Shinji's Strict Upbringing

Translated by Steve Christofferson

In last weeks Famitsu magazine, famous video game developer Shinji Mikami recounts the fun he had playing with his friends as a kid, the trials and tribulations he faced growing up in a strict household and how he persevered through the hardships of academic life. Read on to find out about the personal struggles famed Resident Evil creator and Vanquish Director, Shinji Mikami faced during his youth.



In last weeks Famitsu magazine, famous video game developer Shinji Mikami recounts the fun he had playing with his friends as a kid, the trials and tribulations he faced growing up in a strict household and how he persevered through the hardships of academic life. Read on to find out about the personal struggles famed Resident Evil creator and Vanquish Director, Shinji Mikami faced during his youth.

Kato: What were you like as a child?
Mikami: I was just like any other normal kid my age. I played tag and dodge ball with my friends. At our park, we also had a concrete mound that we used to play a game we called, “Mermen”. The mermen had to chase everyone else, but we created a rule that prohibited him from climbing beyond the top half of the concrete mound (which served as our safe haven).
Kato: I get the impression that you were the creative type. (laughs) Back in the day, we would make up our own rules and find inventive ways to make use of the stuff around us.
Mikami: When I was in 4th, 5th or 6th grade, we made a course that slalomed in between the park’s playground equipment. We used it to race our bikes on. Back then, drifting with bikes was the cool thing to do.
Kato: Oh yeah, I did that too. Wow, that sure brings back the memories. I used to do skid outs with my tires just for the hell of it.
Mikami: We would drift around hairpin turns and we used to race to see who was the fastest. We didn’t have much to play with, unless we used our imagination. I was probably no different from anybody else. Well, actually one eccentric aspect about my upbringing was that I had a really scary father. I was beat on nearly everyday.
Kato: You were beat? What did your father do for a living?
Mikami: He is retired now, but back then he was involved in finance and real estate if you catch my drift. (laughs)
Kato: Ouch, I see. (bitter smile)
Mikami: I suppose it’s worth commending him for holding a job while attending junior high and helping support to his mom and dad even when he was still in high school. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that he battered me when I was a kid. One time, I got caught going to bed without studying. He kicked me out of my bed in the middle of the night and suddenly shouted, “Outside the house, NOW!”.
Kato: Just like that, in the middle of the night?
Mikami: Yep, so when I stepped out of the house barefoot in my pajamas, he barked, “Stand in front of the car!”. He stepped on the pedal and chased me in his car, forcing me to run for 5 or 6 kilometer from my house to the seashore. After we made it to the shore, he turned around and sped off without uttering a word single word to me. So I had to trudge the entire way back home alone in my pajamas. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if the police randomly stumbled upon my father chasing a barefoot kid in his pajamas - he would’ve been arrested for sure. (laughs)
Kato: This sounds like something straight out of a video game.
Mikami: A game like that would suck for sure. If I had to describe him back then, I would say he was more like one of those ruthless military types rather than say a strict gym teacher.
Kato: So you lived out your school days under the fist of your father. When it came time for you to graduate from junior high, you were given an chance to pick a high school to attend right?
Mikami: Yes, that’s right. Nowadays, parents can choose what grade school or kindergarten their kids attend, but I didn’t get a chance to pick out a school until I graduated from junior high.
Kato: What did you decide on?
Mikami: Well, the one that I applied to was an elitist prep school-type place. I got in with no problem. Despite this, I was a total academic failure in high school (laughs)
Kato: How did that happen?
Mikami: Simply put, I hate learning. I managed up through junior high, since the volume of information I was expected to learn was low. In high school though, you simply cannot progress forward unless you keep up with all that information that’s thrown at you.
Kato: Things start to get technical once you’re in high school.
Mikami: Even so, I didn’t want to study. My entire freshman grade comprised of 400 students who were divided into 10 difference classrooms. Academically, I ranked right around the 400 mark. I was at the bottom of my graduating class so my high school years were the absolute worst.
Kato: While we’re on the subject, tell me, was your school co-ed?
Mikami: We were co-ed but there were a lot of guys. In fact, two of the classes were made up entirely of guys. As luck would have it, I was in one of the all-guys classes for three full years. (laughs) So high school life was pretty unspectacular...
Kato: What a bummer. (laughs)
Mikami: It was a real bummer, let me tell you. (laughs)
Kato: Despite all of that, you graduated from Doshisha University. So you must’ve studied really hard?
Mikami: I failed to get accepted into university straight away. Actually, after I graduated from high school, it took me two full years of entrance exam preparation before I was finally accepted into college. If a guy like me got accepted on the first try, how sad it would’ve been for the students who worked hard to get accepted. (laughs) During my first year, I attended a special college entrance exam prep school but nothing good came of it since I hated studying. I was at a complete loss as to what I should do. I racked my brains and finally decided to move into the special entrance exam prep school’s dormitory. It was good because I could finally dedicate myself to my studies and get out of my house as well. Man let me tell you, I killed two birds with one stone with that decision. (laughs)
Kato: Thank goodness for that. (laughs)
Mikami: Actually, I never told my father any of this. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope he never sees this article.
Picture Source: Tango Gameworks Official Site