Photo: Flickr user Ferricide / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
I genuinely don't know how Yoko Kanno's brain works, and honestly I don't want it explained to me because the mystery is half the fun. This is the woman who could score Cowboy Bebop with smoky jazz one minute, then swerve into sweeping orchestral stuff, then drop some unclassifiable folk-pop thing like "Lion," and somehow every lane sounds like she's lived there for years. A Sendai kid and Waseda grad who quietly became one of the most genre-fluid composers anime ever produced, she never seemed to need the spotlight herself, which makes it all the cooler that her music alone built a worldwide fanbase. I love that she just keeps the tap running. Composer, singer, arranger, mad scientist with a melody for everything. Pure craft, zero coasting, and I'll follow wherever her ears wander next.
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
Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, singer, and arranger born on March 16, 1964, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. She is widely recognized for her genre-spanning work across anime soundtracks, jazz, and world music, and attended Waseda University after graduating from Miyagi Prefectural Sendai Mukoyama High School. Her representative work includes the song "Lion." She maintains a low public profile while her official website remains active at kannoyoko.net.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Yoko Kanno
- Name (Japanese)
- 菅野よう子
- Reading
- かんの ようこ
- Born
- March 16, 1964 (age 62)
- Origin
- Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
- Occupation
- Composer / Singer / Jazz Musician / DJ Producer / Arranger
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Dragon
2. Background
- High school
- Miyagi Prefectural Sendai Mukoyama High School
- University
- Waseda University
3. Works & records
Works summary
- Works
- 107 (1985–2025)
- By year (titles with a known year)
- 1985: 1, 1986: 1, 1987: 1, 1988: 2, 1990: 2, 1992: 2, 1993: 3, 1994: 3, 1995: 3, 1996: 3, 1997: 3, 1998: 5, 1999: 3, 2000: 4, 2001: 3, 2002: 5, 2003: 3, 2004: 3, 2005: 3, 2006: 5, 2007: 7, 2008: 3, 2009: 5, 2010: 1, 2011: 2, 2012: 3, 2013: 2, 2014: 2, 2015: 4, 2017: 1, 2021: 3, 2023: 3, 2025: 1, year unknown: 12
- Debut work
- 三國志
Filmography / notable works
| Category | Title |
|---|---|
| Representative Work | Lion |
4. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.kannoyoko.net
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8F%85%E9%87%8E%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E5%AD%90
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q224981
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. 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 Yoko Kanno born?
Yoko Kanno was born on March 16, 1964 and is 62 years old.
Where is Yoko Kanno from?
Yoko Kanno is from Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
What does Yoko Kanno do?
Yoko Kanno works as Composer, Singer, Jazz Musician, DJ Producer, Arranger.
Where did Yoko Kanno study?
Yoko Kanno attended Waseda University.
What is Yoko Kanno known for?
Yoko Kanno's notable works include Lion.
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