{"id":6142,"date":"2025-05-01T16:34:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T16:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=6142"},"modified":"2025-05-01T18:21:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T18:21:50","slug":"iconic-sega-composer-retires-after-41-years-is-immediately-rehired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/iconic-sega-composer-retires-after-41-years-is-immediately-rehired\/","title":{"rendered":"Iconic Sega composer retires after 41 years, is immediately rehired"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Sega\t<\/div>
Hiroshi Kawaguchi still received a letter of appreciation from Sega for his years of work (X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The man responsible for the best video game soundtrack ever is technically still at Sega<\/a>, despite just retiring.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While a lot of people may not know his name, gamers of a certain age will already be massive fans of Hiroshi Kawaguchi. He\u2019s the composer responsible for the music in Sega arcade game OutRun<\/a>, aka the best video game soundtrack ever made.<\/p>\n

Although his most prominent work comes from 80s era games like OutRun, Space Harrier, After Burner, and Fantasy Zone, Kawaguchi has remained a part of Sega ever since, even contributing music to modern games like Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble<\/a> and Sonic X Shadow Generations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After 41 years at the company, it wasn\u2019t too surprising to learn Kawaguchi had retired, after turning 60 this past April. What is surprising though, is that Sega immediately hired him back.<\/p>\n

The official X account<\/a> for Sega Sound Team (which collectively refers to all the musicians and composers employed at Sega) broke the news on April 30, announcing Kawaguchi\u2019s retirement alongside a photo of him receiving a letter of appreciation from Sega.<\/p>\n

However, the same post stated that he will continue to work at Sega in his \u2018second form.\u2019 Kawaguchi corroborated this himself via his personal X account<\/a> earlier today.<\/p>\n

\u2018Starting today, I will be rehired as a new employee at Sega,\u2019 says Kawaguchi, while sharing a photo of his original employment letter<\/a> from 41 years ago and joking that he didn’t receive a new one.<\/p>\n

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