Born in Tokyo. Studied at Tokyo College of Music, Department of Conducting. In 1984, at the age of 26, he won the 1st Kirill Kondrashin International Youth Conductor Competition. Since then, he has performed with major orchestras such as the Orchester National de France, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He has held posts with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Of these, the Norrköping Symphony made a tour of Japan in 1994. In the United States, he served as Music Director the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, with Yo-Yo Ma and Midori. He left a number of famous performances with wonderful soloists such as
In recent years, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Milan Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra, Swiss-Italian Orchestra, Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovenia Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Guest performances at the Latvian National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Sao Paulo Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, etc. In Japan, as well as orchestras throughout the country, he is often invited by the Saito Kinen Orchestra and the Mito Chamber Orchestra and is highly praised.
In the field of opera conducting, Verdi's "Masquerade" and "Rigoletto" were highly acclaimed in his debut at the Sydney Opera, and a wide range of repertoire from Gluck, Mozart to Puccini, and the Japan premiere of Osbart Golihoff's "Ainadamar". has led numerous successful productions.
Since April 2008, he has been Chief Conductor of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, and has been Chief Conductor and Music Advisor since April 2014. In 2015, he won the Suntory Music Award with the group. Since April 2017, he has also served as the Friendship Guest Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. In April 2020, in his 13th season as Principal Conductor, he was appointed as the 13th Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. From April 2020, he will also serve as director of the Kyoto Concert Hall. He is also passionate about educational activities as a professor of Tokyo College of Music's conducting department.