Keiji Yamagishi (composer of Ninja Gaiden and Tecmo Bowl) quit composing music more than ten years ago. “After the PS2, in Japan, the direction for game music has changed,” Yamagishi-san tells me. “If you’re not a person into making movie soundtrack-like music, then a job won’t come your way. Unfortunately, that’s not my style. I can’t conduct an orchestra. I felt as if my music was no longer needed.”

That broke my heart. Yamagishi-san is among my all-time favorite musicians, and while most people grew up with either Ninja Gaiden or Tecmo Bowl, it was the Captain Tsubasa soundtrack by him that captivated me all my life. I love it so much, in fact, that I hired a real orchestra and made a medley of the game’s most memorable music.

Right now, Keiji Yamagishi is working on his first solo album — an album that holds his real name, containing his own compositions, and, yes, facing a real orchestra this time. Attending Bit Summit and seeing Yamagishi-san interact with his fans (from signing Famicom carts and In Flux copies to chatting about music and games) made me overly joyous. This is what I set out to create. This is what I wanted for Brave Wave, our music label, to cultivate. Not money, not fame, but showing everyone what these great artists are capable of now. They spent more than two decades in the dark, and now it’s time for everyone to see these geniuses and appreciate that they’re still here with us. This includes me.

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