Kinuyo Yamashita

is a Japanese composer and musician known for her contributions in video games. Her best known soundtrack is Konami's Castlevania, which was also her debut work. She was co-credited with Satoe Terashima under the pseudonym James Banana for her work on the Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game. This pseudonym was a pun of the name James Bernard, the composer of the 1958 film Dracula.

Life Yamashita was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan. She began playing the piano at the age of four and took piano lessons as a child. After studying electronic engineering at the two-year college Osaka Electro-Communication University, she graduated in 1986 and went to work for Konami. After leaving Konami, Yamashita established a career as an independent composer. She moved to the United States in 2010, and currently resides with her husband in Montague, New Jersey.

Career In 1986, Yamashita and Satoe Terashima composed the music to the video game Castlevania, which was her first composition. The composition of the music was made under strict hardware constraints of the Famicom hardware. Yamashita established the format for much of the music in Castlevania games, which are fast beats as well as the piece Vampire Killer, which appears in many of the games of the series. She was part of the original Konami Kukeiha Club in-house band. In 1989, she left Konami to become a freelance composer. She also composed a song for the Wii game Walk It Out. In September 2009, Yamashita was invited as a special guest to Video Games Live at their concert event in Tokyo, where she appeared on stage after a performance of Castlevania produced by Tommy Tallarico. In 2010 and 2011, she continued to make appearances with Video Games Live performing "Castlevania Rock" with orchestras at venues including NJPAC in New Jersey, the Tilles Center in New York City and the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

In 2012, she appeared alongside Video Game Orchestra.

She has also posted her music to you YouTube account, such as a piano arrangement of music from Mega Man X3.

Works Year Title Notes 1986 Castlevania with Satoe Terashima King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch with several others 1987 Hi no Tori Hououhen: Gaou no Bouken with Iku Mizutani and Hidenori Maezawa Esper Dream Arumana no Kiseki Maze of Galious with several others Nemesis 2 with Motoaki Furukawa and Masahiro Ikariko Uşas 1988 King's Valley II with several others Parodius MSX version Snatcher MSX version; sound effects 1991 Power Blade Hana Taaka Daka!? 1992 Power Blade 2 1993 Ghost Sweeper Mikami: Joreishi ha Nice Body Zen-Nippon Pro Wrestling with Iku Mizutani and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki 1994 Pocky & Rocky 2 with Hiroyuki Iwatsuki Zen-Nippon Pro Wrestling: Fight da Pon! with Iku Mizutani and Shinya Kurahashi Natsume Championship Wrestling with Iku Mizutani and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Super NES version; with Iku Mizutani Mega Man: The Wily Wars original music and arrangements of the included first three Mega Man games 1995 Mark Davis' The Fishing Master with Iku Mizutani Zen-Nippon Pro Wrestling 2 with several others Heian Fuuunden with Iku Mizutani Mega Man X3 1997 Casper Super Famicom version; with Iku Mizutani Medarot 1998 Digital Figure Iina with Iku Mizutani Dragon Dance Big Mountain 2000 1999 Medarot 2 with Iku Mizutani Bass Masters Classic Game Boy Color version 2000 Medarot 3 Keitai Denjuu Telefang Sylvania Melodies: Mori no Nakama to Odori Mashi! 2001 Croc 2 Game Boy Color version; with Iku Mizutani Medarot 4 Medarot 5 Monsters, Inc. Game Boy Advance version; with Iku Mizutani and Tetsuari Watanabe 2002 Medarot G 2003 Medabots Game Boy Advance version Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King with Iku Mizutani and Tetsuari Watanabe Medabots Infinity 2009 Armored Hunter Gunhound