Masaya Nakamura
Masaya Nakamura ( Japanese 中 村 雅 哉 , Nakamura Masaya ; * December 24, 1925 in Tokyo ; † January 22, 2017 ) was a Japanese entrepreneur and founder of the video game manufacturer Namco . He is also often called the father of Pac-Man .
Life
Masaya Nakamura graduated from Yokohama State University in 1948 with a degree in shipbuilding . In 1955 he founded his company Nakamura Seisakusho (English Nakamura Amusement Manufacturing Company ), which was renamed Namco in 1977 . When his company released the game Pac-Man in 1980, it gained worldwide fame. In 1990, Nakamura handed over the chairmanship of his company to Tadashi Manabe, who resigned two years later for health reasons and Nakamura took over the office of chairman again. In 2002 he gave up all his offices at Namco and went into retirement. From now on he devoted himself to his foundation for making films. Masaya Nakamura died on January 22, 2017 at the age of 91.
Awards
- April 1986: Medal of Honor of Japan
- October 1997: Honorary Award from the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry
- April 2007: Order of the Rising Sun
Individual evidence
- ^ Owen S. Good: Namco's founder and 'father of Pac-Man' dies at 91 . Polygon , January 30, 2017, accessed January 31, 2017.
- ↑ Daisuke Kikuchi: 'Father of Pac-Man,' Masaya Nakamura, dies at age 91 . Japan Times , January 30, 2017, accessed January 31, 2017.
- ↑ Jonathan Soble: Masaya Nakamura, Whose Company Created Pac-Man, Dies at 91 . The New York Times , January 30, 2017, accessed January 31, 2017.
- ↑ a b Biography of Masaya Nakamura on the Bandai Namco Holdings website , January 30, 2017, accessed January 31, 2017 (pdf, 148 kB; Japanese).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nakamura, Masaya |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 中 村 雅 哉 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese entrepreneur and founder of Namco |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 24, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tokyo |
| DATE OF DEATH | 22nd January 2017 |