Early life[edit]

Shinoda was born on February 11, 1977, in Panorama City, California and raised in Agoura Hills,
California.[4][3] His father is Japanese-American.[5] He has a younger brother named Jason.[3] He
was raised as a liberal Protestant.[6] Shinoda's mother encouraged him to take classical piano
lessons when he was six. By 13, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues,
and even hip-hop.[7] He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his
middle school and high school years.[4][3]
Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob
Bourdon. The three formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue
a career in the music industry. After graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center
College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration.[3] He attended classes
with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn.[3][8] While studying at the Art Center College of Design, he
experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, he told an interviewer:
I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese
and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually
with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first
time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house,
in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out
of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then
going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the
small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are
more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the
States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know.
There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American
culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much
of it was there.[9]
Shinoda graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and obtained a job as a graphic
designer.[3][10]

Early life[edit]
Shinoda was born on February 11, 1977, in Panorama City, California and raised in Agoura Hills,
California.[4][3] His father is Japanese-American.[5] He has a younger brother named Jason.[3] He
was raised as a liberal Protestant.[6] Shinoda's mother encouraged him to take classical piano
lessons when he was six. By 13, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues,
and even hip-hop.[7] He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his
middle school and high school years.[4][3]
Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob
Bourdon. The three formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue
a career in the music industry. After graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center
College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration.[3] He attended classes
with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn.[3][8] While studying at the Art Center College of Design, he
experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, he told an interviewer:
I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese
and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually
with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first
time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house,
in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out
of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then
going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the
small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are
more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the
States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know.
There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American
culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much
of it was there.[9]
Shinoda graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and obtained a job as a graphic
designer.[3][10]

Early life[edit]
Shinoda was born on February 11, 1977, in Panorama City, California and raised in Agoura Hills,
California.[4][3] His father is Japanese-American.[5] He has a younger brother named Jason.[3] He
was raised as a liberal Protestant.[6] Shinoda's mother encouraged him to take classical piano
lessons when he was six. By 13, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues,
and even hip-hop.[7] He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his
middle school and high school years.[4][3]
Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob
Bourdon. The three formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue
a career in the music industry. After graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center
College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration.[3] He attended classes
with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn.[3][8] While studying at the Art Center College of Design, he
experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, he told an interviewer:
I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese
and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually
with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first
time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house,
in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out
of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then
going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the
small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are
more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the
States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know.
There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American
culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much
of it was there.[9]
Shinoda graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and obtained a job as a graphic
designer.[3][10]

Early life[edit]
Shinoda was born on February 11, 1977, in Panorama City, California and raised in Agoura Hills,
California.[4][3] His father is Japanese-American.[5] He has a younger brother named Jason.[3] He
was raised as a liberal Protestant.[6] Shinoda's mother encouraged him to take classical piano
lessons when he was six. By 13, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues,
and even hip-hop.[7] He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his
middle school and high school years.[4][3]
Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob
Bourdon. The three formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue
a career in the music industry. After graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center
College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration.[3] He attended classes
with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn.[3][8] While studying at the Art Center College of Design, he
experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, he told an interviewer:
I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese
and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually
with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first
time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house,
in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out
of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then
going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the
small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are
more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the
States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know.
There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American
culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much
of it was there.[9]
Shinoda graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and obtained a job as a graphic
designer.[3][10]

Early life[edit]
Shinoda was born on February 11, 1977, in Panorama City, California and raised in Agoura Hills,
California.[4][3] His father is Japanese-American.[5] He has a younger brother named Jason.[3] He
was raised as a liberal Protestant.[6] Shinoda's mother encouraged him to take classical piano
lessons when he was six. By 13, he expressed the desire to move toward playing jazz, blues,
and even hip-hop.[7] He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his
middle school and high school years.[4][3]
Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmates Brad Delson and Rob
Bourdon. The three formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue
a career in the music industry. After graduating high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center
College of Design of Pasadena to study graphic design and illustration.[3] He attended classes
with DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn.[3][8] While studying at the Art Center College of Design, he
experienced a form of identity crisis. Years later, he told an interviewer:
I think it was probably in college that I realized that there was a difference between Japanese
and Japanese-American. That's important to realize. It's not the same thing and then eventually
with Linkin Park, I toured in Japan. I've been there now I think four times. I remember the first
time I went, how familiar it seemed, just getting out of the plane, it smelled like my aunt's house,
in the airport, it smelled like Japan. I don't know if anybody else even noticed it but I walked out
of the plane and thought this is definitely familiar to me, didn't even see anything yet. And then
going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, you just recognize things about the way people act, the
small things that people do such as how you'll grab a piece of paper. There are things that are
more obvious like taking somebody's business card with two hands. You don't do that in the
States. When I saw somebody do that I went, "Oh yeah, my uncle always does that," you know.
There are little things that culturally come from Japan but they also exist in Japanese American
culture and it made me feel like the connection was there and I kind of hadn't realized how much
of it was there.[9]
Shinoda graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and obtained a job as a graphic
designer.[3][10]