Kazumi Totaka (戸高 一生) 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. He also directed the development of Wii Music. Totaka has worked for Nintendo since 1990. One of his most famous compositions is the 19-note "Totaka's Song", which is left as an easter egg in many games he has composed for.

Works

Characters portrayed

Totaka has portrayed several characters for Nintendo games. He mostly voices Yoshi (first appearing in Super Mario World), but he also voices Professor E. Gadd, Captain Olimar, Birdo, and K.K. Slider, as well as portraying 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 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). It plays in Yoshi's Story (1997) if the player stays on the Trial Mode stage select screen. 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 Pikmin 2 (2004), there are two ways to hear the song. One is if the player stays on the "Treasures Salvaged" info screen. The second appears if the player enters one of the game's cave dungeons without a memory card in their GameCube, and stays on the screen telling them to insert a memory card or else they cannot save their game. The latter method was discovered in 2019. In Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008), the character Kapp'n will whistle the song if the player stays on a screen in which he is present. In 2010, Totaka's Song appeared in X-Scape, the sequel to X. In Mario Kart 8 (2014), one of the Yoshis standing on the side of multiple racetracks in the game will sing Totaka's Song. Totaka sung it as the voice actor for Yoshi in the game. In Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (2015), if the player scans in the K.K. Slider amiibo card with their 3DS, the next time the player uses a turntable, Totaka's Song will play.