Koji Kondo

Koji Kondo, Japanese composer and sound director

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Born: August 13, 1961
Age in 2026: 65
Zodiac sign: Leo
Birth year: 1961

About Koji Kondo

Koji Kondo is a Japanese composer and senior executive at the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his contributions for the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, with his Super Mario Bros. theme being the first piece of music from a video game included in the American National Recording Registry. Kondo was hired by Nintendo in 1984 as its first dedicated composer and is currently a Senior Officer at its Entertainment Planning & Development division. To conclude his first year at Nintendo, he created some of the music of Devil World, alongside Akito Nakatsuka.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Koji Kondo was born

Koji Kondo was born in 1961. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1961

#1 song"Tossin' and Turnin'" – Bobby Lewis
Top movieWest Side Story
Top TV showGunsmoke
Best-selling bookCatch-22 – Joseph Heller

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentRoger Maris hits 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's record
Top headlineYuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space
Technology milestoneYuri Gagarin becomes first human in space
Defining fadSurfing culture
Notable inventionValium
World population3.08 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderJohn F. Kennedy
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
U.S. population183.7M

1961 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Koji Kondo's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1961	2026
Gas	$0.31	$3.45/gal
Average home	$12,500	$435,000
Average income	$7,600	$67,500
Minimum wage	$1.15	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.69	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.04	$0.73
Population	183.7M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.