A famous Japanese composer revealed that he had been taking credit for music composed by someone else for close to two decades.

Mamoru Samuragochi is known for composing Hiroshima Symphony No 1, which is a tribute to those who died in 1945 because of the atomic bomb. His work is well known among gamers as he has composed for games such as Resident Evil and Onimusha.

The composer, who is 50, lost the ability to hear when he was 35, but continued to work as a composer and claimed that all his compositions were made by himself alone. “The saddest thing for me is not to be able to hear an orchestra perform my work,” he said during a Time magazine interview back in 2001. “But then I think, I am composing not for myself but to make other people happy.”

It turns out that he would give his ideas to a composer who’s name he has not revealed and that composer would, well, compose. According to his lawyer, at the moment Samuragochi is”deeply sorry as he has betrayed fans and disappointed others. He knows he could not possibly make any excuse for what he has done. He is mentally distressed and not in a condition to properly express his own thoughts.”

Since this information has come out, a publisher who was set to release one of Samuragochi’s scores has cancelled and the organizer in charge of his current tour, which is nationwide, is debating whether or not to go on with any more performances.

[via EuroGamer, The Verge, The Japan Times, Le Nouvelliste]