner notes of the CD collection ‘Ocora’, published by Radio France.

In his works, he has employed techniques based on notions of traditional Japanese music such as ‘Jo-ha-kyū’. He inherited this attitude from Messiaen, who put importance on deducing systems from all sorts of music. He has written for various instruments including Japanese traditional ones. Since 2002, he is the music director of ‘Hougaku Hijiri-kai’. His opera, Shiramine (2000-08), the duration of which is about two hours and a half, was premiered in 2014 in Japan. He is married to Irène Mecz, a linguist specializing in oriental languages.