Formerly an employee of HAL Laboratory, he left the company in 2003 and in 2005 with his wife Michiko Sakurai (also ex-Hal Laboratory), they founded Sora Ltd., a shell company that works on a freelance basis on several projects. He is also an author of a weekly column for Famitsu magazine, and has done voice acting work in some of his games, most notably providing the voice of King Dedede in Kirby 64 and the Super Smash Bros. series.