Nobuo Uematsu has turned into somewhat of a cult figure for the Final Fantasy series, with him definitely being one of the most well known names surrounding it. Many would be shocked to find out that he originally only started learning to play the piano when he was 12 years old and has never been taught formally. It wasn’t until he was studying at the University of Kanagawa that he really became interested in music.
At around the age of 22, he started joining amateur bands as a keyboard player until his friend (who was working part-time for Square) asked him if he wanted to try his hand at composing music for games. He happily accepted and the rest is history. Square liked his music and offered him a full-time job at the company.
Things started off well for Nobuo at Square, with him writing music for quite a few games in his first 2 years for the company. However, when Hironobu Sakaguchi approached him with the task of composing the music for his new game entitled “Final Fantasy”, I doubt anyone could have predicted how famous he would become.
More recently though, after 19 years, Nobuo decided to depart from the company now known as Square Enix to pursue his own personal goals as a composer. He felt that he didn’t want to be tied down anymore and has started his own freelance company called Smile Please. He did say though, that he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of working for Square Enix in future projects should they wish to hire him.
| Date of Birth: | March 21, 1959 |
| Birthplace: | Kochi, Japan |
| Place of Residence: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Joined Square Enix: | 1985 (Departed 2004) |
| Official Website(s): | English |
