Eiji Aonuma

is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer at Nintendo. He is a senior officer within their Nintendo EPD division and serves as the producer of the Legend of Zelda franchise.

Career was born in Nagano Prefecture, Japan on March 16, 1963. He graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1988 with a master's degree in composition design, working on animated puppets called karakuri. After graduating, Onozuka was interviewed at Nintendo. He met Shigeru Miyamoto during the interview, and showed Miyamoto samples of his college work. His first projects involved graphic design, creating sprites for Nintendo Entertainment System games such as 1991's NES Open Tournament Golf. Onozuka was director on 1996's Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima for the Super NES.

Miyamoto later recruited Onozuka to join the development team for The Legend of Zelda series. Aonuma has since led the production of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom.

Aonuma plays percussion as a founding member of the Wind Wakers, a brass band formed in 1995. The band comprises over 70 Nintendo employees who perform a few concerts a year. He was promoted to the position of deputy general manager within the company's Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD) division in June 2019. By 2023, Aonuma had been promoted to senior officer at EPD.

Recognition Aonuma received a lifetime achievement award at the 2016 Golden Joystick Awards. In 2023, the Ministry of Culture in France chose to distinguish Aonuma with the Order of Arts and Letters.

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