Kazuhiko Katoh was found hanged in his hotel room in Nagano on Saturday. He was 62. Local authorities suspect that Katoh commited suicide, as two copies of his last will were found at the scene.

Katoh began his musical career in 1965, with his college band The Folk Crusaders. The band was responsible for a number of hit songs, including Kaette Kita Yopparai and Imujingawa. Following the band's break-up in 1967, Katoh co-established The Sadistic Mika Band with "Sadistic" Mika Kato in 1972. The band broke up and reunited several times through its 35-year history. The Sadistic Mika Band became the first Japanese group to tour Great Britain, when they opened for Roxy Music through 1975. In the anime field, the group wrote and performed the opening and ending themes for Maruboshi Mabo-chan.

Outside of the bands, Katoh composed music for a number of projects. His most popular works include Mari Iijima's Do You Remember Love?, the theme song for Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, and Akino Arai's Yakusoku (Promise), the theme for Windaria. Do You Remember Love? debuted at #7 on Oricon's weekly singles chart, and placed at #38 on the 1984 yearly chart.

We at Anime Dream extend our deepest condolences to Katoh-san's family and friends.