Former Sega Managing Director Hidekazu Yukawa Dies at 78

By Marc Deschamps

Hidekazu Yukawa, a former managing director for Sega of Japan, passed away from pneumonia in June 2021. News of his passing was kept private for the last year, but has now been revealed by Yahoo. He was 78. During his time with Sega, Yukawa became a well-known celebrity, particularly in Japan. There, Yukawa starred in a series of television commercials promoting the release of the Dreamcast console. The commercials were a huge hit in the region, and Yukawa's face even appeared on the box for the Dreamcast as a result.

For those unfamiliar with the campaign, the commercials poked fun at Sega's struggles to compete with the Sony PlayStation. The first of these commercials sees Yukawa crushed when he hears kids talking on the playground about how "lame" Sega is. Heartbroken, Yukawa walks the streets, and ends up getting beaten up in an alley. Subsequent commercials would see the Dreamcast turning Sega's public perception around, and Yukawa selling the consoles to people door to door, despite his position at the company. While the commercials would play up the system's success, they would also show Yukawa continuing to have comedic struggles. A video compilation containing all of these commercials can be found embedded below.

There are many people that work behind-the-scenes on the video games that we love that often go unrecognized. That was not clearly not the case for Yukawa. The managing director's celebrity status even led to appearances in games released on the Dreamcast console. A demo disc called What's Shenmue? was given away to fans that preordered Shenmue, and featured Yukawa in a central role. Yukawa also made an appearance in DLC that was released for Sonic Adventure.

At this time, little additional information has been revealed about Yukawa's passing. However, many Sega fans have expressed their sadness over the news on social media. While the commercials featuring Yukawa did not appear outside of Japan, they have spread across the internet over the last two decades, allowing his celebrity status to grow around the world.

[H/T @gosokkyu, ResetEra, Sega Retro]

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