is a
Japanese game designer, director and
producer who helmed Sega's
AM2 team for 18 years. He has been responsible for the creation of Sega's biggest global
arcade hits, including
pseudo-3D sprite-scaling games such as
Hang-On,
Space Harrier,
Out Run, and
After Burner, and pioneering
polygonal 3D games such as
Virtua Racing and
Virtua Fighter, which are credited with popularizing 3D graphics in video games, as well as the critically acclaimed
Shenmue series of
open world adventure games. As a hardware engineer, he led the development of various
arcade system boards, including the
Sega Space Harrier,
Model 1,
Model 2, and
Model 3, and was involved in the development of the
Dreamcast console and its corresponding
NAOMI arcade hardware.