(May 19, 1926 – March 16, 2001) was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

businessman and the former Chairman of

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

History

Okawa was born in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. As a young adult, he studied at

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. After graduating from Waseda, he formed Computer Service Company, which later became known as

CSK Holdings Corporation is a Japanese information technology company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, offering IT services and computer software. Outside of Japan, It is widely known for its acquisition of Sega in 1984, ended in the sale to Sammy in 2004, through which Se ...

(CSK).

Involvement with CSK Holdings

CSK is a Japanese technology company formed by Okawa in 1968. The company mainly provides ICT services to numerous businesses throughout Japan. Okawa was the chairman from 1968 until his death in 2001.

Involvement with Sega

From 1984 until 2004, CSK had the majority of Sega shares. As a result, Okawa was the Chairman of Sega Enterprises. In 2004, CSK's shares were bought by Sammy, making Hajime Satomi the new CEO of Sega (Sega and Sammy merged to form

Sega Sammy Holdings (also known as the Sega Sammy Group and generally Sega Sammy, stylized as SᴇɢᴀSammy) is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004. Both companies are involved in the amusement industry (Seg ...

). Okawa provided over US$40 million towards Sega Enterprises, mainly to fund the

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...

. He forgave the debts Sega owed him and gave Sega Corporation his $695 million worth of Sega and CSK stock. As a result of this, he is remembered by some as an iconic part of Sega's history. CSK also had a research institute which produced software for all Sega platforms.

Honors

Okawa was recognized by the Japanese Government for his aid in financially supporting numerous Japanese technology companies, including Sega Enterprises. He also received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from his alma mater.

Death

Okawa died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at Tokyo University Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 3:47 pm on March 16, 2001. He was 74 years old.

References

External links

Okawa Foundation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okawa, Isao 1926 births 2001 deaths Japanese video game businesspeople People from Osaka Sega people