this is from the book Shigesato Itoi's company recently published about Iwata.
it's a great read. some quotes:
Miyamoto:
Itoi:
it's a great read. some quotes:
Miyamoto:
"To me, he was a friend more than anything," Miyamoto says. "It never felt like he was my boss or that I was working under him. He never got angry; we never fought about anything."
Miyamaoto says it was never a point of friction that Iwata, who was seven years Miyamoto's junior, became his boss. "Normally, if someone younger than yourself with fewer years of experience becomes president, it might be difficult to get along with each other, but it was never like that. It had always been obvious that he was more suited for the position (than me), so it never became a problem. I think it allowed us to naturally become true friends."
Miyamoto still remembers one of their first meals together. Iwata, who was running Kirby and Smash Bros developer HAL Lab at the time, was in Kyoto to work on a project. Late at night, they went for a bowl of ramen. "Nintendo doesn't pay for social expenses, so we had to go Dutch on the bill," says Miyamoto. "That became a tradition that lasted even after he became company president and I became an executive."
"Since he passed away, Nintendo has been doing just fine," says Miyamoto. "He left many words and structures that live on in the work of our younger employees today. The only problem is that, if there is some good-for-nothing idea I come up with over the weekend, I have no one to share it with the next Monday. That I can no longer hear him say 'Oh, about that thing…' is a bit of a problem for me. It makes me sad."
Itoi:
"Iwata said that the vision behind his business was to make everyone happy: himself, his friends at work, and his customers," says Itoi. "He used the English word for 'happy' instead of the Japanese word, which charmed me. It's funny how you remember the most insignificant things, but whenever Iwata used the word 'happy,' he would show you the palms of both of his hands. That's something I don't think I'll ever forget."
"On the day of Iwata's funeral, it rained in torrents, and Miyamoto and I were waiting around," says Itoi. "Suddenly I decided to ask him how much chance Iwata himself had believed he had to be cured. Miyamoto responded immediately, in a very natural manner. 'He totally believed that he would become better. He didn't have the slightest intention to die.' That answer made me realize just how close Miyamoto and Iwata were, and to what extent they understood each other."
"What I really appreciated about Iwata is that he was never insecure, and he would never show off or get mad just to show his authority or anything like that," says Itoi. "That's why you could have long conversations with him without things ever becoming awkward in the slightest."
"As the head of a big company, he probably should have been accompanied by someone, but Iwata always came over to my office just by himself," says Itoi. "He would grab a cab, and as he rolled his suitcase, I can still hear him say 'Hello there' with that high-pitched voice of his."
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