Jazz pianist Yuji Ohno, who composed for the Lupin the Third anime series for decades and created its recognizable theme song, has died at the age of 84. The announcement on Ohno’s X/Twitter account says that he passed of old age on May 4.
A private funeral was held for Ohno. There are plans for a memorial service.
Ohno was born in 1941 in Shizuoka’s Atami. He started learning the piano in elementary school, and later taught himself jazz in high school. Ohno later attended Keio University, and was a part of its Light Music Society school band.
Before Ohno embarked on his composing career, which also saw him working on live-action series like Nata o Oe (1970), Nebula Mask Machineman (1984), and Edo no Yojimbo (1994), he had performed as a jazz pianist with the Koji Fujika Quintet, the Hideo Shiraki Quintet, and his own jazz trio.
Ohno began composing music for Lupin the Third with 1977 to 1980’s Lupin the Third Part 2. He would go on to work on many other entries in the heist series, among them:
• Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Mamo (movie)
• Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (movie)
• Lupin the 3rd: Legend of Gold Babylon (movie)
• Lupin the Third Part 3
• Lupin the 3rd: Bye Bye, Lady Liberty (TV special)
• Lupin the 3rd: The Hemingway Papers (TV special)
• Lupin the 3rd: Napoleon’s Diary (TV special)
• Lupin the 3rd: From Siberia with Love (TV special)
• Lupin the 3rd: Island of Assassins (TV special)
• Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini (TV special)
• Lupin III: Dead or Alive (movie)
• Lupin the 3rd – Farewell to Nostradamus (movie)
• Lupin the 3rd Episode 0: First Contact (TV special)
• Lupin III: Green Vs. Red (OVA)
• Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan (TV special) [co-credit]
• Lupin the Third Part 4
• Lupin III: The First (CG movie)
• Lupin the Third Part 5
• Lupin the Third Part 6
• Lupin the 3rd vs. Cat’s Eye (ONA movie)
In 2006, Ohno founded the Lupin the Third-focused Yuji Ohno & Lupintic Five band, which became Yuji Ohno & Lupintic Six in 2016. The band is among the artists who will perform music from Lupin the Third at the previously announced Billboard Live show
Image source: Yuji Ohno official website
Outside of Lupin the Third, Ohno created music for anime like Captain Future, Space Cobra (the opening theme), and Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars.
Source: @lupinjazz