Shigesato Itoi

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Shigesato Itoi (糸井重里 Itoi Shigesato, born November 10, 1948) is a famous Japanese copywriter and game designer. He is most well known for his work with Nintendo's Mother series of games, specifically EarthBound in the United States. The Beatles carry a strong influence on his work, and also his way of life.

In his early teens, Itoi worked hard at pleasing others and blended in with his fellow middle schoolers. It wasn't till he was 17 that he began to break free.

According to conventional wisdom, passing the entrance exam to university is the first step up the ladder of success. For Itoi, however, it was like opening the gates to Hell. After less than a year at Hosei, he was out on the streets.

His mother and father were divorced, so he couldn't go home. Besides, he really didn't want to go back to the wind-swept plains of Gunma Prefecture where he was raised. So he stayed in Tokyo, working at this odd job and that, curling up in the spare corner of a friend's apartment at night.

Itoi's curiosity led him to a night school course in copywriting Three weeks later he was working for an advertising production house as a copywriter's assistant.

Then and now, Japan's advertising industry works on the apprentice system. Promising youngsters work as assistants to veteran copywriters and artists, gradually getting more and more responsibility until they can do it on their own. The length of apprenticeship varies with the individual. Itoi's lasted nearly five years. Then, in 1975, Itoi won the Tokyo Copywriters Club award for best new copywriter. That did it. He'd graduated to full-fledged copywritership. He quit the ad production house and began life as a freelance copywriter. He had his freedom back.

He even wrote the lyrics to hit songs. Kenji Sawada, formerly of the Tigers, a late '60s Beatlesque group, climbed to the top of the charts with an Itoi song entitle "Tokio." Soon Itoi was the most sought-after freelance copywriter in Japan.

Itoi values his freedom above almost all else. In fact, if the client starts trying to change an idea he feels is right, Itoi says he will quit a project rather than compromise.

The Tokyo Itoi Shigesato Office is just of Omotesando Blvd. in Aoyama, in the same building as Itoi's home. It's a simple office, one long room filled with an assistant's desk, a huge conference table covered with books and papers, and a large desk against the back wall, presumably for Itoi. The walls are lined with books from floor to ceiling.

Itoi speculates that friends are very important to him because he comes from a broken home, as did John Lennon. He says life is a series of activities with your friends, and refuses to subscribe to the workaholic ideal of many Japanese.

Itoi stays free by keeping long-term commitments to a minimum.

He also voiced Mei and Satsuki's father, Tatsuo Kusakabe, in the Japanese version of the My Neighbor Totoro anime film. He has also been a judge on a few episodes of the Japanese shows Iron Chef and Hey! Spring of Trivia. Itoi also co-authored a collection of short stories titled Yume de aimashou ("Let's meet in a dream") with writer Haruki Murakami.

According to Hiroshi Yamauchi, former president of Nintendo Co. Ltd, Itoi is considered a genius.