Hikaru Hayashi
Japanese composer (1931–2012)

Hikaru Hayashi (林 光, Hayashi Hikaru; October 22, 1931 – January 5, 2012) was a Japanese composer, pianist and conductor. Hayashi is considered to be one of the most renowned and accomplished Japanese composers of the postwar period. In particular, Hayashi was noted for his choral suite Scenes from Hiroshima (1958–2001).
In exploring the possibilities of Japanese language opera, Hayashi composed more than 30 operas. He was artistic director and resident composer of the Opera Theatre Konnyakuza. His oeuvre also includes symphonic works, works for band, chamber music, choral works, songs and more than 100 film scores. Hayashi was also the author of more than 20 books including Nihon opera no yume (日本オペラの夢 The Dream of Japanese Opera).
In 1998 Hayashi won the 30th Suntory Music Award.
Early life
Hikaru Hayashi was born in Tokyo on October 22, 1931. He was the cousin of renowned flautist Ririko Hayashi.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1618037. VIAF identifies the subject as 14960419. The Library of Congress control number is n83181466. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1931, 2012, 1958 and 2001.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hikaru Hayashi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.