Kazuhiko Torishima is not well known outside Japan, especially in relation to video games, but the Weekly Shōnen Jump editor was instrumental in bringing together many of the people behind Dragon Quest. He encouraged Akira Toriyama early in his career, helping him develop the work that led to his first major hit, Dr. Slump. Torishima’s friendship with Weekly Playboy writer Akira Sakuma, built around their shared interest in video games, introduced him to Yuji Horii. Torishima gave Horii regular opportunities to write about computers and games for Shōnen Jump, which drew Enix’s attention as it prepared a contest for game submissions. Horii entered Love Match Tennis for fun and, while covering the contest, discovered that it had won alongside Koichi Nakamura’s Door Door. The two became friends, while Nakamura went on to port Door Door to multiple platforms and found Chunsoft. Enix later sent the contest winners to AppleFest, where Horii, Nakamura, and Torishima encountered Wizardry. Meanwhile, Horii’s work on adventure games produced The Portopia Serial Murder Case, a hugely influential game often credited with helping establish the popularity of visual novels in Japan. These connections, shared interests, and early successes brought together the people who would create the Dragon Quest phenomenon.

TCW 011 - The Genesis of JRPGs: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW011-the-genesis-of-jrpgs
Tomato The Cutesy Gumshoe: https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/akira-toriyamas-manga-theater-chapter-3/chapter/23730
TCW 053 - The History and Merger of Enix and Square: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW053-the-history-and-merger-of-enix-and-square
TCW 074 - The Japanese PC Industry: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW074-the-japanese-pc-industry
Love Match Tennis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jdbvLs3QgI
TCW 101 - The Fabric of Koei: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW181-the-fabric-of-koei
TCW 102 - The Koei Dynasty: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW182-the-koei-dynasty
Door Door (NEC PC 9801): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiM5d0jWQy8
Door Door (Fujitsu Micro-7): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk4PcFwzQsc
TCW 114 - The Wizards of Sir-Tech: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW114-the-wizards-of-sir-tech
TCW 115 - The Return of the Sdraziw of Sir-Tech: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW115-the-return-of-the-sdraziw-of-sir-tech
Wizard and the Princess (PC Jr): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTbeYX9BVcs
The Portopia Serial Murder Case (PC 8801): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSeDy0qCZQU

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
BlueSky: @theycreateworlds.bsky.social
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's book: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/