{{short description|Japanese video game developer}} {{Western name order|Ayabe Kaz}} {{Use American English|date=June 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Use shortened footnotes|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Kaz Ayabe | native_name = 綾部 和弘 | native_name_lang = ja | image = | caption = | employer = | birth_name = Kazuhiro Ayabe | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1965}} | birth_place = [[Hokkaido]], Japan | notable_works = ''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi]]'' | occupation = Video game developer | title = Founder of [[Millennium Kitchen]] }}
{{nihongo|'''Kazuhiro "Kaz" Ayabe'''|綾部 和弘|Ayabe Kazuhiro|born 1965}} is a Japanese [[video game developer]]. He is the founder of the video game company [[Millennium Kitchen]] and is best known as the creator of the video game series ''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi]]''.
==Biography== Ayabe was born in 1965{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|p=42}} in [[Hokkaido]] as the youngest of three children. He was interested in design from a young age, developing a hobby of drawing maps of imaginary towns as a child, and eventually moved to Tokyo to study animation at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College.{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|p=42}} After graduating, he took a job as a graphic artist at the video game developer [[NMK (company)|NMK]], later becoming a programmer for the company. He worked on several titles for the company, including ''Psychic 5'' (1987), ''Esper Boukentai'' (1987), and ''[[Rolan's Curse II]]'' (1992), before resigning from the company in the early 1990s. He worked as a freelancer for six months before being hired as a designer and project manager at K-Idea, a game design planning company founded by ''[[Weekly Shōnen Jump|Shōnen Jump]]'' games columnist Hajime Kimura.{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|pp=42–43}}
In 1997, Ayabe resigned from K-Idea to establish the game studio [[Millennium Kitchen]]. There, Ayabe would direct, write, and design the video game ''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi]]'' (2000), which won a New Wave Award at the fifth [[Japan Game Awards]],<ref name="JMAF"/> and was a finalist for the Excellence Award at the third [[Japan Media Arts Festival]].<ref name="JGA"/> Since then, ''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi 2]]'' (2002) and ''[[Bokura no Kazoku]]'' (2005) were selected as juror-recommended works at the [[Japan Media Arts Festival]],<ref name="4gamer"/> and ''[[Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale]]'' (2015) was selected as an honorable mention for Best Narrative at the [[Game Developers Choice Awards]].<ref name="GDC"/>
Since 2014, Ayabe has been the proprietor of "Kasei Curry" (Mars Curry), a [[Japanese curry]] restaurant located in [[Ikebukuro]], Tokyo.<ref name="MarsCurry"/>
==Works== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |- !scope="col"| Year ! Game !scope="col" class="unsortable" |Credit(s) !scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}} |- !scope=row|1987 |''Psychic 5'' |Programmer |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|p=42}} |- !scope=row|1987 |''Esper Boukentai'' |Programmer |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|p=42}} |- !scope=row|1992 |''[[Rolan's Curse II]]'' |Programmer, sound |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|p=42}} |- !scope=row|1993 |''Jungle Wars 2'' |System assistance |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|p=43}} |- !scope=row|2000 |''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi]]'' |Director, writer, game designer |<ref name="Famitsu2006"/> |- !scope=row| 2002 |''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi 2]]'' | Director, writer, game designer |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013a|p=16}} |- !scope=row| 2005 |''[[Bokura no Kazoku]]'' | Director, writer, game designer |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013b|p=46}} |- !scope=row| 2007 |''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi 3]]'' | Director, writer, game designer |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013a|p=24}} |- !scope=row| 2009 |''[[Boku no Natsuyasumi 4]]'' | Director, writer, game designer |{{sfn|Barnholt|2013a|p=30}} |- !scope=row| 2013 |''[[Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale]]'' |Director, writer, game designer |<ref name="4gamer"/> |- !scope=row| 2021 |''[[Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation]]'' |Game designer, writer |<ref name="Asahi Shimbun">{{cite web |last1=Kuroda |first1=Kenro |title=新作オラ夏 開発者がこだわる高2から終わらない夏休み |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASP7G4SLGP7FUCVL023.html |website=[[Asahi Shimbun]] |access-date=August 18, 2022 |language=Japanese |date=July 15, 2021}}</ref> |- !scope=row| 2023 |''[[Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid|Natsu-Mon! 20th Century Summer Vacation]]'' |Game designer, writer |<ref>{{cite web |last1=Plunkett |first1=Luke |title=Japan's Nintendo Direct Had A Very Nice Surprise |url=https://kotaku.com/nintendo-direct-japan-natsu-mon-boku-no-natsuyasumi-1850091855 |website=[[Kotaku]] |access-date=May 22, 2023 |date=February 8, 2023}}</ref> |- !scope=row| 2024 |''[[Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town]]'' |Supervisor |<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mielke |first1=James |title=Best Of 2024: Child's Play: From Bokunatsu To Natsu-Mon - The Kaz Ayabe Interview |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/features/best-of-2024-childs-play-from-bokunatsu-to-natsu-mon-the-kaz-ayabe-interview?page=2 |website=[[Nintendo Life]] |access-date=January 1, 2025 |date=September 24, 2024}}</ref> |}
==References== <references>
<ref name="4gamer">{{cite web |title=綾部 和氏が手がけた「GUILD02」作品の一つ「怪獣が出る金曜日」。子供の頃に思い描いた"巨大怪獣が出る世界"をノスタルジックな雰囲気で構築 |url=https://www.4gamer.net/games/205/G020503/20130313023/ |website=[[4gamer.net]] |access-date=May 22, 2023 |language=Japanese |date=March 15, 2013}}</ref>
<ref name="GDC">{{cite web |last1=Sinclair |first1=Brendan |title=The Last of Us, Tearaway, Gone Home lead GDC Award noms |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-last-of-us-tearaway-gone-home-lead-gdc-award-noms |website=Gamesindustry.biz |access-date=May 22, 2023 |date=January 9, 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="Famitsu2006">{{cite magazine |title=『ぼくのなつやすみポータブル』作者の綾部氏に直撃！|trans-title=An interview with Mr. Ayabe, creator of "Boku no Natsuyasumi Portable"! |url=https://www.famitsu.com/interview/article/2006/06/30/668,1151636205,55852,0,0.html |magazine=[[Famitsu]] |access-date=May 18, 2023 |language=Japanese |date=June 30, 2006}}</ref>
<ref name="MarsCurry">{{cite web |title=綾部和がプロデュースした『火星カレー』が池袋にオープン！ |url=http://www.mkitchen.co.jp/archives/1619 |website=[[Millennium Kitchen]] |access-date=May 20, 2023 |language=Japanese |date=April 8, 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="JGA">{{cite web |title=第５回日本ゲーム大賞 受賞作品一覧 |trans-title=The 5th Japan Game Awards Winners List |url=https://awards.cesa.or.jp/2000/ |website=Japan Entertainment Software Awards |access-date=May 16, 2023 |language=Japanese}}</ref>
<ref name="JMAF">{{cite web |title=『ぼくらのかぞく』がメディア芸術祭・審査委員会推薦作品に!! |trans-title= "Bokura no Kazoku" was recommended by the Jury of the Japan Media Arts Festival!! |url=http://www.mkitchen.co.jp/archives/date/2005/12 |website=Millennium Kitchen |access-date=May 16, 2023 |language=Japanese |date=December 26, 2005}}</ref>
</references>
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} *{{cite journal |editor1-last=Barnholt |editor1-first=Ray |title=Issue 10: Summer |journal=Scroll |date=June 25, 2013 |issue=10 |url=https://scroll.vg/issues/10 |publisher=Bipedal Dog|ref=none|url-access=subscription}} **{{cite journal |last1=Barnholt |first1=Ray |title=''My Summer Vacation'' |journal=Scroll |publisher=Bipedal Dog |date=June 25, 2013a |issue=10 |pages=9–39}} **{{cite journal |last1=Barnholt |first1=Ray |title=Boy of Summer: The Life and Times of Kaz Ayabe |journal=Scroll |publisher=Bipedal Dog |date=June 25, 2013b |issue=10 |pages=40–50}} **{{cite web |last1=Barnholt |first1=Ray |title=Summer Vacation Confidential: The Complete Kaz Ayabe Interview |url=https://scroll.vg/extras/summer-vacation-confidential |website=Scroll |publisher=Bipedal Dog |access-date=May 17, 2023 |date=June 25, 2013c}} {{refend}}
==External links== * [https://twitter.com/ayabekaz Kaz Ayabe] on [[Twitter]]
{{Boku no Natsuyasumi series}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:1965 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Japanese video game directors]] [[Category:Japanese video game designers]] [[Category:Japanese video game programmers]] [[Category:People from Hokkaido]]