Born in Japan in 1988, Takanari Koyama began his studies in his hometown of Aichi with Hideki Hoshi. From 2008 onwards, he was a student of Josef Niederhammer and Werner Fleischmann at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He participated in the academy programme of the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra and was an extra player in the Vienna Symphony. He also took part in masterclasses and private lessons with Jurek Dybał, Bogusław Furtok, Božo Paradžik, Dorin Marc, and Rinat Ibragimov.

Since 2013, he has been Principal Bass player of the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, which won an Echo Klassik Award in Hamburg in 2017. He has also played as Principal Bassist in the Swedish O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Takanari Koyama won the First Prize at the Music Academy Competition for Strings in Vienna in 2013 and the Third Prize at the International Double Bass Competition in Wroclaw in 2014.

Since 2017, Takanari Koyama has been teaching at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.