Kunihiko or Qunihico Hashimoto (橋本 國彦, Hashimoto Kunihiko, September 14, 1904 – May 6, 1949) was a Japanese composer, violinist, conductor, and musical educator. He was born in the Hongo district of Tokyo. In 1923, he entered the Tokyo Music School (presently Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music) where he studied violin and conducting. In composition, he was largely self-taught, but later he would study that subject as a graduate student at the same school. Initially, he was active as a composer and arranger, but he soon made himself a name as an accomplished teacher, and in 1933 was appointed as professor at his alma mater. Some of his students who would go on to become distinguished composers in their own right were Akio Yashiro, Yasushi Akutagawa, Ikuma Dan, and Toshiro Mayuzumi. See: List of music students by teacher: G to J#Kunihiko Hashimoto. Between 1934 and 1937, he visited Wien as a Japanese government scholar to study with
Egon Wellesz. During this period, he was introduced to the likes of
Alban Berg, Wilhelm Furtwängler, and
Bruno Walter. Before returning, he also made a sojourn to Los Angeles, where he studied with
Arnold Schoenberg. He died in Kamakura in 1949, 44 years of age, from gastric cancer.
