Kaz Ayabe

Kazuhiro Ayabe (綾部 和弘, Ayabe Kazuhiro, born 1965) is a Japanese video game developer. He is the founder of the video game company Millennium Kitchen and the creator of the video game series Boku no Natsuyasumi.

The native form of this personal name is Ayabe Kaz. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Kaz Ayabe
綾部 和弘
Born
Kazuhiro Ayabe

1965 (age 57–58)
Hokkaido, Japan
OccupationVideo game developer
Notable workBoku no Natsuyasumi
TitleFounder of Millennium Kitchen

Biography

Ayabe was born in 1965[1] in Hokkaido as the youngest of three children. He was interested in design from a young age, developing a hobby of drawing maps of imaginary towns as a child, and eventually moved to Tokyo to study animation at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College.[1] After graduating, he took a job as a graphic artist at the video game developer NMK, later becoming a programmer for the company. He worked on several titles for the company, including Psychic 5 (1987), Esper Boukentai (1987), and Rolan's Curse II (1992), before resigning from the company in the early 1990s. He worked as a freelancer for six months before being hired as a designer and project manager at K-Idea, a game design planning company founded by Shōnen Jump games columnist Hajime Kimura.[2]

In 1997, Ayabe resigned from K-Idea to establish the game studio Millennium Kitchen. There, Ayabe would direct, write, and design the video game Boku no Natsuyasumi (2000), which won a New Wave Award at the fifth Japan Game Awards,[3] and was a finalist for the Excellence Award at the third Japan Media Arts Festival.[4] Since then, Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 (2002) and Bokura no Kazoku (2005) were selected as juror-recommended works at the Japan Media Arts Festival,[5] and Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (2015) was selected as an honorable mention for Best Narrative at the Game Developers Choice Awards.[6]

Since 2014, Ayabe has been the proprietor of Mars Curry, a Japanese curry restaurant located in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.[7]

Works
Year Game Credit(s) Ref(s)
1987 Psychic 5 Programmer [1]
1987 Esper Boukentai Programmer [1]
1992 Rolan's Curse II Programmer, sound [1]
1993 Jungle Wars 2 System assistance [8]
2000 Boku no Natsuyasumi Director, writer, game designer [9]
2002 Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 Director, writer, game designer [10]
2005 Bokura no Kazoku Director, writer, game designer [11]
2007 Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 Director, writer, game designer [12]
2009 Boku no Natsuyasumi 4 Director, writer, game designer [13]
2013 Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale Director, writer, game designer [5]
2021 Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation Game designer, writer [14]
2023 Natsu-Mon! 20th Century Summer Vacation Game designer, writer [15]

References
  1. Barnholt 2013b, p. 42.
  2. Barnholt 2013b, pp. 42–43.
  3. "『ぼくらのかぞく』がメディア芸術祭・審査委員会推薦作品に!!" ["Bokura no Kazoku" was recommended by the Jury of the Japan Media Arts Festival!!]. Millennium Kitchen (in Japanese). December 26, 2005. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  4. "第５回日本ゲーム大賞 受賞作品一覧" [The 5th Japan Game Awards Winners List]. Japan Entertainment Software Awards (in Japanese). Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  5. "綾部 和氏が手がけた「GUILD02」作品の一つ「怪獣が出る金曜日」。子供の頃に思い描いた"巨大怪獣が出る世界"をノスタルジックな雰囲気で構築". 4gamer.net (in Japanese). March 15, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  6. Sinclair, Brendan (January 9, 2014). "The Last of Us, Tearaway, Gone Home lead GDC Award noms". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  7. "綾部和がプロデュースした『火星カレー』が池袋にオープン！". Millennium Kitchen (in Japanese). April 8, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  8. Barnholt 2013b, p. 43.
  9. "『ぼくのなつやすみポータブル』作者の綾部氏に直撃！" [An interview with Mr. Ayabe, creator of "Boku no Natsuyasumi Portable"!]. Famitsu (in Japanese). June 30, 2006. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  10. Barnholt 2013a, p. 16.
  11. Barnholt 2013b, p. 46.
  12. Barnholt 2013a, p. 24.
  13. Barnholt 2013a, p. 30.
  14. Kuroda, Kenro (July 15, 2021). "新作オラ夏 開発者がこだわる高2から終わらない夏休み". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  15. Plunkett, Luke (February 8, 2023). "Japan's Nintendo Direct Had A Very Nice Surprise". Kotaku. Retrieved May 22, 2023.

Bibliography
  • Barnholt, Ray, ed. (June 25, 2013). "Issue 10: Summer". Scroll. Bipedal Dog (10).
    • Barnholt, Ray (June 25, 2013a). "My Summer Vacation". Scroll. Bipedal Dog (10): 9–39.
    • Barnholt, Ray (June 25, 2013b). "Boy of Summer: The Life and Times of Kaz Ayabe". Scroll. Bipedal Dog (10): 40–50.
    • Barnholt, Ray (June 25, 2013c). "Summer Vacation Confidential: The Complete Kaz Ayabe Interview". Scroll. Bipedal Dog. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
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