Toshio Hosokawa was born on October 23, 1955 in Hiroshima. He went to West Berlin to study composition with Isang Yun at the Hochschule der Künste in 1976. From 1983 to 1986, he studied with Klaus Huber at the Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg.

In 1980, he participated for the first time in the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt where his work was performed. Since then Hosokawa has presented his works in Europe and Japan gaining an international reputation and winning numerous awards and prizes including first prize in the Composition Competition on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester (1982), Rheingau Musikpreis (1998), Duisburger Musikpreis (1998) and musica viva-Preises...