Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsPrimetime EmmysToronto Int'l Film FestivalFall TV GuideMost Anticipated This MonthSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayTrending peopleCelebrity news
    IMDb LabsHelp centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
    Some content may be auto-translated
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
    Some content may be auto-translated
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
Back
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Biography

Nobuo Uematsu

Overview

  • Born
    March 21, 1959 · Kochi City, Kochi, Japan
  • Nickname
    • The Japanese 'John Williams'

Biography

  • He's been called the John Williams of the video game world, and the description is apt. Born in Kouchi City, Japan on March 21, 1959, Nobuo started playing the piano at the age of 12 and has never been formerly taught. By his own admission, he said he wanted to learn to play the piano because he wanted to be like Elton John. After finishing high school, Nobuo graduated from University of Kanagawa and his major was surprisingly not music! When Nobuo turned 22, he joined many amateur bands as a keyboard player, but he discover that he loved writing music more then playing, so he decided to pursue a career as a composer and sent out many demo tapes to many companies. One of them finally hired him to write some music for radio CM.

    In 1985, one of Nobuo's friends, who was working at a video game company called Squaresoft ask Nobuo if he wanted to write music for some of their video games and the rest is history.

    In his spare time, Nobuo enjoys listening to Irish music, watching Japanese pro wrestling, drinking/making beer and learning how to play the Fiddle. Currently Nobuo Uematsu resides in Japan with his wife Reiko and his dog Pao.
    - IMDb mini biography by: Nobuo Fan

Trademarks

  • His versatility with composing music for video games, making each score unique.
  • His musical composition work in the Final Fantasy series.
  • Frequently works with Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Trivia

  • Has stated in interviews that he composed the much famed "The Prelude", a musical theme used in all Final Fantasy games, in a matter of minutes.
  • Is a self-taught musician.
  • His video game music compositions are incredibly popular, particularly in Japan, where live orchestras have put on concerts of his music.
  • Some of his Final Fantasy music "Liberi Fatali", was used at the synchronised swimming event at the Athens Olympic Games.
  • Has his own band, called the Black Mages (after a character class from many Final Fantasy games). This group specializes in, unsurprisingly, Final Fantasy remixes and original scores.

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More from this person

  • View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro

More to explore

Recently viewed

You have no recently viewed pages
Get the IMDb app
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
Follow IMDb on social
Get the IMDb app
For Android and iOS
Get the IMDb app
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • License IMDb Data
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2026 by IMDb.com, Inc.