Haruki Kadokawa is a Japanese entrepreneur and filmmaker.
17 Facts About Haruki Kadokawa
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Haruki Kadokawa is the son of Genyoshi Kadokawa, the founder of the publishing company Kadokawa Shoten.
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Haruki Kadokawa took over as president of the company in 1975 after his father's death.
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Haruki Kadokawa entered the film industry as a producer and introduced a technique called media mix, which involved mass promotion and talent scouting for new artists in publishing, film, and television.
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Haruki Kadokawa resigned as president of Kadokawa Shoten, founding Kadokawa Haruki Corporation instead.
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Haruki Kadokawa graduated in 1964 with a degree in literature and joined his father's company the next year.
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Haruki Kadokawa quickly turned the publisher's direction, changing the company that had previously been known for its serious literary and educational works into creators of popular fiction.
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Haruki Kadokawa's goal was to try to reap synergy benefits by creating film adaptations of the publishing house's most popular books and marketing them simultaneously.
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The company's first film was the 1976 release The Inugamis, directed by Kon Ichikawa and adopted from a Haruki Kadokawa Shoten published novel written by Seishi Yokomizo.
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Between 1976 and 1993, Haruki Kadokawa produced close to 60 films.
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Haruki Kadokawa made his directorial debut in 1982 with the film The Lost Hero.
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In 1993, Haruki Kadokawa was accused of instructing photographer Takeshi Ikeda, a close aide, to smuggle cocaine from the United States on several occasions.
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Haruki Kadokawa was charged with smuggling and embezzling money from his company in order to fund the drug purchases.
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In 2005, after more than a decade away from the business, Haruki Kadokawa returned to producing films with the World War II epic Yamato.
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Haruki Kadokawa has since worked as an executive producer on Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea and a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro in 2007.
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Haruki Kadokawa wrote critically praised haiku and tanka poetry that was published in poetry magazines, a hobby he continued while incarcerated.
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In 1991, Haruki Kadokawa finished building a full-size replica of Christopher Columbus' flagship Santa Maria, which sailed from Barcelona to Japan, with Haruki Kadokawa initially at the helm.