COMPOSER
Kenji Kawai
1957 - Today

Kenji Kawai
Kenji Kawai (川井 憲次, Kawai Kenji; born April 23, 1957) is a Japanese music composer and arranger. Known as one of the biggest names in the soundtrack world, he has worked on a wide range of mixed media productions, including anime, TV shows, films and video games. Among his credits are Toei's Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever, Tsui Hark's Seven Swords and Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon; Wilson Yip's Ip Man; Mamoru Oshii's films The Red Spectacles, StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops, Ghost in the Shell, Mobile Police Patlabor, and Assault Girls. He also worked on the OVA and TV anime adaptations of Vampire Princess Miyu, The Sky Crawlers and Avalon; the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku; the live-action adaptation of Gantz and Hideo Nakata's films Ring, Ring 2, Chaos, Dark Water and Kaidan. Read more on Wikipedia
His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Kenji Kawai is the 1,018th most popular composer (down from 717th in 2019), the 1,125th most popular biography from Japan (down from 796th in 2019) and the 10th most popular Japanese Composer.
Memorability Metrics
Page views of Kenji Kawai by language
Among COMPOSERS
Among composers, Kenji Kawai ranks 1,018 out of 1,451. Before him are Erkki Aaltonen, Mikael Tariverdiev, Knut Nystedt, Jean Mouton, Jāzeps Vītols, and Friedrich Kiel. After him are Cristóbal Halffter, Sándor Végh, Alberto Franchetti, Gustav Lange, Edvard Mirzoyan, and Philippe Sarde.
Most Popular Composers in Wikipedia
Go to all RankingsErkki Aaltonen
1910 - 1990
HPI: 58.08
Rank: 1,012
Mikael Tariverdiev
1931 - 1996
HPI: 58.08
Rank: 1,013
Knut Nystedt
1915 - 2014
HPI: 58.07
Rank: 1,014
Jean Mouton
1459 - 1522
HPI: 58.05
Rank: 1,015
Jāzeps Vītols
1863 - 1948
HPI: 58.03
Rank: 1,016
Friedrich Kiel
1821 - 1885
HPI: 58.02
Rank: 1,017
Kenji Kawai
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.97
Rank: 1,018
Cristóbal Halffter
1930 - 2021
HPI: 57.97
Rank: 1,019
Sándor Végh
1912 - 1997
HPI: 57.97
Rank: 1,020
Alberto Franchetti
1860 - 1942
HPI: 57.96
Rank: 1,021
Gustav Lange
1830 - 1889
HPI: 57.95
Rank: 1,022
Edvard Mirzoyan
1921 - 2012
HPI: 57.93
Rank: 1,023
Philippe Sarde
1948 - Present
HPI: 57.91
Rank: 1,024
Contemporaries
Among people born in 1957, Kenji Kawai ranks 215. Before him are Goodluck Jonathan, Jean-Christophe Yoccoz, Carlos Renato Frederico, Nick Hornby, Ali Larijani, and Serhii Plokhy. After him are Eric S. Raymond, Gary Lewis, Mirjana Karanović, Simon McBurney, Maurizio Arrivabene, and Michaëlle Jean.
Others Born in 1957
Go to all RankingsGoodluck Jonathan
POLITICIAN
1957 - Present
HPI: 58.07
Rank: 209
Jean-Christophe Yoccoz
MATHEMATICIAN
1957 - 2016
HPI: 58.02
Rank: 210
Carlos Renato Frederico
SOCCER PLAYER
1957 - Present
HPI: 58.02
Rank: 211
Nick Hornby
WRITER
1957 - Present
HPI: 58.01
Rank: 212
Ali Larijani
POLITICIAN
1957 - Present
HPI: 58.00
Rank: 213
Serhii Plokhy
HISTORIAN
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.99
Rank: 214
Kenji Kawai
COMPOSER
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.97
Rank: 215
Eric S. Raymond
COMPUTER SCIENTIST
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.96
Rank: 216
Gary Lewis
ACTOR
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.92
Rank: 217
Mirjana Karanović
ACTOR
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.91
Rank: 218
Simon McBurney
ACTOR
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.82
Rank: 219
Maurizio Arrivabene
BUSINESSPERSON
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.72
Rank: 220
Michaëlle Jean
JOURNALIST
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.71
Rank: 221
In Japan
Among people born in Japan, Kenji Kawai ranks 1,125 out of 6,245. Before him are Kiyotsugu Hirayama (1874), Hiroyuki Usui (1953), Norio Wakamoto (1945), Shigeru Kayano (1926), Shigemitsu Sudo (1956), and Akira Terao (1947). After him are Jinichi Kusaka (1888), Masayoshi Ito (1913), Hiroki Iizuka (1978), Susumu Hirasawa (1954), Minoru Chiaki (1917), and Ikuo Matsumoto (1941).
Others born in Japan
Go to all RankingsKiyotsugu Hirayama
ASTRONOMER
1874 - 1943
HPI: 58.04
Rank: 1,119
Hiroyuki Usui
SOCCER PLAYER
1953 - Present
HPI: 58.03
Rank: 1,120
Norio Wakamoto
ACTOR
1945 - Present
HPI: 58.02
Rank: 1,121
Shigeru Kayano
POLITICIAN
1926 - 2006
HPI: 58.01
Rank: 1,122
Shigemitsu Sudo
SOCCER PLAYER
1956 - Present
HPI: 58.01
Rank: 1,123
Akira Terao
ACTOR
1947 - Present
HPI: 58.00
Rank: 1,124
Kenji Kawai
COMPOSER
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.97
Rank: 1,125
Jinichi Kusaka
MILITARY PERSONNEL
1888 - 1972
HPI: 57.97
Rank: 1,126
Masayoshi Ito
POLITICIAN
1913 - 1994
HPI: 57.96
Rank: 1,127
Hiroki Iizuka
SOCCER PLAYER
1978 - Present
HPI: 57.88
Rank: 1,128
Susumu Hirasawa
MUSICIAN
1954 - Present
HPI: 57.87
Rank: 1,129
Minoru Chiaki
ACTOR
1917 - 1999
HPI: 57.86
Rank: 1,130
Ikuo Matsumoto
SOCCER PLAYER
1941 - Present
HPI: 57.86
Rank: 1,131
Among COMPOSERS In Japan
Among composers born in Japan, Kenji Kawai ranks 10. Before him are Miki Matsubara (1959), Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933), Nobuo Uematsu (1959), Shunsuke Kikuchi (1931), Koichi Sugiyama (1931), and Keiko Abe (1937). After him are Akira Ifukube (1914), Koji Kondo (1961), Yasushi Akutagawa (1925), Fumio Hayasaka (1914), Shirō Sagisu (1957), and Akira Yamaoka (1968).
Miki Matsubara
1959 - 2004
HPI: 64.53
Rank: 4
Toshi Ichiyanagi
1933 - 2022
HPI: 61.46
Rank: 5
Nobuo Uematsu
1959 - Present
HPI: 60.17
Rank: 6
Shunsuke Kikuchi
1931 - 2021
HPI: 59.87
Rank: 7
Koichi Sugiyama
1931 - 2021
HPI: 59.87
Rank: 8
Keiko Abe
1937 - Present
HPI: 59.67
Rank: 9
Kenji Kawai
1957 - Present
HPI: 57.97
Rank: 10
Akira Ifukube
1914 - 2006
HPI: 57.62
Rank: 11
Koji Kondo
1961 - Present
HPI: 56.91
Rank: 12
Yasushi Akutagawa
1925 - 1989
HPI: 56.85
Rank: 13
Fumio Hayasaka
1914 - 1955
HPI: 56.62
Rank: 14
Shirō Sagisu
1957 - Present
HPI: 56.11
Rank: 15
Akira Yamaoka
1968 - Present
HPI: 55.27
Rank: 16