Katsuhiro Harada

Katsuhiro Harada (原田 勝弘, Harada Katsuhiro, born June 10, 1970) is a Japanese game producer, director, and general manager from Bandai Namco Entertainment, best known as a producer and director of the popular fighting game series known as Tekken.

Katsuhiro Harada
Harada in 2013
Born (1970-06-10) June 10, 1970
Osaka, Japan
NationalityJapanese
OccupationGame designer, director, producer
Years active1994–present
Notable work
Tekken series
TitleGeneral Manager at Bandai Namco Entertainment

Biography

Harada was born in Osaka, Japan, and grew up within the Nara Prefecture region.[1] He later moved to Tokyo, Japan. During his childhood, video games were viewed with a great deal of suspicion in Japan. His parents would not buy him a home console, and as a result often sneaked into arcade centres, where he would occasionally be discovered and dragged out. He worked hard and ended up securing a place at Waseda University. He has studied judo, karate and a little bit of taekwondo in the past.[2] He attended Waseda University along with Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki[3] and holds a degree in psychology. During his university studies, he took a few Chinese language courses, albeit finding it very difficult.[4] After graduating from university, he joined Namco to become a promoter. His parents were initially unhappy with his pursuit in a career with the video game industry, but have since accepted him in his work.[5]

During his first year working in the Namco arcade, Harada smashed the sales record two months in a row, and subsequently received an award of commendation from the president of Namco. Thanks to the award, Harada now had a platform to approach the management and request that they move him into game development. Towards the end of the first year at Namco, they gave him a position on the first Tekken title.[6]

He voiced Forest Law in Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament, Marshall Law from Tekken until Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Yoshimitsu from Tekken until Tekken Tag Tournament and Kunimitsu in Tekken. He is known within the fanbase for his sense of humor, such as his comical rivalry with Street Fighter director, Yoshinori Ono, jokes around the character Leo in Tekken 6 because of the ambiguous gender, and for attending EVO 2017 in a shirt that read "Don't Ask Me for Shit". Harada is also a member of Project Soul (the team behind the Soulcalibur franchise) and makes an appearance in Soulcalibur V as a bonus character.

By 2019, Harada had been promoted to lead the fighting game esports division of Bandai Namco, as well as to being a general manager at the company overall.[7][8]

Gameography

References
  1. http://gamewise.co/people/43370/Katsuhiro-Harada/Overview
  2. Katsuhiro Harada [@Harada_TEKKEN] (13 April 2013). "@BigbosS_3pw 4年以上習ったのは柔道、空手、あとテコンドーを少々。もはや型も1/3ぐらいしか思い出せないレベル。" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. Katsuhiro Harada [@Harada_TEKKEN] (27 April 2012). "ワシ、大阪生まれの奈良育ち。DoAの板垣氏と早稲田に入学して以来、ずっと東京だけど、寝言はいまだに関西弁らしい。ハギーさんはカプコン広報だってば！（笑） RT@harakubashi 原田さん関東の人じゃなかったんですか(笑) ちなみにハギー氏ってお笑い芸人の方なんですか！？" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. Katsuhiro Harada [@Harada_TEKKEN] (6 April 2013). "大学の頃第二外国語に中国語を選択していましたが、難しくて無理でした・・・。海外出張が多いので各国言語の必要最低限は覚えるようにしていますが。 RT@AirSlicer1986 原田さんの語学力にびっくりしていますわ。一体、何ヶ国語できますと？ちなみに、中国語は？？？？？？" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. Grey, Jonathan 'Catalyst' (23 September 2013). "Harada's parents broke into tears when he initially got involved with video games - he used psychology background to boost sales". EventHubs. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  6. "Harada was interviewed by the video game magazine Edge". Edge Online Magazine. 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
  7. Harada, Katsuhiro (26 December 2018). "To everyone in the "DRAGON BALL FighterZ", "TEKKEN", and "SoulCalibur" community. Please read & refer to the following link. Thanks!!!". Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  8. Harada, Katsuhiro (26 December 2018). "I'm the general manager of develop & produce of Bandai Namco original titles from this term (ex: TEKKEN, Ace Combat, Tales of, Dark Soul, Soul Calibur, etc..). I'll also continue with eSports' strategy leader. Sometimes I might Tweet something unrelated to TEKKEN, but forgive me". Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  9. "Katsuhiro Harada Confirms Soulcalibur V Discussion! | 8WayRun.Com - Soulcalibur". 8WayRun.Com. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
  10. Katsuhiro Harada [@Harada_TEKKEN] (28 December 2012). "これぱんつか何か見えてるよねこれ？違う？いや見えてるよね？　【神次元ゲイムネプテューヌV x 鉄拳 "Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory x TEKKEN"】" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. Katsuhiro Harada [@Harada_TEKKEN] (7 February 2016). "Of course, I did supervisor. RT@Gamingorama Cool Easter Egg in Digimonstory Cybersleuth, Sir you know that?☺️" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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