Nobuo Kawakami
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Software Japan in April 1991 and became Representative Director and President of DWANGO in August 1997. He moved to Representative Director and Chairman of DWANGO in September 2000 and from June 2006 also served as an outside director of Avex Group Holdings. In October 2014 he became Representative Director and Chairman of the holding company created by the business integration of DWANGO and the former KADOKAWA. He kept his shares after stepping down as President, and still appears sixth among major shareholders with 3.06% in the fiscal year ended March 2026.
Selection
In June 2015 he succeeded Tatsuo Sato as Representative Director and President. At the time of the October 2014 business integration he had been Representative Director and Chairman and Sato President, and eight months after the integration he moved from Chairman to President. In the fiscal year ended March 2015, the first year after the integration, operating profit was only ¥1.4 billion on consolidated revenue of ¥100.6 billion. The change appears to have handed day-to-day management to the side that had led the integration.
Initiatives
Consolidated revenue in each year of his tenure was flat, at ¥200.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2016, ¥205.7 billion in the FY ended March 2017, ¥206.8 billion in the FY ended March 2018 and ¥208.6 billion in the FY ended March 2019. Operating profit fell from ¥9.1 billion in the FY ended March 2016 to ¥8.4 billion, ¥3.1 billion and ¥2.7 billion. In the FY ended March 2019 the company posted a net loss of ¥4.1 billion. In February 2019 he handed the presidency to Masaki Matsubara and became a director.
Career
Career
Software Japan
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1991 | Joined |
Dwango
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Aug 1997 | Representative Director, President |
| Sep 2000 | Representative Director, Chairman |
| Dec 2017 | Director, CTO |
| Feb 2019 | Advisor |
Avex Group Holdings
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jun 2006 | Outside Director, Avex |
Kadokawa ASCII Corporation Research Institute
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jun 2014 | Director |
KADOKAWA
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Oct 2014 | Representative Director, Chairman |
| Jun 2015 | Representative Director, President |
| Feb 2019 | Director |
| Feb 2019 | Stepped down as President |
| Jun 2022 | President, Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation |
| Jun 2025 | Director, Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation |
Gz Burein
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jul 2017 | Director, KADOKAWA Game Linkage |
References 1
References (Japanese primary sources)
- KADOKAWA 有価証券報告書【役員の状況】