Hiroshi Kubota

Hiroshi Kubota

Place of birth: Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan
Date of birth: 1965-10-10 (age 58)
Employment history: Sega of Japan (1989-04^[1]^[2] – 1994-01-31^[3])
Role(s): Sound Programmer, Composer
Education: Tokyo University of Science^[4]^[1]

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Hiroshi Kubota (久保田浩), also known by the alias Jimita, is a Japanese jazz pianist and former Sega of Japan and Sonic Team sound programmer and composer, known for his work in programming a number of the company's early Mega Drive game soundtracks. He learned many skills from Shigeharu Isoda, an unofficial Sega sound programmer at the time.^[5]

He should not be confused with Hiroshi Kubota (窪田宏), coincidentally also a keyboard player.

Career

Hiroshi Kubota joined Sega in 1989, though at first joined the hardware department, as he was unaware there was a sound development department, but quickly changed departments. His earliest project was the Mega Drive port of Sorcerian, for which he both ported about 4 or 5 of the original game's music^[5] and composed half of the new music opposite Tokuhiko Uwabo.^[2]

Another game he composed music for was the Mega Drive version of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. In earlier stages of development, it was unclear if the game could cover licensing fees for more than 3 of Michael Jackson's songs, so Kubota created 2 soundalikes which were later scrapped.^[5] These were uploaded to his YouTube channel on February 3rd, 2023^[6]^[7], along with an unrelated song which was never used for any game.^[8]

He was personally responsible for converting Masato Nakamura's music for playback on the Mega Drive's SMPS sound engine in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. The music was also ported to New UFO Catcher later in 1991.^[9]

Kubota created several development tools to aid with Mega-CD sound creation, plus worked on the system's PCM audio.^[5] His prominent title for the add-on is the simple comedy game Panic!, which he spent many long hard nights on, creating sound effects.^[10]

After half a year battling Ulcerative colitis disease,^[11] Kubota announced his sudden retirement from Sega in January 1994, though he is still credited as sound programmer in Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit and Ristar, which released after his departure. However, he seems to have rejoined Sega in April 1994, as he appeared in a list of new employees in the Harmony newsletter.^[12]

His alias from the Sega days - Jimita - is still used on his personal website, and he has sometimes reunited with former colleauges, such as performing with Naofumi Hataya and his fellow Sonic the Hedgehog sound creator Yukifumi Makino at the Sega New Year's Party of 1998.^[13] Throughout his career, including his years at Sega, Hiroshi Kubota has been a frequent jazz pianist for gigs like birthdays and weddings, including several weddings of Sega Sound Team members: Masayuki Nagao^[14], Kazuhiko Nagai + Chikako Kamatani^[15], and Yukifumi Makino.^[16]

Production history

Sorcerian (Mega Drive; 1990) — Music Composed^[17] (as Jimita)
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (Mega Drive; 1990) — Sound Composer^[18] (as Jimita)
Advanced Daisenryaku: Deutsch Dengeki Sakusen (Mega Drive; 1991) — US artillery march^[19] (as Jimita)
Advanced Daisenryaku: Deutsch Dengeki Sakusen (Mega Drive; 1991) — la marseillaise^[19] (as Jimita)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive; 1991) — Sound Program^[20] (as Jimita)
Kiss Shot (Mega Drive; 1992) — Music Create^[21] (as Jimita)
Dyna Brothers (Mega Drive; 1992) — Sega R&D Dept^[22]
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive; 1992) — Sound Assistants^[23] (as Jimita)
Panic! (Mega-CD; 1993) — サウンド^[24] (as 久保田浩)
Panic! (Mega-CD; 1993) — Sound^[25]
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Mega-CD; 1993) — Special Thanks^[26]
Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit (Mega-CD; 1994) — Sound Programmer^[27] (as Jimmy)
Ristar (Mega Drive; 1995) — Sound Programmers^[28]
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Windows PC; 1996) — Special Thanks^[29]
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage (Dreamcast; 1999) — Management
Panic! (PlayStation 2; 2002) — サウンド (as 久保田浩)
Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Game Boy Advance; 2006) — Sound Program^[30] (as Jimita)
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Xbox 360; 2011) — Special Thanks
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (PlayStation 3; 2011) — Special Thanks

Hyper Drive (CD) (1990)

Song credits

Main article: Hiroshi Kubota/Song credits.

Sorcerian (Mega Drive Version)

Dungeon — Music & Arrangement
Deamon Soldier — Music & Arrangement
Village — Music & Arrangement
Cave and Dungeon — Music & Arrangement
Mosma — Music & Arrangement
China Town — Music & Arrangement
China Village — Music & Arrangement
Angel's Song — Music & Arrangement
China Dragon — Music & Arrangement
The Magic School I — Music & Arrangement
The Magic School II — Music & Arrangement
Master Monster — Music & Arrangement
Again — Music & Arrangement
The Castle of Zander — Music & Arrangement
Zander Dragon — Music & Arrangement

Hyper Drive

Sword of Vermilion (Vermilion) — Piano
新たなる旅へ (Phantasy Star III) — Piano

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (Mega Drive Version)

Title — Arrangement
Club 30 (Round 1) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 1 (Smooth Criminal) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 2 (Smooth Criminal) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 3 (Smooth Criminal) — Arrangement
Street (Round 2) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 4 (Beat It) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 5 (Beat It) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 6 (Beat It) — Arrangement
Woods (Round 3) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 7 (Another Part of Me) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 8 (Another Part of Me) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 9 (Thriller) — Arrangement [NOTE: Used in first release (REV00) of the game instead of Another Part of Me]
Cavern (Round 4) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 10 (Billie Jean) — Arrangement
The Enemy Hideout (Round 5) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 11 (Bad) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 12 (Bad) — Arrangement
Dance Magic 13 (Bad) — Arrangement
Game Over — Arrangement

Advanced Daisenryaku

US Artillery March — Arrangement
La Marseillaise — Arrangement

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Hiroshi Kubota

External links

References

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory5.html-1] 1.0 ^1.1 http://jimita.com/profile/history5.html

[https:.2F.2Fmedia.vgm.io.2Falbums.2F03.2F10430.2F10430-1391379456.jpg-2] 2.0 ^2.1 https://media.vgm.io/albums/03/10430/10430-1391379456.jpg

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1994.html.230131-3] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1994.html#0131

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1.html-4] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1.html

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1990.html.2300000-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 http://jimita.com/profile/history1990.html#00000

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20230205150958.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fwww.youtube.com.2Fwatch.3Fv.3DNojKvmQD4xQ-6] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NojKvmQD4xQ (Wayback Machine: 2023-02-05 15:09)

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20230205151429.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fwww.youtube.com.2Fwatch.3Fv.3Dr7sTkIjxegw-7] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7sTkIjxegw (Wayback Machine: 2023-02-05 15:14)

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20230205151835.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fwww.youtube.com.2Fwatch.3Fv.3DG5JD9DN-Ay4-8] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5JD9DN-Ay4 (Wayback Machine: 2023-02-05 15:18)

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1991.html.230101-9] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1991.html#0101

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1992.html.230100-10] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1992.html#0100

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1993.html.230799-11] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1993.html#0799

[:File:Harmony_JP_127.pdf_p13-12] Harmony, "1994 4" (JP; 1994-04-01), page 13

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1998.html.230107-13] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1998.html#0107

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1993.html.230424-14] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1993.html#0424

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1993.html-15] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1993.html

[http:.2F.2Fjimita.com.2Fprofile.2Fhistory1994.html.230129-16] ttp://jimita.com/profile/history1994.html#0129

[:File:Sorcerian_MD_credits.pdf_p-17] File:Sorcerian MD credits.pdf

[:File:Moonwalker_MD_credits.pdf_p-18] File:Moonwalker MD credits.pdf

[:File:Advanced_Daisenryaku_MD_credits.pdf_p-19] 19.0 ^19.1 File:Advanced Daisenryaku MD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_the_Hedgehog_MD_credits.pdf_p-20] File:Sonic the Hedgehog MD credits.pdf

[:File:Kiss_Shot_MD_credits.pdf_p-21] File:Kiss Shot MD credits.pdf

[:File:Dyna_Brothers_MD_credits.pdf_p-22] File:Dyna Brothers MD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_the_Hedgehog_2_MD_credits.pdf_p-23] File:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 MD credits.pdf

[:File:Switch_MCD_credits.pdf_p-24] File:Switch MCD credits.pdf

[:File:Panic_MCD_credits.pdf_p-25] File:Panic MCD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_CD_MCD_JP_credits.pdf_p-26] File:Sonic CD MCD JP credits.pdf

[:File:Heavenly_Symphony_MCD_credits.pdf_p-27] File:Heavenly Symphony MCD credits.pdf

[:File:Ristar_MD_credits.pdf_p-28] File:Ristar MD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_CD_PC_DirectX_good_ending_credits.pdf_p-29] File:Sonic CD PC DirectX good ending credits.pdf

[:File:SonicGenesis_GBA_US_manual.pdf_p18-30] File:SonicGenesis GBA US manual.pdf, page 18

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