Shigesato Itoi
Writing. During the 1980s Itoi established the profession of writing copy for advertisements among the general public in Japan. In 1981, he co-authored a collection of short stories titled "" ("Let's meet in a dream") with writer Haruki Murakami. Later Itoi branched into writing essays, lyrics, and designing video games. He is best known outside of Japan for Nintendo's "Earthbound", released in 1994 in Japan (as "Mother 2 : Giygas Strikes Back") and in 1995 in North America. In 1997, Itoi began using the Internet and bought his first Macintosh. In 1998 he started the website and  company Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"), which is the center of his activity today. Under the theme of “creating good mood”, the website has been updated every day for the past 15 years, with Itoi’s essays on lifestyle, interviews and articles, and merchandise sales. He talks about his pet dogs and his interviews with artists, craftsmen, businessmen, etc., which tend to center on philosophical issues. 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 Yūji Ikegaya, about how to  live as a human being in the world. Books collecting Itoi's past essays written on the site's front page are also available for purchase. Filmography. Itoi has voiced Satsuki's father, Tatsuo Kusakabe, in the original Japanese version of the 1988 Studio Ghibli film "My Neighbor Totoro". He has been a judge on several episodes of the Japanese television shows "Iron Chef" and "Hey! Spring of Trivia". He made his acting debut in 2010, when he played the role of a professor in the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood". Video games. Itoi established the company  Ape, Inc. as a venue for external developers to help make games for Nintendo. He was the creator of the "Mother" series. In the original "Mother" for the Famicom, he was lead designer, writer and director; on "EarthBound" for the SNES, Itoi was producer, director and writer while in "Mother 3" for Game Boy Advance, Itoi was the writer of the story. Itoi claims that the final battle of "EarthBound" with Giygas was inspired from his accidental childhood viewing of the Shintoho film titled "The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty". Specifically, the scene that inspired the battle was a  scene depicting a woman being murdered. Itoi has said that he would not be involved in a fourth title of the series. Itoi’s works have had an impact on other games and other media, including "Undertale", "", "Yume Nikki", "Homestuck" and others. Other ventures. Shigesato Itoi worked with Nintendo to design video game-themed haramaki. Itoi is an avid Monopoly player and is President of the . He also competed in the 1992 Monopoly World Championships and placed eighth. Itoi's video game development company Ape, Inc. developed two Monopoly games for the Super Famicom, with Itoi serving as producer. These  versions of Monopoly were not released outside of Japan and featured a more role-playing experience. Itoi launched a photo creation tool called "Dokonoko", which is designed specifically to be used with pets. It has been described as an "Instagram for pets". Dokonoko is most famous for Labrador Retriever in particular named Corky, who made front line news because of the abnormal length of her tongue. Personal life. Itoi was born on November 10, 1948 and raised in Maebashi, Gunma. He was a heavy smoker until he quit in 2002. Itoi has been married to actress Kanako Higuchi since 1993