THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 7, 2021 at 18:42 JST
Koichi Sugiyama holds a certificate from Guinness World Records certifying him in 2016 as the oldest composer of video game music at 84 years and 292 days. (Provided by Sugiyama Kobo)
Composer Koichi Sugiyama, likely best known for penning the musical score to the globally popular “Dragon Quest” video game series, died on Sept. 30. He was 90.
Part of the “Dragon Quest” score known as the theme song for the hero Roto was used in the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23.
Sugiyama was involved in writing the score for “Dragon Quest” from its first installment in 1986.
In 2016, he was certified as the oldest composer of video game music by Guinness World Records.
Before “Dragon Quest,” Sugiyama wrote music for hit songs by Japanese performers, including the Peanuts sister duo and the Tigers.
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