Kitaro

Kitaro (喜多郎) was born in February 4, 1953 as Masanori Takahashi (高橋正則) in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, as the son of shintoistic farmers. His pseudonym "Kitaro" was given later by friends because of a Japanese television cartoon character.

Personal life

Kitaro is a star, but he is very modest. "Nature inspires me. I am only a messenger", he said. "To me, some songs are like clouds, some are like water". Since 1983 his reverence for nature leads Kitaro to annually give thanks to Mother Nature in a special "concert" on Mount Fuji or near his house in Colorado. On the day of the full moon of August he beats on the Taiko drum from dusk to dawn. Frequently his hands become bloodied, but he continues to pound.

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From 1983 till 1990 he was married with his first wife Yuki Taoka. Yuki is a daughter of Kazuo Taoka, godfather of Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest Yakuza syndicate. Kitaro and Yuki have a son, Ryunosuke, who lives in Japan. They separated because Kitaro worked most time in the United States while she lived and worked in Japan. In the middle of the 90s Kitaro married Keiko Matsubara, a musician who played on several of his albums. With her and her son Kitaro lives in Ward, outside Boulder, Colorado (USA) on a 180 acre (730,000 m²) spred and composes in his 2500 square foot (230 m²) home studio "Mochi House" (it is large enough to hold a 70 piece orchestra) his latest songs.

Related Topics:
Kazuo Taoka - Yamaguchi-gumi - Yakuza

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