Photo: 朝日新聞社 / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
I love that Ikuma Dan never fit the stiff "grand maestro" mold I expected. Born in Tokyo in 1924, he came up through the chaos of wartime and rebuilt-postwar Japan, and you can feel that weight settle into his music without it ever turning grim. On the podium he was the real deal, but it's his opera Yuzuru that gets me, the way it folds an old Japanese folk tale into something tender and unmistakably homegrown. What I find most charming is that he wasn't just a tunesmith, he was a writer too, an essayist with a dry, wandering wit, the kind of cultured guy who'd notice the small human stuff. He died in 2001 while traveling, which somehow fits, a lifelong restless spirit who stayed curious right to the end.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
Overview
Ikuma Dan (1924–2001) was a Japanese composer, conductor, musicologist, and essayist born in Tokyo. He is best remembered for his opera Yuzuru (Twilight Crane), which stands as one of the landmark works of Japanese operatic repertoire. He received the Japan Art Academy Award and the Yomiuri Prize for Literature in 1966, and was designated a Person of Cultural Merit in 1999. He died on May 17, 2001.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Ikuma Dan
- Name (Japanese)
- 團伊玖磨
- Reading
- だん いくま
- Born
- April 7, 1924 – May 17, 2001
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Rat
- Origin
- Tokyo, Japan
- Active years
- 1945 - 2001
- Occupation
- Conductor / Composer / Musicologist / Essayist
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- 1999: Person of Cultural Merit
- 1966: Japan Art Academy Award
- 1966: Yomiuri Prize for Literature
3. Works & records
Works summary
- Appearances
- 152 (1950–2021)
- By year
- 1950: 2, 1952: 5, 1953: 1, 1954: 2, 1955: 5, 1957: 2, 1958: 2, 1959: 3, 1960: 2, 1961: 1, 1962: 2, 1963: 5, 1964: 4, 1965: 4, 1966: 1, 1968: 3, 1969: 2, 1970: 1, 1973: 3, 1974: 2, 1975: 1, 1976: 4, 1977: 2, 1978: 3, 1979: 2, 1981: 1, 1982: 2, 1983: 4, 1984: 5, 1985: 3, 1986: 2, 1987: 2, 1988: 3, 1989: 1, 1990: 4, 1991: 1, 1992: 2, 1993: 2, 1994: 3, 1997: 2, 1998: 5, 1999: 2, 2000: 1, 2001: 1, 2002: 1, 2004: 1, 2005: 1, 2010: 1, 2012: 2, 2021: 1
- Debut work
- 交響曲第1番 イ調
Filmography / notable works
| Category | Title |
|---|---|
| Representative Work | Yuzuru (Twilight Crane) |
4. Links
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%98%E4%BC%8A%E7%8E%96%E7%A3%A8
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2381947
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-08-26
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Ikuma Dan born?
Born April 7, 1924.
When did Ikuma Dan die?
Died May 17, 2001, aged 77.
Where was Ikuma Dan from?
Ikuma Dan was from Tokyo, Japan.
What did Ikuma Dan do?
Ikuma Dan worked as Conductor, Composer, Musicologist, Essayist.
When was Ikuma Dan active?
1945 - 2001.
What was Ikuma Dan known for?
Notable works include Yuzuru (Twilight Crane).
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