Junya Nakano :: Biography

Note: This biography was written exclusively for Square Enix Music Online by Chris. The act of using it without advance written permission is regarded as a copyright infringement. It was last updated on September 21, 2007.

Born on February 28, 1971 in Kyoto, Square Enix composer Junya Nakano's stylistically distinct music is perhaps melodically deficient, but never ceases to paint a flawless picture. At the age of just three, Nakano was introduced to music by his parents; they provided Electone organ lessons for him through the Yamaha Music Foundation program and encouraged him to join some brass bands. Also during his youth, he grew to love video games after playing Taito's 1979 Space Invaders follow-up Lunar Rescue and subsequently begun to enjoy chiptune music. During his adolescence, Nakano gained a sense of musical individuality by frequently listening to the radio and, by 1985, begun composing MIDI music using the NEC PC-9801. After leaving high school, Nakano attended a vocational school in 1987 to study composition and arrangement with the hope of entering the developing game industry. After graduating, Nakano was recruited at the Kobe branch of Konami in 1991 and contributed music to eight arcade games over a three year period with several collaborators. He focused on sound projection and creating memorable melodies, adopting a dynamic percussion style to the action games Asterix, Lethal Enforcers, Martial Champion, Mystic Warriors, and Polygonet Commanders. Other projects included the massive US hit X-Men: The Arcade Game, featured in the Konami All-Stars 1993 album, as well as the puzzle game Hexion, where he incorporated DJing techniques, and 1994's Golfing Greats 2, his final work. Deciding he wanted the challenge of composing for narrative-driven titles such that he could create more original music and have a chance to receive individual recognition, Nakano decided to leave Konami, satisfied by his accomplishments during his time there.

In 1995, Nakano joined Square and immediately shone for his originality. He initially worked with Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Masashi Hamauzu on 1996's Front Mission: Gun Hazard. His four compositions were based on repetition of dark suspended chords, agitated bass lines, and heavy percussion; despite their functional simplicity, they were appropriate for representing a miserable war-torn world manipulated by a corrupt organisation. Nakano's first solo project, 1996's Treasure Conflix for the Super Nintendo's SatellaView module, is one of the few Square scores never to have been released on CD. The work was brief but diverse, featuring adventurous and melodic title and overworld themes, a lyrical rock-based battle theme, and three ambient themes with curious rhythmical qualities. Also that year, Nakano joined most of Square's composers for the score to the company's first PlayStation title, the versus fighter Tobal No. 1. His three contributions were all electronically-oriented, but glimpses of his versatility were evident; one of his compositions incorporated distorted rock instruments and another was bagpipe-infused new age music. In 1997, Nakano was the synthesizer operator for the techno score for Front Mission Alternative. Despite Nakano's efforts, the PlayStation's hardware did not satisfy the composer Riow Arai, who described the sounds used as 'cheap' given the method adopted. While these four projects were of superficial individual importance, they collectively moulded Nakano into a versatile and efficient composer and manipulator; each was uniquely characterised despite retaining a common musicianship.

Nakano's first landmark score was for the 1998's Another Mind, a Japan-only mystery adventure game. Given the score had a deadline of two months and was severely limited in the memory it could consume, Nakano composed with utmost practical efficiency, but not at the sacrifice of the quality. Much of the score comprised of layering of forces upon basso ostinati, suspended single notes, and other repetitive elements in a way that established tonal balance and rhythmical cohesion. Nakano was able to conceive images quickly, allowing him to maturely and subtly refine and vary his themes such that they often created an incredible ethereal atmosphere. He also manipulated leitmotifs for the first time, as reflected by the discreet yet meaningful use of the 'Another Mind', 'Guiding Wind' and 'Capricious' themes throughout the score. His subsequent score to 1999's Threads of Fate (aka DewPrism) provided him with a wealth of worldwide recognition. It included adventurous themes featuring whimsical melodies and exotic timbres as well as blistering battle themes dominated by dissonant harmonies and pounding percussion. A few sad but hopeful cues were used to represent the scenario of Rue, a boy on a quest to revive his murdered friend Claire, while humorous pieces featuring novelty percussion were used to characterise the protagonist of the other scenario, the obnoxious spoilt princess Mint. The score, though inconsistent, greatly enhanced the game on an emotional level and is popularly regarded to be Nakano's most melodically and harmonically coherent work to date. These scores secured the composer's place as a leading member of the Square Enix music team after the 1998 overhaul. However, he has created no works of similar magnitude since, instead taking secondary roles in major projects.

Nakano subsequently worked on 20 accepted compositions for 2001's Final Fantasy X, otherwise scored by Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu. He characterised the dark and deathly nature of the game's environments with ambient themes like "Ominous", "Darkness", "Twilight", "Underwater Ruins", and "Those Who Come Closer". Many of his compositions proved inaccessible for the masses and six seemingly rushed ones were made entirely from layering of repeated percussion rhythms and string crisis motifs on high reverb. However, Nakano also contributed the intense battle themes "Enemy Attack" and "Summoned Beast Battle", arranged Nobuo Uematsu's melodies in "Sprouting" and "Yuna's Decision", and added considerable diversity to the score with the colourful "Guadosalam", "Illusion", "Underwater Ruins", "Summoned", and "Luca". While his overall role on the soundtrack was inconsistent and subject to controversy, his work was fitting in the game and several of his compositions were musically profound. Nakano also had a minor role in two other additions to the Final Fantasy X discography; he co-composed the duet "Endless Love, Endless Road" with Masayoshi Soken for the tribute album Final Fantasy X: feel / Go dream and briefly featured in the Final Fantasy X Piano Collections as the original composer of "Guadosalam". After this project, Nakano co-composed the score to Asmik Ace's PlayStation 2 flight simulators SideWinder F and SideWinder V, released in 2001 and 2003. His compositions retained his idiosyncratic harmonic approach but were mostly aggressive rock and techno pieces. It is believed he was able to score these projects given Nobuo Uematsu's short-lived subsidiary Square Sounds could technically be licensed to create music for other companies.

Nakano's first score back at Square Enix was 20004's Musashi: Samurai Legend (aka Musashiden II Blademaster) with Masashi Hamauzu and Wavelink Zeal. The score featured his most elaborate and developed ambient compositions to date, a whimsical shopping piece, and several battle themes reminiscent of Final Fantasy X. Remarkably, he fused his complex percussive style with extensive references to electronica, rock, and more exotic styles to create a coherent, dynamic, and unprecedented sound. Junya Nakano's latest compositions for Square Enix were on behalf of the 2006 Xbox 360 shooter Project Sylpheed alongside Kenichiro Fukui, Takahiro Nishi, and Kumi Tanioka. His seven thick beat-heavy works complemented scenes to represent both the preparation of action and the heat of the battle and were intricately moulded to fit within the futuristic and technological setting of the game. Nakano blended acoustic and electronic forces in all tracks, even integrating ominous operatic samples at one point, and personally programmed the sound driver so that tonal balance and sample clarity was maximised. Most recently, he produced four straightforward but atmospheric arrangements for Dawn of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu 4). On behalf of Final Fantasy IV's DS remake, he arranged Nobuo Uematsu's original score with assistance from synthesizer operator Hirosato Noda to produce the most technologically commanded and expressive versions of the game's compositions, gaining inspiration particularly from the Celtic Moon album. Having re-established himself at Square Enix and having refined his distinct and extraordinary style over his ten years of employment, it is likely that Nakano-san will remain a respected employee there for some time to come.