Yoko Shimomura

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Template:Nihongo is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. Shimomura wrote music for several games there, including Final Fight, Street Fighter II, and The King of Dragons.

Shimomura left Capcom and joined Square (now Square Enix) in 1993, with her first project there being Live A Live. There she would compose the music for games such as Super Mario RPG, Legend of Mana, and Parasite Eve. Shimomura would later become better known for writing the music for the Kingdom Hearts series. She left Square to become a freelancer in 2002, continuing to work with them on later games such as The 3rd Birthday and Final Fantasy XV.

Other well-known games Shimomura has worked on include the Mario & Luigi series, Radiant Historia, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Her works have been performed in multiple video game music concerts, with her music also published as arranged albums and piano scores. Shimomura is a member of the music label Brave Wave Productions. She received the BAFTA Fellowship award in 2025. Template:TOClimit

Early life

Shimomura was born on October 19, 1967, in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.<ref name="Yokoprofile"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She developed an interest for music at a young age, and started taking piano lessons "at the age of four or five".<ref name="ROCKETBABYint"/> She began composing her own music by playing the piano randomly and pretending to compose, eventually coming up with her own pieces, the first of which she says she still remembers how to play.<ref name="ROCKETBABYint"/> Shimomura attended Osaka College of Music, and graduated as a piano major in 1988.

Upon graduation, Shimomura intended to become a piano instructor and was extended a job offer to become a piano teacher at a music store, but as she had been an avid gamer for many years she decided to send some samples of her work to various video game companies that were recruiting at the university.<ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> Capcom invited her in for an audition and interview, and she was offered a job there. Her family and instructors were dismayed with her change in focus, as video game music was not well respected, and "they had paid [her] tuition for an expensive music school and couldn't understand why [she] would accept such a job", but Shimomura accepted the job at Capcom anyway.<ref name="ROCKETBABYint"/><ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/>

Career

Shimomura in 2007

While working for Capcom, Shimomura contributed to the soundtracks of over 16 games, including the successful Street Fighter II, which she composed all but three pieces for.Template:Efn The first soundtrack she worked on at the company was for Samurai Sword in 1988. Final Fight, in 1989, was her first work to receive a separate soundtrack album release, on an album of music from several Capcom games.<ref name="FinalFightalbum"/> The first soundtrack album to exclusively feature her work came a year later for the soundtrack to Street Fighter II.<ref name="StreetFighteralbum"/> While she began her tenure at Capcom working on games for video game consoles, by 1990 she had moved to the arcade game division.<ref name="Yokoprofile"/><ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> She was a member of the company's in-house band Alph Lyla, which played various Capcom game music, including pieces written by Shimomura. She performed live with the group on a few occasions, including playing piano during Alph Lyla's appearance at the 1992 Game Music Festival.

In 1993, Shimomura left Capcom to join another game company, Square. She stated that the move was done because she was interested in writing "classical-style" music for fantasy role-playing games. While working for Capcom, she was in the arcade department and was unable to transfer to the console department to work on their role-playing video game series Breath of Fire, although she did contribute one track to the first game in the series.<ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> Her first project at Square was the score for the role-playing video game Live A Live in 1994. While she was working on the score to Super Mario RPG the following year, she was asked to join Noriko Matsueda on the music to the futuristic role-playing game Front Mission. Although she was overworked doing both scores and it was not the genre that she was interested in, she found herself unable to refuse after her first attempt to do so unexpectedly happened in the presence of the president of Square, Tetsuo Mizuno.<ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> These games were followed by Tobal No. 1, the last score she worked on with another composer for a decade.<ref name="Yokoprofile"/>

Over the next few years, she composed the soundtrack to several games, including Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana. Of all her compositions, Shimomura considers the soundtrack to Legend of Mana the one that best expresses herself and the soundtrack remains Shimomura's personal favourite.<ref name="Biography"/><ref name="ROCKETBABYint"/> Parasite Eve on the PlayStation had the first soundtrack by Shimomura that included a vocal song, as it was the first game she had written for running on a console system that had the sound capability for one.<ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> In 2002 she wrote the score for Kingdom Hearts, which she has said is the most "special" soundtrack to her, as well as a turning point in her career; she named the soundtracks to Street Fighter II and Super Mario RPG as the other two significant points in her life as a composer.<ref name="GMOint"/>

Kingdom Hearts was wildly successful, shipping more than four million copies worldwide;<ref name="KH4MIL"/> Shimomura's music was frequently cited as one of the highlights of the game, and the title track has been ranked as the fourth-best role-playing game title track of all time.<ref name="KHIGN"/><ref name="titletrack"/> The soundtrack has led to two albums of piano arrangements.<ref name="GMOint"/> Kingdom Hearts was the last soundtrack that she worked on at Square. After the release of Kingdom Hearts in 2002, Shimomura left Square for maternity leave, and began work as a freelancer in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has built on the work she did while at Square; since leaving she has composed or is composing music for eleven Kingdom Hearts games and Nintendo's Mario & Luigi series. She has also worked on many other projects, such as Heroes of Mana and various arranged albums.<ref name="Yokoprofile"/> In February 2014, Shimomura played piano at a retrospective 25th anniversary concert at Tokyo FM Hall.<ref name="famitsu.com">Template:Cite web</ref> She performed songs from games such as Kingdom Hearts, Live a Live, and Street Fighter II. During the Beware the Forest's Mushrooms performance from Super Mario RPG, Shimomura was joined onstage by fellow composer Yasunori Mitsuda, who played the Irish bouzouki.<ref name="famitsu.com"/> She most recently composed and produced the majority of the score for Final Fantasy XV, which she began writing for in 2006, a decade before the game was released.<ref name="FF15 Soundtrack">Template:Cite web</ref> She is also a member of the music label Brave Wave Productions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Works

Video games

Composition

Template:Sronly

Year	Title	Notes	Template:Refh
1988	Samurai Sword		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1989	Final Fight	"Round 5: Bay Area 2 & 3"	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1990	Code Name: Viper	All tracks except Stage 1 by Junko Tamiya (uncredited)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Gargoyle's Quest	With Harumi Fujita (uncredited)	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
	Adventures in the Magic Kingdom		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
	Mizushima Shinji no Daikoushien		<ref name="creditdue2">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Nemo		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
	Mahjong School: The Super O Version	With Masaki Izutani (uncredited)	<ref name="creditdue2" />
1991	Street Fighter II	With Isao Abe	<ref name="GAMASUTRAint" />
	The King of Dragons		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
	Block Block	With Masaki Izutani	<ref name="creditdue2" />
1992	Varth: Operation Thunderstorm	"Bonus Stage"	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1993	Breath of Fire	"Trade City"	<ref name="GAMASUTRAint" />
	The Punisher	With Isao Abe	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1994	Live A Live		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1995	Front Mission	With Noriko Matsueda	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1996	Super Mario RPG		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
	Tobal No. 1	With several others	<ref name="Yokoprofile" />
1998	Parasite Eve		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1999	Legend of Mana		<ref name="legend">Template:Cite web</ref>
2000	Hataraku Chocobo		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
2002	Kingdom Hearts		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
2003	Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga		<ref name="GMOint" />
2004	Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories		<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
2005	Pop'n Music 13 Carnival	"Majestic Fire"	<ref name="popping">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time		<ref name="GMOint" />
	Kingdom Hearts II		<ref name="GMOint" />
2006	Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner	With several others	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
2007	Heroes of Mana		<ref name="Yokoprofile" />
	Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories		<ref name="GMOint" />
2008	Luminous Arc 2	With Akari Kaida, Yoshino Aoki, and Shunsuke Nakamura	<ref name="luminoustwo">Template:Cite web</ref>
2009	Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story		<ref name="GMOint" />
	Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days		<ref name="GMOint" />
	Pop'n Music 17 The Movie	"Twin Hero - Oath to Tomorrow"	<ref name="popping" />
2010	Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep	With Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto	<ref name="GMOint" />
	Kingdom Hearts coded		<ref name="recoded">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Xenoblade Chronicles	With Manami Kiyota and ACE+Template:Efn	<ref name="xeno">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Last Ranker		<ref name="GMOint" />
	Kingdom Hearts Re:coded		<ref name="recoded" />
	Radiant Historia		<ref name="Kevin2010">Template:Cite web</ref>
	The 3rd Birthday	With Tsuyoshi Sekito and Mitsuto Suzuki	<ref name="GMOint" />
2011	Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming	"Battle of the God 9"
2012	Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance	With Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto	<ref name="IGN Review">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Demons' Score	"Azazel del cielo ardiente"	<ref name="demonz">Template:Cite web</ref>
2013	Mario & Luigi: Dream Team		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Kingdom Hearts χ		<ref name="ex">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Exstetra	"Main Theme"	<ref name="exist">Template:Cite web</ref>
2014	Rise of Mana	"Where the Heart Beats Free"
	Terra Battle	Two tracks	<ref name="terrific">Template:Cite web</ref>
	V.D. -Vanishment Day-		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2015	Chronos Ring	With Kenji Ito and Evan Call	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Chunithm: Seelisch Tact	"Tango Rouge"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Kakuriyo no Mon	"Ihou no Shugosha"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam		<ref name="jam">Template:Cite web</ref>
2016	The Alchemist Code	With Shinya Tanaka and Shigeki Hayashi	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	The Black Knight and the White Demon King	With Shota Kageyama	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Final Fantasy XV	With Tetsuya Shibata, Yoshino Aoki, and Yoshitaka Suzuki	<ref name="FF15 Soundtrack" />
2017	Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage		<ref name="concert">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Magicians Dead Next Blazing	With Masato Kouda and Makoto Iida	<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>
	Egglia: Legend of the Red Cap	With Yoshitaka Hirota	<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology		<ref name="RHPCostDetails">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions		<ref name="minions">Template:Cite web</ref>
2018	Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey		<ref name="bowserz">Template:Cite web</ref>
2019	Kingdom Hearts III	With Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto	<ref name="heartz">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Rakugaki Kingdom	"Yume to Gensou no Enbukyoku"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Renshin Astral	Paris battle themes	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2020	Streets of Rage 4	"Shiva"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2021	Gran Saga		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Xuan-Yuan Sword VII	"Mohism"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2022	Sin Chronicle	"La Giustizia"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope	With Grant Kirkhope and Gareth Coker	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2024	Reynatis		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2025	Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo	"Pipistrello Manor"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Street Fighter 6	"Edge of Triumph"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Lost Soul Aside	"A New Home", "Luminous", "Walk With Me","Lost Soul (Violin)"	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
TBA	Kingdom Hearts IV		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Arrangements

Template:Sronly

Year	Title	Notes	Template:Refh
1989	F-1 Dream	Original music by Manami Matsumae	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
1991	Buster Bros.	Original music by Tamayo Kawamoto	<ref name=creditdue>Template:Cite web</ref>
2008	Super Smash Bros. Brawl	"Tetris: Type A", "Gritzy Desert", and "King Dedede's Theme"	<ref name="brawl">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2009	Little King's Story	Maurice Ravel's Boléro	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2013	Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix	Orchestrations	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2014	Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U	"Magicant / Eight Melodies", "Try, Try Again", "Route 10", and "Ryu Stage"	<ref name="wiiu">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix	Arrangements, orchestrations
2018	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	"Kass' Theme", "Vega Stage", "Treasure Trove Cove", "Pasta", "Dance of the Blocks", "Cosmo Canyon", "Moonsiders 1st", and "Hand in Hand"	<ref>Template:Cite web,</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2020	The Wonderful 101: Remastered	With several others	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory	Arrangements	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2022	Live A Live HD-2D Remake	Arrangements	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2023	Super Mario RPG	Arrangements	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other works

Template:Sronly

Year	Title	Notes	Template:Refh
1989	G.S.M. 1500 series ~ Sweet Home	Arranged two tracks
1992	Captain Commando -G.S.M. Capcom 5	With Alph Lyla
	Game Music Festival ~Super Live '92~	With Alph Lyla
1993	Street Fighter II Collector's Box	With Alph Lyla
1998	Parasite Eve Remixes	With several others
2004	Dan Doh!!	Anime	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
	Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Premium Arrange	With several others	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange		<ref name="chronicle">Template:Cite web</ref>
2005	Best Student Council	Anime	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
2006	Rogue Galaxy Premium Arrange	With several others	<ref name="ROCKETBABYint" />
2007	Murmur	Original album, with lyrics and vocals by Chata	<ref name="GMOint" />
2008	Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura		<ref name="M4Gint" />
2009	Mushihimesama Double Arrange Album	With several others	<ref name="doubling">Template:Cite web</ref>
2010	GeOnDan Rare Tracks Ver. 2.0	With several others
2011	GeOnDan Super Rare Trax: The LAND of RISING SUN	With several others
2012	GO! GO! Buriki Daioh!!	With several others
2013	X'mas Collections II	With several others	<ref name="xmas2">Template:Cite web</ref>
2014	memória! ~ The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura		<ref name="memoria">Template:Cite web</ref>
	Game Music Prayer II	With several others	<ref name="prayer">Template:Cite web</ref>
2017	Napping Princess	Anime	<ref name="napping">Template:Cite web</ref>
2018	High Score Girl	Anime	<ref name="napping" />
2019	Ladderless	"Deeply Mind"; original album by Oldcodex	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	?	"Nocturne"; tribute album to XXXTentacion	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2020	Yucho Pay Original Image Song #TOKIWOMEKURUYUBI		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2021	Merregnon: Land of Silence	Concert	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2022	Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal	Anime	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2024	The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians	Anime with Hayato Matsuo and Dai Haraguchi	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy

Shimomura has been cited as one of the most well-known video game music composers.<ref name="Biography">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="GMOint"/> Shimomura's best works compilation album, titled Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura, was released in March 2008. The album contains compositions from Kingdom Hearts and many other games she worked on in full orchestration, with Shimomura stating that she chose music that was popular among fans and well-suited for orchestration, but had never been performed by an orchestra before.<ref name="M4Gint"/> In a 2008 interview with Music4Games regarding the project, Shimomura commented that with the sheet music generated for the project, she would be interested in pursuing a live performance of Drammatica for fans if the opportunity arose.<ref name="M4Gint"/> In March 2009, that wish was realized when it was announced that Arnie Roth would conduct the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the concert Sinfonia Drammatica in the Stockholm Concert Hall, which would combine music from the album with performances of Chris Hülsbeck's Symphonic Shades concert. The concert took place in August 2009.<ref name="SEMOSDreport"/> In March 2007, Shimomura released her first non-video game album, Murmur, an album of vocal songs sung by Chata.<ref name="GMOint"/>

Shimomura's music for Kingdom Hearts made up one fourth of the music of the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in September 2009, which were produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series and conducted by Arnie Roth.<ref name="SymFant"/> Legend of ManaTemplate:'s title theme was also performed by the Australian Eminence Symphony Orchestra for its classical gaming music concert A Night in Fantasia 2007.<ref name="IGNFantasia"/>

Music from the original soundtrack of Legend of Mana was arranged for the piano and published by DOREMI Music Publishing. Two compilation books of music from the series have also been published as Seiken Densetsu Best Collection Piano Solo Sheet Music first and second editions, with the second including Shimomura's tracks from Legend of Mana. All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible.<ref name="SEMOsheet"/> Additionally, piano sheet music from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II has been published as music books by Yamaha Music Media.<ref name="YAMAHA"/>

Shimomura's first dedicated concert performance outside Japan was held at the Salle Cortot in Paris in November 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later that same month, she performed at the El Plaza Condesa in Mexico City.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2016, some of her music for Final Fantasy XV was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, as well as in Boston, with Shimomura herself performing on piano.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="FF15 Soundtrack"/> Shimomura composed for the concert work Merregnon: Land of Silence.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Her work was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and filmed at the Stockholm Concert Hall in 2021, with more performances in other locations starting in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Shimomura was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards and the BAFTA Fellowship award in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Musical style and influences

Shimomura lists Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Maurice Ravel as some of her influences on her personal website.<ref name="Yokoprofile"/> She has also stated that she has enjoyed "lounge-style jazz" for a long time.<ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> Despite these influences and her classical training, the diverse musical styles that she has used throughout her career and sometimes in the same soundtrack include "rock, electronica, oriental, ambient, industrial, pop, symphonic, operatic, chiptune, and more".<ref name="Biography"/><ref name="ROCKETBABYint"/> She draws inspiration for her songs from things in her life that move her emotionally, which she describes as "a beautiful picture, scenery, tasting something delicious, scents that bring back memories, happy and sad things... Anything that moves my emotion gives me inspiration".<ref name="ROCKETBABYint"/> Shimomura has also stated that she comes up with most of her songs when she is doing something that is "not part of [her] daily routine, like traveling."<ref name="ROCKETBABYint"/> Although her influences are mostly classical, she has said that in her opinion her "style has changed dramatically over the years, though the passion for music stays the same."<ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> Shimomura has said that she believes that an important part of "the creative process behind music" is to "convey a subtle message, something that comes from your imagination and sticks with the listener, without being overly specific about what it means", rather than only writing simple themes with obvious messages.<ref name="GAMASUTRAint"/> She stated her favorite composition was "Dearly Beloved" from Kingdom Hearts.<ref name="GMOint"/>

References

Template:Notelist <references>

<ref name="GMOint">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="ROCKETBABYint">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="FinalFightalbum">Final Fight -G.S.M. CAPCOM 3-. Pony Canyon (May 21, 1990). PCCB-00030.</ref>

<ref name="StreetFighteralbum">Street Fighter II Image Album -G.S.M. CAPCOM-. Pony Canyon (November 21, 1991). PCCB-00075.</ref>

<ref name="KH4MIL">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="KHIGN">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="titletrack">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="SEMOSDreport">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="M4Gint">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="IGNFantasia">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="SymFant">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="SEMOsheet">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="YAMAHA">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="Yokoprofile">Template:Cite web</ref>

<ref name="GAMASUTRAint">Template:Cite web</ref>

</references>

External links

• Template:Official website Template:In lang
• Brave Wave profile
• Template:Discogs artist
• Template:IMDb name