Hidekazu Yukawa

Hidekazu Yukawa
Date of birth: 1945-09-16
Date of death: 2021-06-xx (age 75)
Company(ies): CSK, Sega of Japan
Role(s): Executive, Director, Spokesperson

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Hidekazu Yukawa (湯川 英一) was a Japanese businessman and former CSK and Sega of Japan Managing Director and spokesperson.

Marketing

As Yukawa Senmu (湯川専務; or "Yukawa managing director"), Hidekazu Yukawa became an unlikely face of the Sega Dreamcast in Japan, appearing in a number of popular television advertisements, games and even merchandise during the console's first few months on store shelves. Yukawa even features on boxes for Japanese Dreamcasts. After leaving the post he became known as Yukawa Moto Senmu (湯川元専務; or "Yukawa former managing director"), appearing in his own Dreamcast game, Yukawa Motosenmu no Otakara Sagashi in early 1999.

Yukawa became an overnight success in Japan after appearing in a Japanese Dreamcast commercial. In it, Japanese kids make fun of him while praising Sony and their console, the PlayStation. After informing his work colleagues and being beaten on the street, he makes a stand for all things Dreamcast and attempts to set the record straight. Yukawa was not an actor, but his performance was so good that Sega were swamped with letters of praise, and so he would appear in numerous Dreamcast adverts over the console's lifespan, even apologising personally for the lack of stock in Japan during the first few weeks after launch (and being quick to point out when more stock was available in the coming months).

The Dreamcast was not the first Sega product to be advertised by Hidekazu Yukawa - his acting skills had been called upon as early as the 1980s with the release of the Robo Pitcher and Terebi Oekaki.

Though perhaps not as popular as Segata Sanshiro, Hidekazu Yukawa was popular enough to be featured on prepaid convenience store cards and photo sticker booths. He had his own website and features in the game Yukawa Motosenmu no Otakara Sagashi. He has also appeared as cameo in a number of Dreamcast games, including What's Shenmue in which he encounters the protagonist Ryo and needs to be chased through a series of quick time events, and Sonic Adventure's DLC, where he appears on the QUO cards hidden around Station Square and Mystic Ruins to be collected by the player within 10 minutes.

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Hidekazu Yukawa