Iwata: So your first job in sales was managing an event.
Harada: Yes. I worked as an employee in a game arcade run by NAMCO, and gathered customers together for game tournaments, like the Street Fighter5 game tournament. With arcade games you can see the customer's reactions up close, so that helped me rack up experience points. After a while, I started to think "If it were me, I'd do this..." which lead me to go to R&D, where I'd suggest things to them.
Iwata: They just let you do that from the beginning?
Harada: No, I really wasn't supposed to do that. But it was only my first year out of school and I didn't know anything, so my second month working there I just went into the development building.
Iwata: What? Really? Security in places like the development group's offices is very strict, right?
Harada: Yes, I waited outside the bathroom until the security door would open! (laughs) At first everyone was like "Who's that guy?" but I kept doing that several days a week, and I guess they assumed that I had permission to be there.
Iwata: Well, from the viewpoint of a developer, it's always great to have someone come by who has information from the front line, so to speak. But I have to say, what an interesting way of breaking the rules! (laughs) When did you go over to making video games?
Harada: In April of my second year there. I was doing events that involved me wearing a costume and doing funny things, and I got the company president award during my first year in sales. So I told the company president in person, "By the way, I want to transfer to another department..." (laughs) Everyone else was like, "Hey, hey! Wait!" But I figured, "If I ask the president, maybe that'll work." So then I ended up transferring to R&D in April.
Iwata: Wow, the way you just ignore the system is fascinating. (laughs). But all of the people who dealt with you must have really understood that what you wanted was for people to be more understanding of video games.
