Historic Emmy Nomination: "SHOGUN," starring and produced by Hiroyuki Sanada, makes history in the Music category

“SHOGUN,” for which Taro Ishida was in charge of musical arrangement, was nominated in two categories: Best Theme Song and Best Composition. Based on gagaku and traditional Japanese music, he is the first Japanese to achieve this feat.

Historic Emmy Nominations

On July 17th, the Emmy Award nominees were announced, and “SHOGUN,” produced by Disney and starring and produced by Sanada Hiroyuki, was nominated for numerous awards, including Best Drama.

Among these, the nominations in the music category are particularly noteworthy.

It is extremely rare for a Japanese person to be nominated in two Emmy Award music categories (Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score) / Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music), and this is the first time in history that music related to traditional Japanese music and gagaku has been nominated.

Taro Ishida (Drifter Inc.), who was in charge of arranging and recording the in-game music and theme song for “SHOGUN,” has attracted attention both in Japan and overseas, and commented, “I hope that along with the story, people will also pay attention to the music that gives it its layered nature.”

About Taro Ishida

Taro Ishida is a composer living in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, and is known as a rare composer who works with gagaku music in Japan. He studied music at Tokyo University of the Arts and has been involved in a wide range of creative activities, including spatial music for art exhibitions and music used in PR videos for major companies. He began composing gagaku music 10 years ago and has been involved in a variety of activities ever since.

About the production of the “SHOGUN” soundtrack

Production of the SHOGUN soundtrack continued for approximately two years.

Ishida has been commissioned by a Los Angeles composition team including Academy Award-winning composer Atticus Ross to perform a variety of arrangements and recordings related to gagaku and traditional Japanese music.

The music was transcribed, arranged, and tuned in a studio in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, and recording took place in various locations around the country, including Tokyo.

A total of several dozen traditional Japanese musicians, including gagaku instruments, shakuhachi, shomyo (the voice of a monk), kokyu, horagai, shamisen, and singing, gathered for the recording, and worked remotely with Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Nick Tuba in Los Angeles to record and arrange the music. The gagaku performance was commissioned to members of Reigakusha, one of Japan’s leading gagaku groups.

About Gagaku and Traditional Japanese Music Arrangements

Ishida said, “I was particular about expressing the most cheerful sound of the instruments by using only simple melodies from classical music. In the production process, I incorporated a series of ideas that broke the stereotype, such as interweaving instruments from different eras and deliberately leaving a discrepancy between the beats and sounds.

Ishida also recalls, “Atticus Ross and his colleagues were not bound by the conventional wisdom of traditional Japanese music, in a good way.”

Gagaku and traditional Japanese music to the world

This Emmy nomination can be seen as proof that traditional Japanese music and gagaku are forms of music that are appreciated around the world.

I hope that this will be an opportunity for Japanese music to take flight even further around the world.

The final winners will be announced on September 16, 2024, but we would like to let you know early as just being nominated is an extremely valuable achievement.