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Curated category

Japanese video game composers

  • Kentarō HanedaKentarō Haneda entered the world in Tokyo, Japan. His musical journey began at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. He completed his formal studies there before…
  • Mitsuto SuzukiIn the early 1980s, Mitsuto Suzuki's life changed when his older brother brought home a synthesizer. The instrument became a playground for the young boy who…
  • Naoshi MizutaNaoshi Mizuta was born in Kōchi, Japan, during the year 1972. His fascination with music started when he was a child in the second or third grade of…
  • Masashi HamauzuMasashi Hamauzu entered the world in Munich, Germany, during 1971. His mother taught piano while his father Akimori Hamauzu sang opera.
  • Tappi IwaseTappi Iwase studied music with Dick Grove at the Grove School of Music before that institution closed in 1991. This training provided the foundation for his…
  • Yuji YoshinoYuji Yoshino began his career composing for video games in the early 2000s. His first major credit appeared on .hack//Legend of the Twilight, a title…
  • Junya NakanoJunya Nakano was born in Kyoto, Japan. His parents introduced him to music when he was three years old. They offered him lessons in the electronic organ…
  • Masaharu IwataMasaharu Iwata was born in Tokyo on the 26th of October 1966. His earliest attempts at music were poor experiments during his school years.
  • Hitoshi SakimotoHitoshi Sakimoto was born on the 26th of February 1969 in Tokyo, Japan. He began developing an interest in music during elementary school when he taught…
  • Kumi TaniokaKumi Tanioka was born in Hiroshima, Japan. Her childhood there included studying music and composition while attending school.
  • Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomura was born on the 19th of October 1967 in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. She began playing piano lessons at the age of four or five years old.
  • Akira YamaokaAkira Yamaoka was born in Niigata on the 6th of February 1968. He initially sought to become a designer rather than a musician.
  • Rika MuranakaRika Muranaka left her native Tokyo as a teenager to study jazz piano with Alan Swain in Chicago. She began writing music at the age of 16, but initially…
  • Joe HisaishiHisaishi was born in Nakano, Nagano, Japan. He started learning the violin at the age of four using the Suzuki method. His father took him to watch hundreds…
  • Nobuo UematsuNobuo Uematsu began playing the piano at age twelve in Kōchi, Japan. He never took formal lessons despite having an older sister who played the instrument.
  • Masayoshi SokenMasayoshi Soken was born in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. His family later moved to Tokyo, Japan. He attended the Tokyo University of Science and…