Hajime Wakai

Wakai was born on July 5, 1973, in Kyoto.^[1] After graduating from the Osaka College of Music in the spring of 1996, he joined Nintendo EAD.^[2] He initially worked alongside Koji Kondo on Star Fox 64, where he composed all the planetary and battle themes; he then went on to work on other N64 titles, such as the Pokémon Stadium series.^[1]

On the GameCube, Wakai became the sole composer for the first Pikmin game, in which he also provided the voices for the titular creatures.^[1] He then went on to compose most of the battle themes for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which were notable for their interactivity with Toon Link’s on-screen actions as he fought enemies.^[3]

After working on titles such as Nintendogs and Star Fox: Command, Wakai served as sound director for several Wii titles until he was appointed lead composer for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, where he also coordinated the entire sound team;^[1] this title stood out as the first in the Zelda series to make extensive use of a live orchestra.^[4]

After working on several other titles, Wakai became the sound director for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and also contributed to the soundtrack;^[1] this title stood out for moving away from the traditional musical style of the Zelda series and instead placing an emphasis on ambient music and sound effects to do justice to the game’s “open-air” concept.^[5] After working on this title, Wakai was appointed sound engineer for the entire Zelda series and later resumed the role of sound director for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.^[6]