Satomi Asakawa
Satomi "Asagiri" Asakawa (née Maekawa) is an former artist at Nintendo. She joined in 1998 and left in 2013. She currently operates a therapy business, Asagiri.[1] She is married to Nintendo sound designer Toru Asakawa.
Biography
Satomi Asakawa's father managed a Sega arcade, so she grew up playing video games there.[2] She later moved to Kyoto with her mother after her parents' divorce.[2] As a child she wanted to be a manga artist, was interested in photography, and studied graphic design.[2] She did not become interested in Nintendo console titles until her twenties, when she got into games like Glory of Hercules III, Donkey Kong Country, and Banjo-Kazooie.[2][3]
Satomi Asakawa initially went to college at a "specialized experimental film program" in Japan, where she studied stop-motion animation. When she was 26, she moved to Vancouver, Canada to attend DigiPen's 3D animation program, since she could not find a Japanese school to teach her 3D animation.[2][3] Her senior film project was One Big Banana, which she later said played a key role in getting her a job at Nintendo.[2][4] She dreamed of working on films like Wallace & Gromit or A Nightmare Before Christmas.[3] When she graduated from DigiPen in 1998, she applied to a number of North American studios and only one Japanese company: Nintendo.[3] She accepted the role there in part because Nintendo was located in her hometown of Kyoto.[3]
Upon being hired, Asakawa was assigned to work on Ocarina of Time.[5] Due to her senior film, she earned the nickname "baby monkey" at work, and she was frequently assigned to work on animals.[5] In her early years working on The Legend of Zelda series, she designed characters like Kaepora Gaebora and the Bombchu Bowling Alley Operator from Ocarina of Time, the Monkeys and Giant Turtle from Majora's Mask, and more.[3][5] Outside of Zelda, she also designed a number of characters for Pikmin, as well as the Piantas from Super Mario Sunshine.[3][5] She eventually rose to the role of Character Design Lead for Twilight Princess.[3] She has mentioned Alice In Wonderland as an inspiration.[3]
The last new game she was credited on was Mario Kart 8 in 2014. She later retired from the game industry to start a therapy business, Asagiri.[5] When asked, she stated that she realized that "mental health management is the key to your overall long-term health at work" and that she wanted to be the "wizard and a healer" of the party.[5]
The Legend of Zelda Games
| Game | Position |
|---|---|
| Ocarina of Time | Character Design (as Satomi Maekawa) |
| Majora's Mask | Character Design (as Satomi Maekawa) |
| Twilight Princess | Character Design Lead |
| Spirit Tracks | NPC Design |
| Skyward Sword | NPC Design |
| Mario Kart 8 | Character Design |
Nomenclature
 Names in Other Regions 
| ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | |
 |
Japanese | 朝川 里美 (Asakawa Satomi) |
See Also
References
- ↑ アクセスバーズ: Asagiri 〜朝霧〜: 京都 (web archive), Asagiriren, retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Naomi Abe (translator), How Satomi Asakawa Brought Nintendo’s Beloved NPCs To Life (Part 1) (web archive), DigiPen Institute of Technology, published May 21, 2019, retrieved April 26, 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Nintendo Magazine, October 2005, pg. 54 (archive)
- ↑ One Big Banana | DigiPen Institute of Technology, @digipen on YouTube, Uploaded May 10, 2019 (Archive)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Naomi Abe (translator), How Satomi Asakawa Brought Nintendo’s Beloved NPCs To Life (Part 2) (web archive), DigiPen Institute of Technology, published May 28, 2019, retrieved April 26, 2024.