SHENMUE DOJO 20TH ANNIVERSARY XMAS BONANZA!

Question for Ryuji:
How do you feel that music helps build a game, specifically with the atmosphere and mood of Shenmue?

Fondest Shenmue Memory:
My fondest memory is probably one shared by many. I greatly value the sound, environment, and general feeling of games, and I believe that Shenmue excels at this time and time again.

When I first arrived in Guilin and went to the forest with Shenhua, I was enthralled with the music and scenery. I found myself wandering around each and every corner of the forest and, for the first time in a while, I was brought to tears purely out of the comfort I felt. I can't even rank which of the themes I value the most- they all mean so much to me.

Even hearing these tunes make me tear up to this day and remind me of the wonder and peace I felt when I heard them for the very first time. Thank you, Yu Suzuki, Ryuji Iuchi, and everybody else!
 
James Brown said:
To celebrate our 20th year as a fan site, forum and community outlet, we are doing something extra extra special this xmas to cap off the end of our celebrations.

With prize support from fellow friend and member @icuk, we present to you, our Shenmue Dojo 20th Anniversary Xmas Bonanza!

20 Years, 20 Prizes, 1 Winner.

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The prize list is as follows:

1. Data Discs Shenmue 1 OST
2. Lithograph Signed by Shenmue Music Composer Ryuji Iuchi
3. Data Discs Shenmue 2 OST
4. Shenmue 2 Lithographs
5. Shenmue 3 Kickstarter CD OST (supplied by @icuk)
6. Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Art Book (supplied by @icuk)
7. Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Ryo Hazuki Capsule Toy (supplied by @icuk)
8. White Timex Watch (supplied by @icuk)
9. Shenmue 3 Bandage Pack
10. Shenmue 1 & 2 Steam Code
11. Shenmue 3 Steam Code
12. Shenmue Tattoo Sheet (From Shenmue Premiere Event 1998 (supplied by @icuk))
13. Shenmue World Issue 1 Magazine
14. Kohji Nakazawa Poster
15. ShenWave Collection Vol. 1 CD
16. ShenWave 6 Code
17. Guilin Postcard Set
18. Eric Kelso Signed Print
19. Premium Sticker Sheet
20. Unannounced bonus Shenmue World Item


To win this stupidly huge Shenmue prize pool, you need to:

  1. Subscribe to Ryuji Iuchi on Youtube - Ryuji is very close to 500 subscribers, and would like to attain that goal before his end of year Q/A Live Music Perfomance stream which is due to take place on the 29th December (thanks to everyone so far, Ryuji now has over 500 subs! 🥳).
  2. Reply to this topic with a question you would like to ask Ryuji Iuchi, and we will forward them to him for his special Q/A Live Music stream to answer (@Switch from PhantomRiverStone.com will be translating the Q/A session!)
  3. Reply to this topic with your fondest Shenmue Memory - we have been collecting special guest's fondest memories for our first podcast which aired live on Radio SEGA over the weekend (Shenmue Dojo Show: Episode 1), these memories can range from your first experience playing the Shenmue series, an event you may have attended, a particular person you have met, maybe something that happens in the game, or anything at all really!

If you are struggling with a question for Ryuji Iuchi, maybe familarising yourself with his body of work might trigger a neat question about a song for example.

Ryuji Iuchi Shenmue 1 Music
Ryuji Iuchi Shenmue 2 Music
Ryuji Iuchi Shenmue 3 Music
Ryuji Iuchi Shenmue Online Music
Ryuji Iuchi Super Monkey Ball 2 Music


- Competition ends 31st December and the winner will be announced on 1st January 2021!
- Competition open Worldwide. Best of luck everyone!


ON BEHALF OF EVERYONE HERE AT SHENMUE DOJO, MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Question: Which track from the original Shenmue inspires you most?

Fondest Shenmue moment has to be the 1st playthrough back in 2000 purely because of the feeling I had from it and the sheer nostalgia the game brings each playthrough, also Shenmue Gaiden stream a couple of years ago, such a fun stream with the Dojo community.
 
Question: Do you have a favorite song from your cassette tape compositions?

Fondest Shenmue Memory: Though I didn't know it at the time, my first playthrough of Shenmue II helped introduce my teenage self to Chinese philosophy/religion at the time I was beginning to explore other philosophies. I'm grateful for the series in helping me open my mind to other cultures and the beauty of foreign, rural lands (here's to you, Guilin!)
I doubt I'd be pursuing academic philosophy today without Shenmue's realistic and inviting presentation of a new worldview. To this day, I still try to keep my mind as clear as a polished mirror.

(So too, I subbed on Youtube like a good boy. Thanks for all you do, Dojo, including legit giveaways like this.)
 
I have subscribed👍🏼
My question would be:
what inspired you to make the music that you did, and how did you get in the zone of making them?

My fondest memory:
My favourite part of Shenmue I is definitely the home feeling, and knowing all the characters in the town, knowing their whereabouts and all about them etc!
 
Awesome giveaway!

1.) Subscribed
2.) What description, image or sense of feeling did Suzuki give him direction on when creating the music for Shenmue?
3.) I don’t know if I have a stand out moment as there are so many but I recall vividly getting lost trying to look for Heartbeat bar on my first playthrough. It’s comical in retrospect given how small and dense the map is in the original game but it really spoke to the layout and design that despite being lost it truly felt like finding a seedy underbelly of this quaint town that I was getting familiar with.
 
Question for Ryuji Iuchi

- Which of your compositions is your favourite? Why did you choose it?

My fondest Shenmue memory

- I didn't know about the Shenmue games until I found the Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue 3. My fondest memory is when I first heard the Shenmue music.
 
Vesko said:
Question for Ryuji Iuchi

- Which of your compositions is your favourite? Why did you choose it?

My fondest Shenmue memory

- I didn't know about the Shenmue games until I found the Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue 3. My fondest memory is when I first heard the Shenmue music.
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Welcome!
 
Hi everyone!
What an awesome competition!!

1) Done! :)

2) Which song took you the longest to compose and why?

3) My fondest memory about Shenmue is the atmosphere and incredible freedom! After waiting for the release for so long, I was simply blown away. Just walking around (and a lot of it), talking to random characters, grabbing a drink from one of the vending machines. That kind of freedom in games was unheard of at the time! You could take your time just doing random stuff.
 
Wallo said:
Hi everyone!
What an awesome competition!!

1) Done! :)

2) Which song took you the longest to compose and why?

3) My fondest memory about Shenmue is the atmosphere and incredible freedom! After waiting for the release for so long, I was simply blown away. Just walking around (and a lot of it), talking to random characters, grabbing a drink from one of the vending machines. That kind of freedom in games was unheard of at the time! You could take your time just doing random stuff.
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Welcome to the forums
 
Question:
Were any songs changed after moving development to the Dreamcast or did they largely stay the same from the beginning?
Also, I had no idea you did some music for Super Monkey Ball 2. I love that game.

My favourite memory is when I finished Shenmue 2. The day before my birthday, iirc. I'd been playing it every day for about a month. Before that, only one game (Wind Waker) had felt like a proper adventure to me. But after then, there were two.

Edit: forgot to mention that I subscribed as well
 
Last edited:
Thanks for doing this! I've subscribed to Iuchi-san's Youtube page.

Question for Ryuji Iuchi

What are your favorite bands/musicians outside of game music?

My fondest Shenmue memory

Back in 2002, I had just finished high school and had moved in with my cousin who was caring for my grandfather who was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. It was a tough time but I had my XBox and Shenmue II that my cousin and I played every night. We both loved being taken away from our grim situation and transported to 1980s China.
 
Thanks for this contest! Just subscribed on YT

Question for Ryuji Iuchi

- Outside of Shenmue, what inspires you the most? Are there other games/movies that heavily inspire you?

My fondest Shenmue memory
Receiving Shenmue 2 on Xbox for Christmas - it simply encapsulates everything wonderful about the holiday. I was with my family and received a gift that truly kept on giving. To this day, that disc remains my most-played game of all time :)
 
Shenmue AM2 Podcast said:
My question would be:

Overall, do you think music in video games receives the recognition it deserves?

My fondest memory of Shenmue is a really odd one:

I was in a Zellers department store reading a video game magazine and saw an article about Shenmue 2 being cancelled for the Dreamcast in North America. I was heart broken. Looking back at that exact moment in time now though, I realize it was the catalyst for my motivation to make sure the Shenmue series would continue. That was my moment when Shenmue became more than a video game for me. It was something I "needed." This was also the first time that I ever remember video games making me feel sad. I was genuinely upset that I wasn't going to be able to play Shenmue 2 on my Dreamcast. I remember telling my mom about the article and she recognized that it actually made me sad. I think that sadness that I felt really made me appreciate the series even more than I had already.

My other fondest memory was having my wife see my real time reaction to Shenmue 3 being announced. It was that moment that she really began to understand my love of this franchise.
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I am subscribed as well
 
Already subscribed - guess I missed the boat on questions, dang

Fondest memory of Shenmue:
Probably when I first booted up the game on Xmas Day 2000 (S1 was a Christmas present, as was S2 the following year), I'd been following magazine coverage of the game very closely and poring over every screenshot (I did not yet have the internet!), and was blown away right from the start with that intro sequence - I remember specifically being wowed by the fact there were actual, moving and realistic looking fish in the pond in the Hazuki garden! I knew instantly from that and the incredible weather effects that this was something special in the history of gaming, and never have I felt more attached to any locations in video games than the cosiness of Yokosuka, and later the bustling Hong Kong. This series will always be very special to me, and I also have lots of other fond memories of the Dojo and the community, and still incredibly proud that we all managed to make Shenmue III a reality :)
 
Miles Prower said:
Already subscribed - guess I missed the boat on questions, dang

Fondest memory of Shenmue:
Probably when I first booted up the game on Xmas Day 2000 (S1 was a Christmas present, as was S2 the following year), I'd been following magazine coverage of the game very closely and poring over every screenshot (I did not yet have the internet!), and was blown away right from the start with that intro sequence - I remember specifically being wowed by the fact there were actual, moving and realistic looking fish in the pond in the Hazuki garden! I knew instantly from that and the incredible weather effects that this was something special in the history of gaming, and never have I felt more attached to any locations in video games than the cosiness of Yokosuka, and later the bustling Hong Kong. This series will always be very special to me, and I also have lots of other fond memories of the Dojo and the community, and still incredibly proud that we all managed to make Shenmue III a reality :)
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Great stuff Stuart :), yes unfortunately you missed the question for Ryuji, but don’t worry, I said entries up until tomorrow night, so you’re still in 💪 😇
 
Aw shucks, I missed asking a question. Well, if I’m no longer qualified, that’s fine, but I’d like to contribute anyways.

Subscribed awhile ago.

As for fondest memory - this is a tricky one because I’m not sure if one memory qualifies due to it being more recent and not directly Shenmue game related, but actually meeting Yu Suzuki.

In terms of the game, I didn’t get a Dreamcast on launch, so unfortunately I didn’t get that Christmas memory many people had; however, it was one of the first games I received when I did get a Dreamcast as a Christmas gift a year after in 2000.

My thing is, I like games that kind of combine genres and although it didn’t, what really got that in my head was Chrono Trigger, as it was the only game where battles happened without transitioning to another screen. Not too long after beating that game (in around 1997 if I remember right), I thought, “Man, wouldn’t it be cool to play a RPG-like game where you use fighting game mechanics?” Well, that materialized not too many years after when I popped on Shenmue (one of the games I received alongside the Dreamcast), being in awe with time moving, the story, the battles, etc. I remember doing pretty much everything I could - collecting all the capsule toys, completing all the mini-games, talking to everyone and discovering every bit of dialogue. In fact, Shenmue is probably why I always talk to everyone at different points of the story in every game I play now, and checking every object to see if I could interact with them and/or receive any items. I think, I even tried to buy every drink from the vending machines even though I don’t think any of the in-game menus tracked it. It continues to be one of my most inspired series.

As for the more recent memory regarding Yu Suzuki, my friends and I were hinted about something “Shenmue-related” for E3 2015, so in faith, we came with Shenmue stuff and wearing Shenmue gear. After the amazing Sony presentation, we went around looking for him, calling each other - I remember specifically seeing Yu being interviewed on screens and calling my friends, telling them, “He’s wearing a black and white stripped shirt!” At multiple times, we were close to giving up, but we all got to meet him! One of my other friends met him first, coming out of the bathroom, and then I met him maybe an hour after hearing that news, still having around the PlayStation area, until I finally met him myself and got a picture with him!

8BDD5B44-DF2C-40B2-AAB0-9A0DD4F749A1.jpeg

Unfortunately, it’s a bit blurred - while my friend was taking our picture, some jerk walking by bumped into my friend, unapologetically. My third friend wasn’t near us and once we sent him pictures, he came by and we hung out until the very end of the day, nearly giving up (we saw a lot of people coming out, including Todd Howard). Maybe 5 minutes after the announcement went out that Day 1 was ending and everyone needed to leave, he finally came out! My buddy got his Shenmue game cover signed and I got my InsertCoin Hazuki jacket signed!

E92FA5C1-80E6-441C-AF1A-553ABB64E8F9.jpeg
FC29EC29-5E1B-4B6E-9815-D810007C8CD3.jpeg
Good times - I don’t think any game convention will ever top this one.

Good luck to you all with the contest!
 
SouloAscian said:
Aw shucks, I missed asking a question. Well, if I’m no longer qualified, that’s fine, but I’d like to contribute anyways.

Subscribed awhile ago.

As for fondest memory - this is a tricky one because I’m not sure if one memory qualifies due to it being more recent and not directly Shenmue game related, but actually meeting Yu Suzuki.

In terms of the game, I didn’t get a Dreamcast on launch, so unfortunately I didn’t get that Christmas memory many people had; however, it was one of the first games I received when I did get a Dreamcast as a Christmas gift a year after in 2000.

My thing is, I like games that kind of combine genres and although it didn’t, what really got that in my head was Chrono Trigger, as it was the only game where battles happened without transitioning to another screen. Not too long after beating that game (in around 1997 if I remember right), I thought, “Man, wouldn’t it be cool to play a RPG-like game where you use fighting game mechanics?” Well, that materialized not too many years after when I popped on Shenmue (one of the games I received alongside the Dreamcast), being in awe with time moving, the story, the battles, etc. I remember doing pretty much everything I could - collecting all the capsule toys, completing all the mini-games, talking to everyone and discovering every bit of dialogue. In fact, Shenmue is probably why I always talk to everyone at different points of the story in every game I play now, and checking every object to see if I could interact with them and/or receive any items. I think, I even tried to buy every drink from the vending machines even though I don’t think any of the in-game menus tracked it. It continues to be one of my most inspired series.

As for the more recent memory regarding Yu Suzuki, my friends and I were hinted about something “Shenmue-related” for E3 2015, so in faith, we came with Shenmue stuff and wearing Shenmue gear. After the amazing Sony presentation, we went around looking for him, calling each other - I remember specifically seeing Yu being interviewed on screens and calling my friends, telling them, “He’s wearing a black and white stripped shirt!” At multiple times, we were close to giving up, but we all got to meet him! One of my other friends met him first, coming out of the bathroom, and then I met him maybe an hour after hearing that news, still having around the PlayStation area, until I finally met him myself and got a picture with him!

View attachment 10096

Unfortunately, it’s a bit blurred - while my friend was taking our picture, some jerk walking by bumped into my friend, unapologetically. My third friend wasn’t near us and once we sent him pictures, he came by and we hung out until the very end of the day, nearly giving up (we saw a lot of people coming out, including Todd Howard). Maybe 5 minutes after the announcement went out that Day 1 was ending and everyone needed to leave, he finally came out! My buddy got his Shenmue game cover signed and I got my InsertCoin Hazuki jacket signed!

View attachment 10097
View attachment 10098
Good times - I don’t think any game convention will ever top this one.

Good luck to you all with the contest!
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Welcome to the forums. Some greta pictures and memories there.

Entries close this evening so you made it just in time!
 
1) Subscribed

2) When does the Q & A start?

3) I've written out plenty of these down the years, and honestly it's getting a little boring doing so. Instead I'll go for my favourite Shenmue memory "as Ryo" (ie my favourite scene)

If you wait until just the right time and initiate it at sunset (I say sunset, I mean the skies turning orange, the first game has no sun), and approach Yamagishi-san whilst he's sat in the park, the scene where he teaches you Double Blow just seems... I dunno, proper. It feels like the one moment of true, nostalgic mourning for the loss of a loved one.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of emotional moments in the game that are given even more gravitas by the exquisite soundtrack (that's right, I'm not above arse licking), but this is the scene in the game that I have to trigger at the right time on every playthrough, else I'll save scum until the conditions are just right.

It's a bit of an odd one, and not particularly interesting, but it's better than me just rehashing stories of shit that happened "back in the good ol' days of the Dojo".

Oh, and I found the scene as I time it on the old Dojo channel. Ziming must do it the same as me. I miss that guy.

 
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