Naoshi Mizuta (水田 直志, Mizuta Naoshi; born January 24, 1972) is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best…Naoshi Mizuta (水田 直志, Mizuta Naoshi; born January 24, 1972) is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Final Fantasy franchise, most notably Final Fantasy XI, and has also composed music for games such as Street Fighter Alpha, Mega Man & Bass, and Parasite Eve II. He started his career at Capcom before moving to Square (now Square Enix) in 1998.
Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫, Uematsu Nobuo; born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his…Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫, Uematsu Nobuo; born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the Final Fantasy video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve. Uematsu joined Square in 1986, where he first met Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. The two later worked together on many games at the company, most notably in the Final Fantasy series. After nearly two decades with Square, Uematsu left in 2004 to create his own production company and music label, Dog Ear Records. He has since composed music as a freelancer for other games, including ones developed by Square Enix and Sakaguchi's studio Mistwalker. Many soundtracks and arranged albums of Uematsu's game scores have been released. Pieces from his video game works have been performed in various Final Fantasy concerts, where he has worked with conductor Arnie Roth and Game Concerts producer Thomas Böcker on several of these performances. Uematsu was also the keyboardist in The Black Mages in the 2000s, which played various hard rock versions of his Final Fantasy compositions. He has since performed with the Earthbound Papas, which he formed as the successor to The Black Mages in 2011. Uematsu has made several listings in Britain's Classic FM Hall of Fame, with the station referring to him as the Beethoven of game music.
Tetsurō Oda (織田 哲郎, Oda Tetsurō; born March 11, 1958) is a Japanese composer, record producer, and singer-songwriter.…Tetsurō Oda (織田 哲郎, Oda Tetsurō; born March 11, 1958) is a Japanese composer, record producer, and singer-songwriter. Oda is the third best-selling composer in the history of the Japanese singles chart, with over 40 million units being sold.
Katsuko Nishimoto (西本 勝子, Nishimoto Katsuko; 1 April 1950 – 2 February 2025) was a Japanese politician of the Liberal…Katsuko Nishimoto (西本 勝子, Nishimoto Katsuko; 1 April 1950 – 2 February 2025) was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who was a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).
Ritsuo Hosaka (細川 律夫, Hosakawa Ritsuo; born 8 August 1943) is a former Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of…Ritsuo Hosaka (細川 律夫, Hosakawa Ritsuo; born 8 August 1943) is a former Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature).