Kazumi Totaka

Kazumi Totaka (戸高 一生, Totaka Kazumi, born August 23, 1967)[1] is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who is best known for his various compositions in many Nintendo games. He occasionally does voice acting as well, most notably voicing Yoshi from the Mario series. He also directed the development of Wii Music.

"Totaka" redirects here. For the acharya named Totaka, see Totakacharya.
In this Japanese name, the surname is Totaka.
Kazumi Totaka
戸高一生
Born (1967-08-23) August 23, 1967
Tokyo, Japan
GenresVideo game music, jazz
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • sound director
  • voice actor
Instrument(s)
Years active1990–present

Works
Year TitleRole(s)Notes
1992 XComposer
Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins[2]
Mario PaintWith Hirokazu Tanaka and Ryoji Yoshitomi
1993 The Legend of Zelda: Link's AwakeningWith Minako Hamano and Kozue Ishikawa
1994 Tetris & Dr. MarioWith Hirokazu Tanaka and Yumiko Kameya
1995 Virtual Boy Wario Land
1996 Wave Race 64
1997 Yoshi's Story
1999 Mario Artist: Paint StudioWith Chris Jojo, Martin Goodall, and Suddi Raval
2000 Mario Artist: Talent StudioWith Kenta Nagata and Toru Minegishi
Mario Artist: Polygon Studio
2001 Machop at WorkWith Takuto Kitsuta and Yasushi Ida
Luigi's MansionWith Shinobu Tanaka
Kingler's DayWith Takuto Kitsuta and Yasushi Ida
Animal CrossingComposer, sound directorWith Kenta Nagata, Toru Minegishi, and Shinobu Tanaka
2004 Pikmin 2Sound director
2005 Yoshi Touch & GoComposerWith Asuka Ohta and Toru Minegishi
Animal Crossing: Wild WorldComposer, sound directorWith Asuka Ohta
2006 Yoshi's Island DSSound supervisor
Default Wii ChannelsComposer
Wii SportsComposer, sound director
Kenkou Ouen Recipe 1000: DS Kondate ZenshuuComposer
2008 Wii MusicDirector Totaka's first role as a game director
Animal Crossing: City FolkSound director
2010 X-ScapeComposer
2012 Animal Crossing: New LeafSound director
2013 Luigi's Mansion: Dark MoonSound supervisorWith Koji Kondo and Yoji Inagaki
2014 Yoshi's New IslandSound director
Wii Sports ClubComposer
2015 Yoshi's Woolly WorldWith Misaki Asada and Tomoya Tomita
Animal Crossing: Happy Home DesignerComposer, sound director
2016 Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo ChallengeMusic supervisor
2018 Super Smash Bros. UltimateArrangerWith various others
Mario Tennis AcesSound supervisor
2019 Yoshi's Crafted World
Luigi's Mansion 3
2020 Animal Crossing: New HorizonsComposer, sound director

Characters portrayed

Totaka has portrayed several characters for Nintendo games. He mostly voices Yoshi (first appearing in Super Mario World), but he also voices, Professor E. Gadd, Captain Olimar,[3] Birdo, and K.K. Slider, as well as portraying Shy Guy from 1997 to 2002.

K.K. Slider

The character K.K. Slider in Animal Crossing is named Totakeke (とたけけ) in the Japanese version. This name could be derived from how Totaka's name is said in Japanese (Totaka K.) as last names usually come before personal names in the language. Totakeke is said to be an animal version caricature of Totaka.[4]

At the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live concert, some fans shouted "Totakeke" while the host grabbed a guitar and gave it to Totaka. Totaka then sat down on a chair like K.K. Slider while Shigeru Miyamoto held a picture of K.K. Slider next to Totaka.[5]

Totaka's Song

"Totaka's Song" is a short, 19-note tune hidden in almost every game Totaka has written music for as an easter egg.[6] It was first discovered on the title screen of Mario Paint and was later discovered as having originated in the Game Boy game X,[7] which predated Mario Paint by two months.

References
  1. 「ゼルダの伝説 夢をみる島」開発スタッフ名鑑. Nintendo Official Guide Book – The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (in Japanese). Shogakukan Inc. July 1993. p. 120. ISBN 4-09-102448-3.
  2. Nintendo R&D1 (1992). Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Nintendo. Scene: Credits.
  3. "1-2 開発スタッフインタビュー" (in Japanese). Nintendo. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  4. Jackson, Kai (May 8, 2013). "Profile: Kazumi Totaka - The Man Behind Animal Crossing's K.K. Slider". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  5. 1Button (2010-03-12), p-nintendo.com — Totaka, Mario & Zelda Big Band Live, 2003, archived from the original on 2021-12-19, retrieved 2018-03-25
  6. Kubba, Sinan (January 13, 2015). "Nintendo's famous easter egg song discovered in Mario Kart 8". Engadget. Verizon Media. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  7. "'Kazumi Totaka's Song'". NinDB. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015.
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