Yoko Shimomura
Yoko Shimomura (下村 陽子, Shimomura Yōko, born October 19, 1967) is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games such as the Kingdom Hearts series. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. Shimomura wrote music for several games there, including Final Fight, Street Fighter II, and The King of Dragons.
Shimomura left Capcom and joined Square (now Square Enix) in 1993, with her first project there being Live A Live. She would later become better known for writing the music for Kingdom Hearts, which was her last game at Square before leaving to become a freelancer in 2002. Despite leaving, she has continued to work with them in later Kingdom Hearts entries and other games such as The 3rd Birthday and Final Fantasy XV.
Other well-known games Shimomura has worked on include Super Mario RPG, the Mario & Luigi series, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, Radiant Historia, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Her works have been performed in multiple video game music concerts, with her music also published as arranged albums and piano scores. Shimomura is a member of the music label Brave Wave Productions. She received the BAFTA Fellowship award in 2025.
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