19 Facts About Shigesato Itoi

1.

Shigesato Itoi is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and actor.

2.

Later Shigesato Itoi branched into writing essays, lyrics, and designing video games.

3.

Shigesato Itoi is best known outside of Japan for Nintendo's EarthBound, released in 1994 in Japan and in 1995 in North America.

4.

In 1997, Shigesato Itoi began using the Internet and bought his first Macintosh.

5.

Shigesato Itoi has co-written several books modeled on these interviews, in which he has a series of long conversations with, for example, an expert on neurology Yuji Ikegaya, about how to live as a human being in the world.

6.

Shigesato Itoi has voiced Satsuki's father, Tatsuo Kusakabe, in the original Japanese version of the 1988 Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro.

7.

Shigesato Itoi made his live-action acting debut in 2010, when he played the role of a professor in the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood.

8.

Shigesato Itoi established the company Ape, Inc as a venue for external developers to help make games for Nintendo.

9.

Shigesato Itoi was involved in the pet simulator video game Cabbage, which was canceled after years in development hell.

10.

Shigesato Itoi has said that he would not be involved in a fourth title of the series.

11.

Shigesato Itoi's works have had an impact on other games and other media, including Undertale, and others.

12.

Shigesato Itoi worked with Nintendo to design video game-themed haramaki.

13.

Shigesato Itoi is an avid Monopoly player and is President of the Japan Monopoly Association.

14.

Shigesato Itoi competed in the 1992 Monopoly World Championships and placed eighth.

15.

Shigesato Itoi launched a photo creation tool called "Dokonoko", which is designed specifically to be used with pets.

16.

Shigesato Itoi was born on November 10,1948, and raised in Maebashi, Gunma.

17.

Shigesato Itoi was a heavy smoker until he quit in 2002.

18.

Shigesato Itoi has been married to actress Kanako Higuchi since 1993.

19.

The protagonist of the game, Ninten, has asthma, which was one of the first aspects of his character Shigesato Itoi came up with.