Kazumi Totaka

is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who is best known for his various compositions in many Nintendo games. He occasionally does voice acting as well, most notably voicing Yoshi from the Mario series, and Captain Olimar from the Pikmin games. He also directed the development of Wii Music.

Totaka has worked for Nintendo since 1990. Birdo, K.K. Slider, and formerly Shy Guy from 1997 to 2002.

K.K. Slider The character K.K. Slider in Animal Crossing is named Totakeke (とたけけ) in the Japanese version. This name could be derived from how Totaka's name is said in Japanese (Totaka K.) as last names usually come before personal names in the language. K.K. Slider is likewise said to be an animal version caricature of Totaka.

At the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live concert, some fans shouted "Totakeke" while the host grabbed a guitar and gave it to Totaka. Totaka then sat down on a chair like K.K. Slider while Shigeru Miyamoto held a picture of K.K. Slider next to Totaka.

Totaka's Song

"Totaka's Song" is a short, 19-note, 8-bar song hidden in almost every game Totaka has written music for as an easter egg. Its first appearance was in the Game Boy game X, released in 1992. Later that year, it appeared in Mario Paint, where the song was first discovered; it plays if the player clicks on the O in "Mario Paint" on the title screen. It also plays in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) on the game over screen.

The song appears through two different methods in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993), as well as its 1998 re-release and 2019 remake; one is if the player waits in the house owned by the character Richard, the other is if they name their player character "Totakeke" or "Zelda" when starting the game. The latter method was only available in the Japanese 1993 and 1998 versions of the game, using the "Totakeke" method (spelled as "とたけけ"). The 2019 remake added the "Totakeke" method to international releases, as well as the "Zelda" method which plays a remixed version. The song plays during the closing credits of Virtual Boy Wario Land (1995).

In Luigi's Mansion (2001), Totaka's Song will play if the player stays on a screen describing the game's controls. In some games of the Animal Crossing series, K.K. Slider will play it on his guitar if the player selects "K.K Song" for him; after this, the song will be available for the player to listen to in their house. In 2010, Totaka's Song appeared in X-Scape, the sequel to X. Totaka sung it as the voice actor for Yoshi in the game.

In Mario Kart World (2025), if the player waits long enough on Yoshi in the character select screen, he will begin to hum, eventually humming Totaka's Song.