Otomo Yoshihide - born in 1959 in Yokohama, Japan. As a teenager, he spent time in Fukushima. Staying independent, he has consistently composed a wide range of music from improvisation to noise music and pop, and his music talent has spread all over the world. He has a successful career as a film score composer and has produced more than 70 movie soundtracks. In recent years, he has produced special type of concerts and musical works in collaboration with other various artists under the name of "ensembles". In addition, one of his priorities is,producing musical workshop projects involving handicapped children. In 2011, after the Great East Japan Earthquake , he started "PROJECT FUKUSHIMA!" along with people in various sectors. He has been active beyond the music scene and this is the reason that he has attracted a great deal of attention. In 2012, he received the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in the category of Promotion for "PROJECT FUKUSHIMA!". In 2013, he received various prizes including the Japan Record Award for his accomplishments, such as composing the theme music for the TV drama "Amachan".

"I use my real name "Otomo Yoshihide" as my stage name. When you write your Japanese name in English alphabet, many people often write their given names first, then their family names, following in the Western traditional culture. But originally, some Asian countries, including Japan, write their family names first, and then their given names follow after that. In my opinion, there is not only one standard for people's names and we should respect the values each person attaches to their name. Calling someone by his first name is a wonderful custom in Western culture to express familiarity with each other but that custom is not necessary in Japan because nobody has ever called me by my first name. It does not mean that people are unlikely to become close friends with me. It is just that calling me "Otomo" seems easier. There are some places with such customs in the world; where people friendlily call you by your family name. I am definitely not a nationalist but I have a feeling that something is wrong with those people who do not only disregard the tradition I am familiar with, but would rather follow Western standards.

For this reason, I would like to continue using the notation "Otomo Yoshihide" as before. When you call me, please call me "Otomo" as before. This will not cause any problems in its use. Until now, many people have written my name "Yoshihide Ōtomo" or "Yoshihide Otomo" but please understand those notations are not my intention. I am sincerely grateful for your consideration."

"Saxophonist, composer, improvisor. From a small village in the highlands of Papua New Guinea where he calls home, he moved to Boston to study music at Berklee College of Music in 2014, whereafter graduation he relocated to Japan in late 2018.

Kei is currently based in Tokyo where he has been active in various parts of the music scene. He frequently collaborates with artists from other creative disciplines, such as contemporary dance, visual arts, and various media arts.

In 2021, he participated in the band led by Jim O'Rourke to perform Christian Marclay's graphic score "To be continued" as part of the "Christian Marclay Translating" exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

At the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM) in 2022, he took part in �Echoes for unknown egos�manifestations of sound�, the final presentation of a collaboration project by percussionist Shun Ishiwaka and YCAM which utilized AI and other technologies.

Kei is a member of SMTK, a rock/free jazz/instrumental band, as well as m�fe (em-doh-feh), an electro-acoustic ambient/avant trio. In 2020, he released Nothing Unspoken Under the Sun (2022)as his quartet's first album.

In late 2022, he joined Dos Monos on their first Europe tour opening for Black Midi, after which he joined Eiko Ishibashi on her solo performance at King's Place, London, both as a supporting musician.

In early 2025, Kei created music for the fashion brand HATRA�s FW25 runway show.

Kei periodically presents "dokus ", a series of live 90-minute acoustic solo saxophone performances through which he explores the relationship between time, space, body, and instrument and how the performance affects cognition and perception of these elements in both the audience and himself. He also performs solo sets using various electronics.

Recent and frequent collaborators / supporting bands include: Shun Ishiwaka, Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O'Rourke, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Otomo Yoshihide, Takuro Okada, betcover!!, Dos Monos, Urakami Souki, Geordie Greep, etc.

He has a role as an actor in the film Between the White and Black Keys (2023). Forbes JAPAN 30 Under 30 2023 recipient.

Kei has released Nothing Unspoken Under the Sun (2020) and The Moon, Its Recollections Abstracted (2022)."