Tsunekazu Ishihara

Tsunekazu Ishihara (Tsunekaz also seen; Japanese: 石原恒和 Ishihara Tsunekazu, born November 27, 1957) is the president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, a producer of Pokémon, and the founder and former CEO of Creatures, Inc. He manages all aspects of the Pokémon franchise including the anime, games, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Ishihara in 2023.[1]

History

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Ishihara graduated from the University of Tsukuba in 1983, with a master's degree in Art and Design. Soon after graduating, he joined Ape Inc., where he was the producer in such titles as EarthBound and Mario's Picross. After Ape Inc. ceased production activity, Ishihara would later found Creatures, Inc. in November 8, 1995,[2] with the assistance of Satoru Iwata.[3][4]

In the early 1990s, Ishihara assisted in the development of Pokémon Red and Green. Shortly after, he was inspired to create a trading card game based on the titles, ultimately resulting in the creation of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

In April 1998, The Pokémon Company was established and Ishihara was given the position of representative director. In 2001, he was named the president.

Announced in 1997, Ishihara was part of a team developing a game with a working title[5] known as Cabbage (Japanese: キャベツ Kyabetsu) alongside Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Shigesato Itoi. Originally intended for release on the Nintendo 64DD, Cabbage was a breeding simulator[6] where a player was able to raise a pet-like creature, known simply as a Cabbage, a name originating from Itoi.[5] It began development in 1996 and was designed around the 64DD, requiring the use of its real-time internal clock.[6] Cabbage would also have compatibility with the Game Boy, where a player could connect to the 64DD and interact with their pets there.[6] No builds or gameplay of Cabbage ever surfaced throughout its development, and while many sources say Cabbage was intended to make an appearance at Space World 2000, this is often made in error, citing an IGN article from 2000 where they expected Cabbage would make an appearance.[6] Ishihara's role in Cabbage's development is incredibly vague; it is unclear what Ishihara actually contributed to the game's development, only that he (along with Itoi) became too busy with other projects, according to Miyamoto in 2006.[7][citation needed] It is likely that joining The Pokémon Company in 1998 affected his time spent on Cabbage's development.

In April 2023, Ishihara stepped down as CEO of Creatures, Inc., being succeeded by Yuji Kitano.[8]

Game credits

Anime credits

Executive producer

Production supervisor

Supervision

Appearances in games

Ishihara (Japanese: Mr.イシハラ Mr. Ishihara) appears in the Game Boy Color spin-off of the Pokémon TCG, Pokémon Trading Card Game, as a Pokémon card collector. Ishihara owns over 10,000 cards. He's also written many books about the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

In the game, Ishihara can always be found in his house on the cape to the northwest after being told by someone in the game where he is. He will trade very rare promotional Pikachu cards to the player for rare colorless cards. In order, he will trade a Surfing Pikachu for a Clefable, a Flying Pikachu for a Ditto, and an alternate design Surfing Pikachu for a Chansey. After all three trades have been completed, Ishihara will leave in search of someone who will give him the Phantom Cards.

In Pokémon Trading Card Game 2: The Invasion of Team GR!, Ishihara moves between his house and a new area, his villa. He will still trade cards with the player, but this time, he will be available to duel in his villa after all his trades are completed. He uses the Very Rare Card Deck, which contains many rare promotional cards.

Sprites

         
Main sprite from Pokémon
Trading Card Game 2
Win sprite from Pokémon
Trading Card Game 2
Loss sprite from Pokémon
Trading Card Game 2
Overworld sprite
(GB1)
Overworld sprite
(GB2)

Appearances in the TCG

Tsunekazu Ishihara appears in one promotional card.

Ishihara 
Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.
Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card Type English
Expansion
Rarity # Japanese
Expansion
Rarity #
Ishihara    Black Star Promos   TPCi01      
 


Appearances in animated series

 
Tsunekazu Ishihara in Pokémon: Path to the Peak

Tsunekazu Ishihara makes a cameo appearance in the Pokémon: Path to the Peak episode Worlds.

Interviews mentioning Pokémon

October 26th, 2023
Famitsu (Issue 1819) - "Detective Pikachu has Returned"
feat. Hiroyuki Jinnai

Videos

#Pokemon20: The Pokémon Company's Tsunekazu Ishihara

By The Official Pokémon Channel
This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.


Trivia

References

External links


NPCs in the Trading Card Game Islands
Dr. MasonRonaldMr. IshiharaImakuni?SamAaronTap
Club MembersClub MastersGrand MastersTeam Great RocketDungeon MastersGhost Masters