View source for Hirokazu Tanaka

{{Infobox person
| name              = Hirokazu Tanaka
| native_name       = 田中 宏和
| native_name_lang  = jpn
| image             = 
| caption           = 
| image_size        = 
| alias             = {{hlist|Hip Tanaka|Chip Tanaka}}
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1957|12|13}}
| birth_place       = [[Kyoto]], Japan
| occupation        = {{hlist|Composer|sound designer|producer|executive}}
| employer          = {{ubl|[[Nintendo]] (1980–1999)|[[Creatures Inc.]] (1999–present)}}
| years_active      = 1980–present
  |signature  = Hirokazu Tanaka autograph.svg
| module            = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes
| background        = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Chiptune]]|[[Dub music|dub]]|[[reggae]]|[[anison]]}}
| instrument        = [[Keyboard instrument|Keyboards]]
| website           = {{URL|hirokazutanaka.com}}
  }}
}}
{{nihongo|'''Hirokazu '''"'''Hip'''"''' Tanaka'''|田中 宏和|Tanaka Hirokazu|born December 13, 1957}},<ref name="Bio">{{cite web|last1=Tanaka|first1=Hirokazu|title=Biography|url=http://www.hirokazutanaka.com/biography.html|website=HirokazuTanaka.com|access-date=5 September 2014|archive-date=14 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914122005/http://www.hirokazutanaka.com/biography.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> also known as '''Chip Tanaka''', is a Japanese musician, composer, sound designer, and executive who pioneered [[chiptune]] music.<ref name="Japan Times"/> He is best known as one of [[Nintendo]]'s in-house composers during the [[8-bit era|8-]] and [[16-bit era]] of video games.<ref name="Japan Times"/> Tanaka also had a role in designing and programming the [[Famicom]] and [[Game Boy]] audio hardware, along with the [[NES Zapper]], [[Game Boy Camera]], and [[Game Boy Printer]].<ref name="Interview"/><ref name="GMOBio"/>

Tanaka's soundtrack credits include ''[[Metroid (video game)|Metroid]]'' (1986), ''[[Kid Icarus]]'' (1986), ''[[Super Mario Land]]'' (1989), ''[[Tetris (Game Boy video game)|Tetris]]'' (1989), ''[[Mother (video game)|Mother]]'' (1989), ''[[Dr. Mario]]'' (1990), and ''[[EarthBound]]'' (1994).<ref name="Japan Times">{{cite web|last1=Hadfield|first1=James|title=The music you didn't realize you grew up with: Chip Tanaka's 8-bit revolution|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2017/11/14/music/music-didnt-realize-grew-chip-tanakas-8-bit-revolution/|work=[[The Japan Times]]|location=Tokyo|access-date=15 November 2017|date=14 November 2017}}</ref> He was the president and executive director of [[Creatures Inc.]] from 2001 to 2023, before resigning and taking on the role of Creative Fellow in the company.

==Biography==
===Early life===
Born to a schoolteacher mother who had Tanaka undergo piano lessons, Tanaka recounted that he first began paying serious attention to music while in elementary school, and attempted to form a band during that time. His first band was formed when he was in middle school, a [[the Beatles|Beatles]] and [[Elton John]] cover group, which sometimes performed concerts at his school.<ref name=RBMAlecture /> He has held a longstanding obsession with [[reggae]] music. In his teens, he was also in a reggae band,<ref name=carts>{{cite web|title=Diggin' in the Carts|url=http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/diggin-in-the-carts|publisher=Red Bull Music Academy|access-date=September 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001081738/http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/diggin-in-the-carts|archive-date=October 1, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> which was known variously by the names the Shampoos or Roots Rockers. For the music event "Reggae Sunsplash" held in [[Osaka, Japan|Osaka]], the Shampoos were an opening act for [[Sly and Robbie]] on more than one occasion. Tanaka did meet the duo during those times. On The Shampoos, Tanaka described it as an obscure local band which did gigs in Tokyo about once or twice a year, and that it was "never a formal thing".<ref name=RBMAlecture />

===Employment at Nintendo===
In 1980, after graduating from university with a degree in [[electronic engineering]], Tanaka successfully applied for a job at Nintendo as a sound designer.<ref name="GMOBio">{{cite web|last1=Greening|first1=Chris|title=Hirokazu Tanaka Profile|url=http://www.vgmonline.net/hirokazutanaka/|website=Video Game Music Online|date=23 August 2013 |access-date=5 September 2014}}</ref> He did not initially want to be an engineer, but Nintendo were accordingly scouting for "different sounds or toys or something at the time. I thought toys would be relatively stress-free, so I applied." The first game Tanaka worked on was ''[[Space Firebird]]'' (1980), where Tanaka was composer and constructed a new sound chip for particular sound effects. Following this, Tanaka worked on ''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]'' (1981), providing the sound effects for [[Mario]]'s footsteps and jumps. Usually, the same sound effect was repeated across many different actions, but Tanaka's approach differed where he invented subtle variations. He attempted to insert [[voice synthesis]] for the game's damsel-in-distress, but the idea was vetoed by then-Nintendo president [[Hiroshi Yamauchi]]'s daughter, who did not feel that the sample sounded like the exclamation "help me!". Tanaka noted that he learned "a lot" from series creator [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] due to his perfectionism and "level of commitment".<ref name=RBMAlecture />

''[[Donkey Kong 3]]'' (1983) was the first game where Tanaka acted both as composer and sound effects designer. His approach to game composition carried on from his dub obsession: "For instance, if you listen to the music in ''[[Wrecking Crew (video game)|Wrecking Crew]]'' (1985), you could recognize that some parts are drum and bass only. So that turned out to be an idea for working around the limitations of the game software. I figured that, to get the most out of the game music, a dub-based structure would be a really great solution. I'd play the melody in some parts, then cut it off and insert a part with just drums and bass, and vice versa. No one else was doing it, but it was what I wanted to do."<ref name=RBMAlecture /> Tanaka described what he remembered as a "typical day" at Nintendo in the brief period following the release of the [[Famicom]] home game console:

{{Blockquote|Everything just stayed the same. From morning to night, we made new circuits and developed software. We had computers for work but they were [[Teleprinter|TTY devices]]; they had no monitors. Back and forth, morning to night. Sometimes designing hardware, and sometimes creating software. Back and forth, for me at least. ... I'd work from 9AM to as late as 2 or 3 in the morning. They didn't make us do it. It was just fun. We talk about the history of games, but for me, the history of games and computers overlap. If anything, I think it was more of the history of the evolution of computers ... I studied all about computers after I joined Nintendo. I think our generation of Nintendo employees were all the same. We learned as we went, built our own systems, and built them again. For instance, we made our own development tools. So everything was handmade. It was really fun. ... There was a continuous stream of new jobs and you'd go from one to the next.<ref name=RBMAlecture />}}

While working full-time at Nintendo on two or three games a year, and sometimes two simultaneously, Tanaka continued playing gigs in Osaka and Tokyo with the Shampoos. Sometime in the late 1980s,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tanaka |first1=Hirokazu |title=SHAMPOO'S ORANGE /198x |url=http://www.hirokazutanaka.com/discography/1988/05/shampoos-1.html |website=hirokazutanaka |access-date=2 October 2021 |archive-date=2 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002231336/http://www.hirokazutanaka.com/discography/1988/05/shampoos-1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> they recorded the [[Single (music)|45 rpm]] "''Thunder Dub''"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chiptanaka.bandcamp.com/track/thunder-dub|title=Thunder Dub|last=Tanaka|first=Chip|date=September 8, 2019|website=Bandcamp}}</ref> which prominently sampled the opening drumbeat from the Beatles' "[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)]]" (1967). Tanaka did not personally see a difference between the music he composed for video games and the music he composed in his off time. For ''[[Metroid (video game)|Metroid]]'' (1986), Tanaka acknowledged that games were becoming more complex, and his scores were becoming more like a film's, desiring in ''Metroid'' not to "repeat the same game-melody cliches," although he recalls that the game's soundtrack was not well-received within Nintendo because of its dark atmosphere. He was inspired by the film ''[[Birdy (film)|Birdy]]'' (1984) to create a game score that was dark until the very end, where the player would finally receive music with a strong melody. Despite disapproval from his Nintendo colleagues, Tanaka was allowed full creative freedom on projects, and even had a fluctuating role in influencing some games' content and play style. He remembers Nintendo's strict, repeated criticisms over the amount of "fun" a game would have, but that there was no financial pressure in creating games, nor were there sales quotas to meet. At the time of ''[[Dr. Mario]]'' (1990), Tanaka began observing an increasing number of "serious" game composers who had graduated from [[music school]]s. ''Dr. Mario'' was thus the first time Tanaka had asserted his musical personality in a game.<ref name=RBMAlecture />

{{multiple image
| footer            = The [[Game Boy Camera]] and [[Game Boy Printer]] were both co-designed by Tanaka.
| footer_align      = center
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Game-Boy-Camera.jpg
| width1            = 95
| image2            = Game Boy Printer.jpg
| width2            = 129
}}

Tanaka was one of "about five or six" Nintendo-based developers who designed the [[Game Boy]], researching and creating its audio hardware.<ref name=RBMAlecture /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gamingreinvented.com/interview/lets-interview-father-of-chiptune-chip-tanaka/|title=Let's Interview: Father of Chiptune, Chip Tanaka!|website=Gaming Reinvented|date=January 31, 2022|access-date=May 18, 2022|first=Adam|last=Wiz}}</ref> He was inspired to develop the [[Game Boy Camera]] from a product called ViewCam that was popular at the time — Tanaka also ran experiments on the possibility of watching television via the Game Boy.<ref name=RBMAlecture />

===Creatures Inc.===
At the advice of ''[[EarthBound]]'' (1994) co-worker [[Tsunekazu Ishihara]], Tanaka would join [[Creatures Inc.]] as a guest composer, where he would end up composing dozens of songs for the first Japanese ''[[List of Pokémon: Indigo League episodes|Pokémon]]'' anime and various Pokémon promotional releases. Despite the fact that his themes were not used in the West, they inspired best-selling singles and albums in Japan due to their popularity there. Tanaka was eventually forbidden by Nintendo to continue to write more songs for the anime due to their policy of not allowing employees to work for other companies, so he resigned at Nintendo and joined Creatures full-time in 1999.<ref name="Interview">{{cite interview|interviewer-last=Brandon|interviewer-first=Alexander|last=Tanaka|first=Hirokazu|title=Shooting from the Hip: An Interview with Hip Tanaka|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/audio/shooting-from-the-hip-an-interview-with-hip-tanaka|website=Gamasutra|publisher=Informa|date=25 September 2002|access-date=5 September 2014}}</ref>

Tanaka succeeded Ishihara to become the president of Creatures in 2001, while Ishihara continued as CEO.<ref name="Bio"/> Starting in the late 2000s, Tanaka began to perform at Japanese dance clubs under the name "[[chiptune|Chip]] Tanaka". The moniker was suggested by a foreign acquaintance, as Tanaka thought "Hip Tanaka" was too attached to his time at Nintendo.<ref name=RBMAlecture />

After the death of [[Satoru Iwata]] in 2015, Tanaka wrote a tribute track titled "Dedicated to Satoru Iwata".<ref>{{cite web|last=Webster|first=Andrew|title=Listen to this beautiful tribute to Satoru Iwata from the composer of Dr. Mario|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/13/8949851/hip-tanaka-satoru-iwata-tribute-song|work=[[The Verge]]|date=July 13, 2015|access-date=August 1, 2022}}</ref> In April 2023, Tanaka announced he was stepping down as president and executive director of Creatures, but would remain as a Creative Fellow.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=Jeffrey Rousseau Staff |date=2023-04-05 |title=Creatures Inc. sees leadership change as CEO and president step down |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/creatures-inc-sees-leadership-change-as-ceo-and-president-step-down |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=役員人事に関するお知らせ |url=https://www.creatures.co.jp/change_officer_2023/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=株式会社クリーチャーズ |language=ja}}</ref>

==Influences==
Tanaka has said that his tastes in his youth were typical of the time, listening to artists such as [[the Beatles]] and [[the Carpenters]]. His first exposure to [[dub music]] was through the 1978 album ''Negrea Love Dub'' by [[Linval Thompson]] while eating pasta at a restaurant with live music in Kyoto. It was the record's use of exaggerated [[Delay (audio effect)|tape delay]] which astounded Tanaka, who stopped eating every time he heard it occur: "I thought 'Is this music sick?' But the more I listened to it, that groove with the bass line and the mixer... I think the mixer takes full control of it, directly and instinctively. When I felt it, I thought 'This is amazing.' I was totally hooked." Tanaka explained his fascination with reggae music and his application for it in his game scores: "It wasn't proactive on my part. I was a music lover that happened to be working at Nintendo. ... The reason I like reggae, especially dub, is because there actually is vocal and guitar on it, let's say, but in the essence, it's strictly driven by drums and bass. That's what I love about it the most. ... I think I like how there's this raw aspect to it. The gritty, raw quality of the sound, let's say. That really caught my ears. And that deep bass sound, the "buuu..." That was something I never heard before in rock music. It drove me like no other genre in music."<ref name=RBMAlecture />

Among specific musical influences, Tanaka has cited [[Brian Wilson]], [[Randy Newman]], [[Stackridge]], [[Yabby U]], [[the Flying Lizards]], [[Prince (musician)|Prince]], [[Lalo Rodriguez]], [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]], [[Frank Zappa]], [[Keiichi Suzuki]], [[Hal Willner]]'s various artists compilations,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1101.com/MOTHER_music/index.html|title=『MOTHER』の音楽は鬼だった。|last1=Itoi|first1=Shigesato|author-link=Shigesato Itoi|date=June 16, 2003|work=1101.com|trans-title=Music of "MOTHER" was a demon|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714020027/http://www.1101.com/MOTHER_music/index.html|archive-date=July 14, 2014|url-status=live|access-date=July 5, 2014}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215922/http://artcorekirbies.fr/perso/mother/suzutana/ Translation]</ref> [[Sly Dunbar]], [[Jah Wobble]],<ref name=carts /> and [[the Slits]].<ref name="RBMAlecture"/> The "hip" in "Hip Tanaka" came from [[hip hop]], with his favorite artist of the genre being [[A Tribe Called Quest]].<ref name="RBMAlecture">{{cite video|last=Tanaka|first=Hirokazu|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7J5GlE3YLQ|title=Hirokazu Tanaka on Nintendo Game Music, Reggae and Tetris {{!}} Red Bull Music Academy|type=YouTube video: lecture|language=en, ja|place=Tokyo|date=November 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219135713/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7J5GlE3YLQ|archive-date=December 19, 2020|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=September 2, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|1:12:45}}

==Works==

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Video games
!Year
!Title
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="3" scope="row" | 1980
|''[[Space Firebird]]''|| rowspan="4" | Sound effects<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[Radar Scope]]''
|-
|''[[Heli Fire]]''
|-
|1981
|''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]''
|-
| rowspan="2" scope="row" | 1982
|''[[List of Game & Watch games|Mickey & Donald]]'' || rowspan="2" | Programmer<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[List of Game & Watch games|Donkey Kong II]]''
|-
| rowspan="8" scope="row" | 1983
|''[[Donkey Kong 3]]'' || rowspan="2" |Sound effects<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[Mario Bros.]]''
|-
|''[[List of Game & Watch games|Pinball]]''|| rowspan="7" | Programmer<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[Mario's Cement Factory]]''
|-
|''[[List of Game & Watch games|Donkey Kong Jr.]]''
|-
|''[[List of Game & Watch games|Snoopy]]''
|-
|''[[List of Game & Watch games|Popeye]]''
|-
|''[[List of Mario LCD games#Mario's Bombs Away|Mario's Bombs Away]]''
|-
| rowspan="5" scope="row" | 1984
|''[[List of Game & Watch games|Spitball Sparky]]''
|-
|''[[Wild Gunman]]'' || rowspan="11" | Music, sound effects<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[Duck Hunt]]''
|-
|''[[Hogan's Alley (video game)|Hogan's Alley]]''
|-
|''[[Urban Champion]]''
|-
| rowspan="4" scope="row" | 1985
|''[[Balloon Fight]]''
|-
|''[[Wrecking Crew (video game)|Wrecking Crew]]''
|-
|''[[Stack-Up]]''
|-
|''[[Gyromite]]''
|-
| rowspan="3" scope="row" | 1986
|''[[Gumshoe (video game)|Gumshoe]]''
|-
|''[[Metroid (video game)|Metroid]]''
|-
|''[[Kid Icarus]]''
|-
|1987
|''[[Ginga no Sannin]]''
|Music supervisor<ref name="Works"/>
|-
| 1988
|''[[Famicom Wars]]''||Music with [[Kenji Yamamoto (composer born 1964)|Kenji Yamamoto]]
|-
| rowspan="5" scope="row" | 1989
|''[[Super Mario Land]]''|| rowspan="3" |Music, sound effects<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[Yakuman (video game)|Yakuman]]''
|-
|''[[Tetris (Game Boy video game)|Tetris]]''
|-
|''[[Mother (video game)|Mother]]''||Music with [[Keiichi Suzuki]]
|-
|''[[Golf (1984 video game)|Golf]]'' ||Sound effects<ref name="Works"/>
|-
| rowspan="3" scope="row" | 1990
|''[[Knight Move]]'' || rowspan="4" |Music, sound effects<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[Dr. Mario]]''
|-
|''[[Balloon Kid]]''
|-
| rowspan="4" scope="row" | 1992
|''[[Hello Kitty World]]''
|-
|''[[Fire Emblem Gaiden]]''||Supervisor
|-
|''[[Mario Paint]]''||Music with Ryoji Yoshitomi and [[Kazumi Totaka]]
|-
|''[[X (1992 video game)|X]]''||Sound effects<ref name="Works"/>
|-
| 1994
|''[[EarthBound]]''||Music with Keiichi Suzuki, Hiroshi Kanazu, and Toshiyuki Ueno
|-
| 1995
|''[[Snoopy Concert]]''||Music with Minako Hamano
|-
|1997
|''[[Game & Watch Gallery]]''||Advisor
|-
| rowspan="2" scope="row" |1998
|''[[Game Boy Camera]]''||Director, graphic designer, music<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''[[Wrecking Crew '98]]''|| Sound director
|-
| rowspan="3" scope="row" | 2001
|''[[Chee-Chai Alien]]''|| Director, game designer, music<ref name="Works"/>
|-
|''Machop at Work''|| rowspan="2" scope="row" | Director
|-
|''Kingler's Day''
|-
|2003
|''[[Pokémon Channel]]''||Supervisor
|-
|2008
|''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''||Music arrangements{{efn|"Donkey Kong" and "Squeak Squad Theme"}}

|-
|2009
|''[[PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure]]''||rowspan="5" scope="row" | Producer
|-
|rowspan="2"|2011
|''Pokédex 3D''
|-
|''[[PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond]]''
|-
|rowspan="2"|2012
|''Pokémon Dream Radar''
|-
|''Pokédex 3D Pro''
|-
|rowspan="2"|2014
|''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U]]''||Music arrangements{{efn|"Chill ver. 2 (''[[Dr. Mario]]'')", "Balloon Trip", and "Pac-Man Club Mix"}}
|-
|''[[Pokémon Art Academy]]''||Pokémon Trading Card Development
|-
|2016
|''[[Detective Pikachu (video game)|Detective Pikachu]]''||Producer
|-
|2018
|''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''||Music arrangements{{efn|"Sand Ocean" and "Seaskape"}}
|-
|2025
|''[[Street Fighter 6]]''
|"Glorious Match"<ref>{{cite web|title=Tetris & Metroid Composer 'Hip' Tanaka Is Getting Back Into Video Game Music
|url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/08/tetris-and-metroid-composer-hip-tanaka-is-getting-back-into-video-game-music|website=Nintendo Life|access-date=4 August 2025}}</ref> 
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Anime
!Year
!Title
!Notes
|-
|1997–2002
|''[[Pokémon the Series|Pokémon]]'' ||rowspan="5" |Japanese opening and ending themes<ref name="Works">{{cite web|last1=Tanaka|first1=Hirokazu|title=Works|url=https://www.hirokazutanaka.com/works|website=HirokazuTanaka.com|access-date=5 September 2014}}</ref> 
|-
|2002–2006
|''[[Pokémon: Advanced Generation]]'' 
|-
|2006–2010
|''[[Pokémon the Series|Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl]]''
|-
|2010–2013
|''[[Pokémon: Best Wishes]]''
|-
|2013–2016
|''[[Pokémon the Series|Pokémon XY]]''
|-
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Other works
!Year
!Title
!Notes
|-
|2011
|''[[Play for Japan: The Album]]''||composed "HVC-1384"
|-
|2017
|''Django''<ref>{{cite web|title=Chip Tanaka to release first full solo album|url=http://www.vgmonline.net/chip-tanaka-to-release-first-full-solo-album/|website=Video Game Music Online|date=14 November 2017 |access-date=15 November 2017}}</ref>|| rowspan="2" |Original album
|-
|2020
|''Domingo''<ref>{{cite web |title=Domingo |url=https://chiptanaka.bandcamp.com/album/domingo |website=Bandcamp |access-date=September 2, 2020}}</ref>
|-
|rowspan="2" |2021
|''Lost Tapes''<ref>{{cite web |title=Hirokazu Tanaka's Lost Tapes Album Consists of Game Demo Tracks|url=https://www.siliconera.com/metroid-composer-hirokazu-tanaka-releasing-demo-lost-tapes/ |website=Siliconera |date=17 February 2021 |access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=「めざせポケモンマスター」の最初期デモなどを収録。田中宏和氏のデモ音源を集めたCD「Lost Tapes」が発売決定|url=https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1306537.html|website=GAME Watch|date=16 February 2021 |access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>
|Demo and prototype music 
|-
|''Domani''<ref>{{cite web|title=Domani/Chip Tanaka|url=https://vgmdb.net/album/115657|website=VGMdb}}</ref> ||Original album
|-
|}

==References==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.hirokazutanaka.com/}} {{in lang|ja}}
* {{MusicBrainz artist|id=62bc7b78-0b20-4055-9791-9f051006b364|name=Hirokazu Tanaka}}

{{Nintendo}}
{{Metroid}}
{{Mother series}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Hirokazu}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Chiptune and tracker musicians]]
[[Category:Dub musicians]]
[[Category:Japanese chief executives]]
[[Category:Japanese composers]]
[[Category:Japanese male composers]]
[[Category:Japanese reggae musicians]]
[[Category:Japanese video game composers]]
[[Category:Japanese video game producers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Metroid]]
[[Category:Musicians from Kyoto]]
[[Category:Nintendo people]]
[[Category:Pokémon people]]