Having a passion for music since his youth, he took four years of classical piano lessons and later played keyboard for rock band. He had enjoyed soundtracks from an early age, particularly appreciating John Williams’ orchestral scores for Star Wars and Jaws.As he approached adulthood, he also began to consider the possibilities of video game music, feeling amazed by the orchestrated introduction to the Super Nintendo’s Final Fantasy IV and various other creations by Nobuo Uematsu thereafter. He considered a career as a game composer and dreamed what it would be like to record with a full orchestra someday. After receiving extensive classical training at the Kunitachi College of Music, he joined the sound team of Capcom in April 1994, a month after graduating.