On The Street With Nobuo Uematsu

So, this article has been sitting in our backend here at OSV for nearly a year. After Shota and I sat down for our extensive interview with Nobuo Uematsu and Hiroki Ogawa after the Distant Worlds concert in San Francisco, I prepared a list of items that fell outside of the recorded interview. It’s taken awhile to get it approved by all parties, and unfortunately a lot of it had to be cut, but I’m glad to finally get it out into the world!

While we have some random bits of information about how Nobuo Uematsu’s music plays into his everyday life, we also have a story about his celebrity status in the United States.  It’s brief, but I thought fans of Uematsu might find it interesting.  It’s definitely in line with some the wacky stuff we uncovered in our interviews.

So what happened on the streets of San Francisco? Find out after the jump.

This is really a mixture of stuff that Shota and I were told. Shota and Uematsu were talking a whole lot of Japanese, so I didn’t find out about a lot of it until later. Like I mentioned, a lot of the little things that I thought were interesting weren’t necessarily for for publication, and were cut, but here’s what we’re able to tell you:

Some of the stuff Shota heard was hilarious. First of all, when the Uematsu family goes to the bathroom, they’ve equipped their toilet to play “Waterside” from the Blue Dragon soundtrack upon lifting the toilet seat.  Pretty nifty idea, and I’m sure it’s pretty relaxing to hear while taking care of business. On a similar note, the Uematsu family apparently has a porch that’s built around their home with vertical posts that go around the perimeter. Uematsu thought they looked like piano keys, and painted them to form the melody line from “Waterside” as well. I guess he’s really fond of that track.

While this isn’t really an interesting bit of information, I also have a little story from that day in San Francisco. While we were out eating, a young man approached our table, stepping up to Uematsu and asking, “Are you Nobuo Uematsu?” When Uematsu responded, “Yes,” the guy went berserk, and asked to take a photo with him. He and his friends got their photos taken, and then went inside to their table. A few minutes later, the guy came back with a notepad and pen, and apologized again before asking Uematsu to sign his notepad. When Shota and I asked if Uematsu minded this celebrity status, he smiled widely and said, “I love it!” If there’s one thing I can say about Uematsu, it’s that he’s a man that seems to be incredibly happy with his life, and is loving every minute of it. It’s also awesome that people recognize him on the street.

Be sure to make it out to the upcoming Distant Worlds II performances, as Uematsu is going to be present at many of them. He’s totally approachable, and a blast to see even from a distance. What do you think of his Blue Dragon-themed home?