Kenji Omura (May 5, 1949 - November 18, 1998) was a leading Japanese guitarist, composer, and arranger, and a highly regarded musician. Born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, Omura won the first prize in the rock category of the Yamaha Light Music Contest in 1969 and was recognized for his talent early on. After returning to Japan, he attended Sophia University. After returning to Japan, he entered Sophia University and joined the folk group "Akai Tori" and began his professional career in earnest.

Kenji Omura (May 5, 1949 - November 18, 1998) was a leading Japanese guitarist, composer, and arranger, and a highly regarded musician. Born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, Omura won the first prize in the rock category of the Yamaha Light Music Contest in 1969 and was recognized for his talent early on. After returning to Japan, he attended Sophia University. After returning to Japan, he entered Sophia University and joined the folk group "Akai Tori" and began his professional career in earnest.

Throughout the 1970s, he played in such bands as "Entrance," "Bamboo," and "Camino," and also emerged as a studio musician, touring the world in the 1980s as the support guitarist for the Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). His exquisite and emotionally rich guitar playing is still remembered by many fans. He also participated in the arrangements and guitar work of many artists, including Kumiko Yamashita's "Akamichi Komachi Dokitto," Chisato Oe, Minako Honda, Yosui Inoue, EPO, Taeko Onuki, Kazuhiko Kato, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Akiko Yano, and supported them with his arrangements and guitar work. His representative solo albums include "First Step" (1978), "Kenji-Shock" (1978), "Spring is Full" (1981), and "Gaijin Tengoku" (1983), and his genre-defying creativity and technique have greatly influenced future musicians.

Drummer Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami established a particularly deep musical bond with Kenji Omura. Since the 1970s, the two have performed together in many sessions as the backing band for artists such as Yosui Inoue, Akiko Yano, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 1982, the "KENJI OOMURA BAND" toured Japan with Ito Hirokazu and Omura. In 1982, Omura toured Japan with the "Kenji Oomura Band," which, along with Hiroki Ito (bass) and Hiroyuki Namba (keyboards), became a driving force in the Japanese fusion/jazz world, captivating audiences. There is an anecdote that when Omura made an impromptu tempo change at one of their live performances, Murakami immediately responded and matched the rhythm, an episode that has been passed down to posterity as symbolizing the high degree of trust and musical sensitivity between the two musicians.

Shuichi Murakami said that Omura was one of the few people with whom he and Murakami were able to establish a conversation through eye contact during a performance, indicating that their relationship went beyond music. The "Kenji Omura Best Live Tracks" series, a collection of previously unreleased live recordings released in 2003, includes Murakami's participation on stage, and the recordings of their collaborations are still loved by many music fans today.

Kenji Omura's guitar and Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami's drums. The waves of sound that intersected between them created a supreme moment in Japanese music history that continues to resonate in the hearts of many listeners today without fading away.