Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi is launching his own radio show

Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi has announced that he will be hosting his own regular radio show in Japan.

The Tokyo FM show, Nagoshi Studio Presents Future Lounge, will be hosted by Nagoshi and co-hosted by television and radio personality Ami Kikuchi.

According to Famitsu, each episode of Future Lounge will see a different guest discussing their creative passions, influences and views on life in depth.

During the show, which takes place in a “fictional hideaway-like bar lounge”, Nagoshi will ask the guest questions from a creator’s point of view, while Kikuchi will play the role of the inquisitive audience member and will also contribute questions.

“I’ve always liked radio, and when I started doing it, I realised once again that it’s important to develop a deeper understanding of the guests,” Nagoshi said. “That’s what I want to focus on first.

“I’m going to be talking to a lot of different guests, and I’d like to be able to draw out the gaps between the casual parts of those who seem serious, and the serious parts of those who give a casual impression.”

Kikuchi joked: “Nagoshi-san looks like the flashiest person I’ve ever known, but when I talked to him I found out that he has a great personality.”

Nagoshi officially announced the creation of his new development studio, Nagoshi Studio, in January. The company is a “wholly owned subsidiary” of Chinese company NetEase Games, and will focus on developing “high-end titles for worldwide release”, primarily on consoles.

In a separate interview with Famitsu last month, Nagoshi confirmed that the studio has already started work on its first game, and that it will still have a Japanese focus much like the Yakuza and Judgment games.

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“We’re Japanese, and we’re a Japanese studio, so naturally the market that we understand the most is Japan,” he explained.

“We’ve been desperately trying to find a methodology that would allow us to create something that would be accepted around the world while keeping our focus on Japan. However, I don’t think I have been able to give a complete answer to this question until now.

“In order to find the answer, to pursue the ideal, I created Nagoshi Studio. However, the focus will remain on Japan in the future.”

Nagoshi isn’t the only game creator swapping his development tools for a microphone. Hideo Kojima announced earlier this month that he was launching his own podcast called Hideo Kojima’s Radioverse, and Tekken’s Katsuhiro Harada launched a video show last year.