Shiro Fukai

The name of Shiro Fukai (1907-1959) is barely known in the West. Born in the far north of Japan and in ill-health as a young man, he had the leisure to memorize scores he was able to obtain from a library. He eventually studied with the French-influenced composer Meirô Sugawara, only ten years his senior. He tended not to be particularly interested in Japanese musical influences, preferring to imitate music by Ravel and others.