Team Shanghai Alice consists of a single member,
ZUN, who serves as the programmer, writer, artist, and composer for the group's productions. His real name is ; he picked the pseudonym due to its similarity to his given name. He was born on March 18, 1977, in
Hakuba,
Nagano, In 2012, ZUN revealed that he had recently married a programmer, with whom he has 2 children. His interest in creating music began in elementary school, when his parents gifted him an
Electone as a birthday present. In junior high school, he played the trumpet in a brass band and began composing his own music. • • • • • After graduating in 1999, ZUN was hired by as a video game programmer by
Taito. He is credited in the production of several titles: • '''' (
PlayStation 2, 2000) •
Magic Pengel (PlayStation 2, 2002) •
Bujingai (PlayStation 2, 2003) •
Graffiti Kingdom (PlayStation 2, 2004) •
Exit (
PlayStation Portable, 2005) During this period, he contributed soundtracks to several games developed by his junior classmates in Amusement Makers, notably the , a series of bullet hell games for
Microsoft Windows by Shunsatsu sare do? (瞬殺サレ道？). The series was intended as a counterpart to the
Touhou Project, featuring highly similar gameplay as well as cameo appearances by
Reimu Hakurei,
Marisa Kirisame, and
Yuuka Kazami: • - part of the
Seihou Project • - a bullet hell game by Pietoro (ぴえとろ) based on the manga '''' • - part of the
Seihou Project • - a collection of six
MIDI tracks for the
Roland SC-88 Pro, including unused music from
Shuusou Gyoku In 2007, he left his job at Taito to focus on the development of the
Touhou Project. Later that year, ZUN provided programming for , a beer-themed bullet hell game published by . The game uses the same engine as
Mountain of Faith and shares many similar gameplay features, including a "Beer Gauge" that increases shot power based on damage dealt. In addition to the
Touhou Project games, ZUN has provided writing for several official
Touhou Project print works, produced in collaboration with various illustrators and publishers: • • , which consists of: •
Eastern and Little Nature Deity (2005–2006) •
Strange and Bright Nature Deity (2006–2009) •
Oriental Sacred Place (2009–2012) •
Visionary Fairies in Shrine (2016–2019) • • • • , which consists of: •
Silent Sinner in Blue (2007–2009) •
Cage in Lunatic Runagate (2007–2009) • • • • • • • • • • The releases of
Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red,
Perfect Memento in Strict Sense,
Strange Creators of Outer World Volume 2, and
The Grimoire of Marisa were accompanied by bonus CDs containing arrangements and compositions by ZUN. Additional CDs were included with several
tankōbon releases of official manga:
Eastern and Little Nature Deity (2007),
Strange and Bright Nature Deity (2008, 2009, 2009),
Silent Sinner in Blue (2008),
Oriental Sacred Place (2010, 2011, 2012), and
Forbidden Scrollery (2016). Rarely, ZUN has collaborated in the production of unofficial
Touhou works, creating tracks for two
fangames and four
dōjin albums: • - album by sound sepher • - compilation album by
Comic Toranoana, included with
Seasonal Dream Vision fanbook • -
shoot 'em up game by D.N.A.Softwares • -
mahjong game by D.N.A.Softwares • - album by Disaster and D.N.A.Softwares • - album by Columbus Circle Since December 2009, ZUN has written the monthly column , in which he discusses his favorite locations for food and beer, his daily life, game development, and topics related to the
Touhou Project. The columns are often accompanied by photos and/or guest artist illustrations; it was serialized in
Comptiq magazine until July 2013, and in
Comp Ace since September 2013. ==References==