Yoko Shimomura facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yoko Shimomura
下村 陽子
Shimomura in 2024
Born	(1967-10-19) October 19, 1967 (age 57) Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
Alma mater	Osaka College of Music
Occupation	Composer pianist
Years active	1988–present
Employer	Capcom (1988–1993) Square (1993–2002)
Musical career
Genres	Video game electronic symphonic
Instruments	Piano
Labels	Brave Wave Productions

Yoko Shimomura (born October 19, 1967) is a famous Japanese composer and pianist. She is best known for creating music for many popular video games. Some of her most famous works include the Kingdom Hearts series and Street Fighter II.

Shimomura started her career in 1988 at Capcom. There, she wrote music for games like Final Fight and The King of Dragons. In 1993, she moved to Square (now Square Enix). Her first big project there was Live A Live. She later became very well known for her music in the first Kingdom Hearts game.

After leaving Square in 2002 to become a freelance composer, she still worked on many Kingdom Hearts games. She also composed for other big titles like Super Mario RPG, the Mario & Luigi series, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, Radiant Historia, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Final Fantasy XV. Her music is very popular and has been played in many video game concerts around the world.

Early Life and Music Journey

Yoko Shimomura was born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on October 19, 1967. She loved music from a very young age. She started taking piano lessons when she was only four or five years old.

As she grew up, she began to create her own music. She would play the piano freely and imagine new songs. She even remembers the first piece of music she ever made. Shimomura went to the Osaka College of Music and studied piano. She graduated in 1988.

After college, Shimomura thought about becoming a piano teacher. She even got a job offer from a music store. But she had always loved playing video games. So, she decided to send some of her music to video game companies. Capcom invited her for an audition and offered her a job. Her family and teachers were surprised by her choice. Back then, music for video games was not seen as a serious career. But Shimomura followed her passion and joined Capcom.

Career Highlights in Gaming

Shimomura in 2007

At Capcom, Yoko Shimomura created music for over 16 games. One of her biggest successes was Street Fighter II. She composed almost all the music for that famous fighting game. Her first work at Capcom was for a game called Samurai Sword in 1988.

Her music for Final Fight (1989) was so popular that it was included on a special album. A year later, her music for Street Fighter II got its own album. She started by working on console games. But by 1990, she moved to the arcade game team. She was also part of Capcom's band, Alph Lyla. They played music from Capcom games, including her own songs. She even performed live with them a few times.

In 1993, Shimomura left Capcom to join another game company called Square. She wanted to write more "classical-style" music for fantasy role-playing games. Her first project at Square was the music for the RPG Live A Live in 1994.

The next year, she worked on Super Mario RPG. She also helped with the music for Front Mission. Even though she was very busy, she kept working hard. After these, she mostly worked alone on game scores for many years.

Over the next few years, she composed music for several games. These included Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana. Shimomura says the music for Legend of Mana is her favorite. She feels it shows her true self. Parasite Eve was her first game soundtrack to include a song with vocals. This was possible because it was on the PlayStation console, which had better sound.

In 2002, she wrote the music for Kingdom Hearts. She calls this soundtrack the most "special" to her. It was a big turning point in her career. She also considers Street Fighter II and Super Mario RPG as important moments in her life as a composer.

Kingdom Hearts was a huge hit, selling millions of copies. Many people praised Shimomura's music in the game. The main song from Kingdom Hearts is even ranked as one of the best RPG title tracks ever. After Kingdom Hearts came out, Shimomura left Square in 2002 for maternity leave. She started working as a freelance composer in 2003.

Since then, she has continued to compose music for many Kingdom Hearts games. She also worked on Nintendo's Mario & Luigi series. She has taken on many other projects too, like Heroes of Mana. In 2014, she played piano at a special concert in Tokyo. She performed songs from Kingdom Hearts, Live a Live, and Street Fighter II. She also composed most of the music for Final Fantasy XV, a project she started in 2006. She is also part of the music label Brave Wave Productions.

Her Impact and Recognition

Yoko Shimomura is known as one of the most famous video game music composers. In 2008, an album of her best works was released. It was called Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura. This album featured her music from Kingdom Hearts and other games, played by a full orchestra. Shimomura chose songs that fans loved and that sounded great with an orchestra.

Her wish to have a live concert of Drammatica came true in 2009. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performed her music in Stockholm. Her music from Kingdom Hearts also made up a quarter of the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in 2009. The title theme from Legend of Mana was also performed by the Australian Eminence Symphony Orchestra.

Many of her songs have been published as sheet music for piano. This includes music from Legend of Mana and the Kingdom Hearts series. This allows fans to play her beautiful compositions themselves.

Shimomura's first dedicated concerts outside Japan were in Paris and Mexico City in 2015. In 2016, some of her music for Final Fantasy XV was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She even played the piano at these concerts. She also composed for a concert piece called Merregnon: Land of Silence. This work was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021. In 2024, she received a special Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards. This award recognized her amazing contributions to video game music.

Musical Style and Inspirations

Yoko Shimomura has shared some of her musical influences. She looks up to classical composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Maurice Ravel. She also enjoys "lounge-style jazz." Even with her classical training, she uses many different styles in her music. These include rock, electronic, Asian, ambient, industrial, pop, symphonic, and even old-school chiptune sounds.

She finds inspiration for her songs from things that make her feel strong emotions. This could be "a beautiful picture, scenery, tasting something delicious, scents that bring back memories, happy and sad things." Anything that touches her feelings can inspire her. Shimomura also says she often comes up with new songs when she is doing something different from her daily routine, like traveling.

She believes her musical style has changed over the years. But her love for music always stays the same. Shimomura thinks that a key part of creating music is to share a subtle message. Something that comes from your imagination and stays with the listener, without being too obvious. She has said that her favorite composition is "Dearly Beloved" from Kingdom Hearts.

Works

Yoko Shimomura has composed and arranged music for many video games and other projects. Here are some of her notable works:

Video Games

Composition

Arrangements

Other Works

See also

In Spanish: Yōko Shimomura para niños