“In his first public appearance since the scandal broke in early February, Mamoru Samuragochi said at a packed news conference in Tokyo that ‘I am truly sorry for the trouble I caused with my lies,’ ” writes Alexander Martin in Friday’s (3/7) Wall Street Journal. “Another man [Takashi Niigaki] came forward in early February to say that he had actually composed most of Mr. Samuragochi’s works.… Previously described by his promoters as a 21st-century Beethoven, Mr. Samuragochi acknowledged in written statements last month that he had Mr. Niigaki”—a professor at Japan’s Toho Gakuen School of Music—“compose music for him over the years. He also said that over the past three years he had regained some of his hearing.… Last month, Mr. Niigaki described himself as Mr. Samuragochi’s ‘accomplice’ and said he wrote more than 20 pieces for him over the years, including his most famous work, Symphony No. 1 ‘Hiroshima.’ … Samuragochi’s tale has captivated media, leading Japanese national broadcaster NHK to air a documentary last year showing Mr. Samuragochi visiting Japan’s northeastern coast and meeting survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. NHK apologized, saying it should have checked the story more carefully.”
Posted March 12, 2014
