Katamari Damacy Sound Team Details 20 Years of Suteki Songs at CEDEC 2026
The session lays out the original 2004 blueprint for Suteki Songs and shows how the current soundtrack still follows that songwriter, singer, and genre formula.
Reporting from 1 source: GAME Watch (Impress).
At CEDEC 2026, the sound team behind Katamari Damacy detailed the philosophy behind the series' music. Yuu Miyake, Yoshihito Yano, and Akihiro Nomura discussed the 2004 strategy of pairing in-house songwriters with famous artists. The latest work features 14 artists, including Maya Sakura, DAOKO, Shigeru Matsuzaki, and Etsuko Yakushimaru.
The final soundtrack session of CEDEC 2026 went to the Katamari Damacy series, which has been rolling since 2004. Yuu Miyake recalled seeing a single concept art of a huge katamari on top of Mount Fuji before the screen even existed, and being convinced of the game's possibilities.
The strategy set in 2004 was to have in-house songwriters who know games well write songs, with famous artists singing them. That combination of songwriter, singer, and genre is what keeps Suteki Songs tied to the game experience. The latest work brought in 14 artists, blending folk song, R&B, and pop with Maya Sakura, while DAOKO expanded interpretations of past works and legends like Shigeru Matsuzaki and Etsuko Yakushimaru joined in.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- GAME Watch (Impress) 愛と個性が「塊」を動かす——20年続く『塊魂』サウンドの哲学と「素敵ソング」の設計図【CEDEC2026】