Tsunekazu Ishihara

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Ishihara in 2023[1]

Tsunekazu Ishihara (Tsunekaz also seen; Japanese:石原恒和Ishihara Tsunekazu, born November 27, 1957) is the president and CEO ofThe Pokémon Company, a producer ofPokémon, and the founder and former CEO ofCreatures, Inc. He manages all aspects of the Pokémon franchise including theanimated series,games, and thePokémon Trading Card Game.

History

This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Better citation needed for the section on Cabbage.

Ishihara graduated from theUniversity of Tsukuba in 1983 with a master's degree in Art and Design.[2] While earning his degree, Ishihara studied various mechanisms of visual expression, gravitating toward computer-generated art.[3] After graduation, Ishihara worked at the advertising agency SPN, owned by theSeibu Saison Group, for two years. Following this, he transferred to Sedic (SeibuDigitalCommunications), a film production company with a background in computer graphics also owned by the Seibu Saison Group. At Sedic, Ishihara produced shows about video games forFuji Television, including Shigesato Itoi's TV Game Museum andTV's TV.[4] During this time, Ishihara,Akihiko Miura, and other Sedic staff developedToshio Iwai's first video gameOtocky, which released in 1987. While making television programs, Ishihara interviewed various figures in the video game industry, includingShigesato Itoi,Koichi Sugiyama, andSatoshi Tajiri. Ishihara was particularly impressed by Tajiri's knowledge of video games as well as his skill in playing them, and the two became close.[5][6]

In 1988, Ishihara publishedDenshi Yuugi Taizen (Japanese:電視遊戯大全), an encyclopedia of video games, with each game documented in aphylogenetic tree map. To produce the book, Ishihara traveled across Japan, as well as to the Soviet Union and the United States, and conducted interviews with prominent video game developers. Itoi and Tajiri contributed essays to the book.[7] Ishihara also began playingTetris, which led to him writingHow To Achieve 100,000 Points in Tetris, published in 1989. Ishihara intended to visit the Soviet Union in order to secure the rights to release the game in Japan, but was beaten byHenk Rogers, whose company Bullet Proof Software published versions for PCs and the Famicom toward the end of 1988. The limitations of Bullet Proof Software's port inspired him to make his own version of Tetris.[8] Ishihara andAkihiko Miura pitched different ideas toAlexey Pajitnov, who selected "exploding Tetris" as a promising idea. Development took two and a half years, and the Ishihara-producedTetris 2 + Bombliss released in 1991, with puzzles contributed by Miura andKouichi Ooyama.[9]

Ishihara left Sedic in 1991 to become to vice president of Ape Inc., where he produced titles such asEarthBound andMario's Picross.[10] After Ape Inc. ceased production activity, he foundedCreatures, Inc. on November 8, 1995,[11] with the assistance ofSatoru Iwata.[12][13] There, Ishihara continued assisting in the development ofPokémon Red and Green. Shortly after, he was inspired to create a trading card game based on the titles, ultimately resulting in the creation of thePokémon Trading Card Game.

In April 1998,The Pokémon Company was established as Pokémon Center, Inc. and Ishihara was given the position of representative director.[2] In 2001, he was named the president.

Announced in 1997, Ishihara was part of a team developing a game with a working title[14] known asCabbage (Japanese:キャベツKyabetsu) alongsideShigeru Miyamoto,Satoru Iwata, andShigesato Itoi. Originally intended for release on the Nintendo 64DD, Cabbage was a breeding simulator[15] in which a player was able to raise a pet-like creature, known simply as a Cabbage, a name originating from Itoi.[14] It began development in 1996 and was designed around the 64DD, requiring the use of its real-time internal clock.[15] Cabbage would also have compatibility with theGame Boy, where a player could connect to the 64DD and interact with their pets there.[15] No builds or gameplay of Cabbage ever surfaced throughout its development. Ishihara's role in Cabbage's development is incredibly vague; it is unclear what Ishihara actually contributed to the game's development, only that he (along with Itoi) became too busy with other projects, according to Miyamoto in 2006.[16][citation needed]

In April 2023, Ishihara stepped down as CEO of Creatures, Inc., being succeeded byYuji Kitano.[17]

Game credits

Animation credits

Executive producer

Production supervisor

Supervision

Appearances in games

Ishihara (Japanese:Ｍｒ．イシハラMr. Ishihara) appears in theGame Boy Color spin-off of the Pokémon TCG,Pokémon Trading Card Game, as a Pokémon card collector. Ishihara owns over 10,000 cards. He's also written many books about thePokémon Trading Card Game.

In the game, Ishihara can always be found inhis house on the cape to the northwest after being told by someone in the game where he is. He will trade very rare promotional Pikachu cards to the player for rare colorless cards. In order, he will trade aSurfing Pikachu for aClefable, aFlying Pikachu for aDitto, and an alternate designSurfing Pikachu for aChansey. After all three trades have been completed, Ishihara will leave in search of someone who will give him thePhantom Cards.

InPokémon Trading Card Game 2: The Invasion of Team GR!, Ishihara moves between his house and a new area,his villa. He will still trade cards with the player, but this time, he will be available to duel in his villa after all his trades are completed. He uses theVery Rare Card Deck, which contains many rare promotional cards.

Sprites

Main sprite fromPokémon
Trading Card Game 2		Win sprite fromPokémon
Trading Card Game 2		Loss sprite fromPokémon
Trading Card Game 2		Overworld sprite
(GB1)		Overworld sprite
(GB2)

Appearances in the TCG

Tsunekazu Ishihara appears in one promotional card.

IshiharaGX
Cards listed with ablue background are only legal to use in the currentExpanded format.
Cards listed with agreen background are legal to use in both the currentStandard andExpanded formats.
CardTypeEnglish
Expansion		Rarity#Japanese
Expansion		Rarity#
IshiharaGXDragonBlack Star Promos TPCi01   
 

Appearances in animation

Tsunekazu Ishihara in Pokémon: Path to the Peak

Tsunekazu Ishihara makes a cameo appearance in thePokémon: Path to the Peak episodeWorlds.

Interviews mentioning Pokémon

October 26th, 2023
Famitsu (Issue 1819) -"Detective Pikachu has Returned"
feat.Hiroyuki Jinnai

Videos

#Pokemon20: The Pokémon Company's Tsunekazu Ishihara

ByThe Official Pokémon Channel
This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTubehere.

Trivia

References

  1. ↑Image from Famitsu issue 1819.
  2. ↑2.02.1Mr. Tsunekazu Ishihara wins the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award | Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association
  3. ↑Hatakeyama, Kenji; Kubo, Masakazu (December 10, 2000). ポケモン・ストーリー[Pokémon Story]. Nikkei BP. p. 79. ISBN 978-4822241995.
  4. ↑Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000), p. 80-82.
  5. ↑Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000), p. 82-83.
  6. ↑Interview: Tajiri and Ishihara on Pokemon’s Beginnings, translated from July 2000 issue of Nintendo Online Magazine
  7. ↑Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000), p. 83-88.
  8. ↑すべては『ドアドア』から始まった――チュンソフト30周年のすべてを中村光一氏と振り返るロングインタビュー【前編】 Chunsoft 30th Anniversary Interview,translated by Shmupulations
  9. ↑“I made that!” – 1991 Developer Interviews, from the October 1991 issue of Famitsu, translated by Shmupulations
  10. ↑Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000), p. 98.
  11. ↑会社概要 | 株式会社クリーチャーズ
  12. ↑社長が訊く『ポケットモンスター ハートゴールド・ソウルシルバー』
  13. ↑Iwata Asks : Pokémon HeartGold Version & SoulSilver Version : Just Making The Last Train
  14. ↑14.014.164Dream article on Cabbage.
  15. ↑15.015.115.2The IGN article discussing Cabbage's appearance in 64Dream.
  16. ↑Article discussing Miyamoto's comments on Cabbage in 2006.
  17. ↑Creatures Inc. sees leadership change as CEO and president step down
  18. ↑(February 9, 2000). "ABC News Pokémon Chat Transcript."IGN.
  19. ↑(November 2002).1-5. 開発者よりみなさまへのメッセージ。 『ポケットモンスター　ルビー・サファイア』大特集。Nintendo Online Magazine (N.O.M). No.52.

External links

Related articles

NPCs in theTrading Card Game Islands
Dr. Mason •Ronald •Mr. Ishihara •Imakuni? •Sam •Aaron •Tap
Club Members •Club Masters •Grand Masters •Team Great Rocket
Enigmatic Masks •Dungeon Masters •Ghost Masters