is a Japanese former game producer at Square Enix and currently senior advisor at Sony Music Entertainment Japan and a board member at Forwardworks. He served as the Final Fantasy series brand manager for over a decade, was an executive officer at Square Enix board of directors and he was the Head of Square Enix's Business Division 3 for 6 years. He is also the co-creator of the Kingdom Hearts series. He served as corporate executive of the company's 1st Production Department during its entire existence.
In May 2021, Hashimoto announced he would be working in Square Enix Holdings as Corporate Advisor training future leaders of the company, after he stepped down from his position of executive director and Final Fantasy brand manager at Square Enix Co.
Hashimoto retired from his duties at Square Enix on May 31, 2022. On June 16, 2022, Hashimoto announced he would be a senior advisor at Sony Music Entertainment Japan, as well as board member for ForwardWorks.
Biography
Early work Hashimoto previously worked for the toy company Bandai. He joined Squaresoft (later known as Square Enix) in 1995, which is where he spent the rest of his career.
Final Fantasy He was the promotions producer for Final Fantasy VII. When asked at E3 2008 about the possibility of a remake of Final Fantasy VII, he said that Square Enix is aware fans would like that, and that they are very busy making other titles first. As Final Fantasy X-2 and Kingdom Hearts were being completed, the learning experience the team had during the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII project spawned the Fabula Nova Crystallis series which was supposed to build on it.
Kingdom Hearts When Square was sharing a building in Tokyo with the Disney corporation, Hashimoto found himself conversing in an elevator with a Disney executive, and there they conceived the crossover between Square Enix and Disney called Kingdom Hearts. Hashimoto has stated that the new features in Kingdom Hearts II were the result of the success of the first game and Disney's increased trust in Square Enix to pull off an excellent product.
Other games While working on Front Mission Evolved, one of the challenges was balancing the speed of the real time battles the wanzers, or mechs, were having so that the game was realistic to the mechs size, but also still fast enough to be engaging.
Priorities While discussing Final Fantasy XIII, Hashimoto mentioned that Square Enix has been attempting to make localization of their game releases close the release gap between Japan and the rest of the world.
Works Video games Year Title Role1986Kidō Senshi Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble Marketing1989Famicom Jump: Hero RetsudenProducer1991Famicom Jump II: Saikyō no Shichinin 1993Dragon Ball Z JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Executive producer1994Dragon Ball Z 2: Super BattleProducer1995Front Mission1996Front Mission: Gun HazardExecutive producerTreasure Hunter G ProducerTobal No. 1Executive producer1997Final Fantasy VII Publicity producerTobal 2ProducerFront Mission 2Executive producerEinhanderFront Mission Alternative ProducerChocobo's Mysterious DungeonExecutive producer1998SoukaigiEhrgeizSupervisor1999Final Fantasy VIII ProducerChocobo RacingCyber Org 2000Driving Emotion Type-S Final Fantasy IX The Bouncer2001Wild Card2002Kingdom Hearts 2004Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories2005Final Fantasy IV AdvanceExecutive producerKingdom Hearts II Producer2006Final Fantasy V AdvanceExecutive producerFinal Fantasy VI Advance Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales2007Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of MemoriesProducerThe World Ends with You Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's DungeonExecutive producer2008Kingdom Hearts codedDissidia Final Fantasy2009Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Final Fantasy XIII 2010Kingdom Hearts Birth by SleepLufia: Curse of the SinistralsFront Mission Evolved Producer, original conceptKingdom Hearts Re:codedExecutive producerThe 3rd Birthday 2011Dissidia 012 Final FantasyImaginary Range ProducerFinal Fantasy Type-0Executive producerFinal Fantasy XIII-22012Theatrhythm Final FantasyKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance2013Final Fantasy All the Bravest Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 RemixLightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster2014Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain CallKingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix Final Fantasy Explorers 2015Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ2016World of Final Fantasy ProducerFinal Fantasy XV2017Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Executive producer2018Dissidia Final Fantasy NT 2019Kingdom Hearts IIILeft Alive Producer2020Final Fantasy VII Remake Executive producer2021Neo: The World Ends with You2025Resident Evil: Survivor Unit
Films Year Title Role2005Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrenProducerLast Order: Final Fantasy VII Executive producer2009Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Producer2016Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
References