Takaaki Kidani | |
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木谷 高明 | |
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| Born | (1960-06-06)June 6, 1960 (age 65) |
| Alma mater | Musashi University |
| Occupation(s) | Video game developer, entrepreneur |
Takaaki Kidani (木谷 高明,Kidani Takaaki; born June 6, 1960) is a Japanese video game developer and entrepreneur born inKanazawa, Japan. He is the founder, CEO and president ofBushiroad.[1] Kidani has also served as the chairman ofNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He continues to be involved with NJPW through Bushiroad, in which owns the company.[2]
After Kidani graduated fromMusashi University with a degree in economics, he worked atYamaichi Securities. He handled American duties.
Kidani formerly fromYamaichi Securities in 1994. On March 25 of the same year, he foundedBroccoli as astartup company. At first, his business focused on event management, but from 1994 to 1998, he started Comic Castle fordōjinshi. In 1996, he established his first chain of retail storesGamers [ja]. His company has its center focus on anime and video games. Their company performance increased after producing the anime seriesDi Gi Charat and his company was then listed on theJASDAQ Securities Exchange.
He founded Bushiroad in May 2007 as a company that produces card games and assumed the position of president. The origin of the name Bushiroad comes from the failure to makeNeppu Kairiku Bushi Road into a film due to various reasons when he led the project in the days of Broccoli. The film was restarted in March 2013 with Kidani as the executive producer. The company would create numerousmedia franchises includingTantei Opera Milky Holmes andBanG Dream!.[3]
On October 2, 2017, Bushiroad announced that Kidani would be stepping down as the company'sRepresentative Director on October 20 and joining itsboard of directors.[4]
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* – Temporarily departed (2022–2023) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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