A lifelong student of the piano, Yumiko Morioka was born in Tokyo in 1956. A child prodigy, she took up the instrument under her mother’s tutelage at just three years old and by her teens she had won multiple piano scholarships. Her talent was so obvious that she was invited to train in America, eventually graduating from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a piano major during John Adams’ reign as head of composition.

After graduation, Morioka returned to Japan but struggled to find her place musically, working mostly on commercial songwriting assignments. Frustrated, and at times even embarrassed by her wildly successful pop music output, she turned to the works of Brian Eno and the surroundings of her coastal home in the Izu Peninsula south of Tokyo for inspiration. It was here that she began to work on the compositions that would eventually become Resonance, her first and only solo recording, initially released on Akira Ito's ‘Green & Water’ imprint in 1987.

By 1994, Morioka had relocated to America and her solo music career had given way to the joys of starting a family and her new life in Virginia and then California. It was, and still is, a shock for her to learn that Resonance had gained the attention of a new audience outside of Japan through blog posts and YouTube album uploads.

In 2018, her home in Santa Rosa, California was destroyed by wildfires that consumed her possessions, musical equipment, scores and recordings. Morioka was lucky to escape with her life; her quick thinking neighbor raised the alarm in the middle of the night giving her just enough time to escape safely before then tragically watching her home burn to the ground.

In the aftermath, Morioka returned to Japan in an attempt to rebuild her life. She found work writing music for commercial projects and pop acts before opening her own chocolate shop in the Jiyugaoka neighborhood of Tokyo - back where it all began.

It was around this time that Resonance was re-released by UK-based independent record label Metron Records, leading to a new chapter of her musical career, with global audiences connecting to her unique ambient sonic language.

Today, Morioka resides in Gunma, Japan and continues to compose, perform and create. In July, 2026 she performed around the UK and at the Elgar Room at Royal Albert Hall. More international performances will be announced soon.