Hiroko Yoda is a Japanese entrepreneur, translator, writer, folklorist, and president of the localization company

AltJapan Co., Ltd. AltJapan Co., Ltd. is a Tokyo based company specializing in the translation and localization of Japanese entertainment. It is particularly active in manga and game localization, video game localization. It specializes in Japanese-to-English and E ...

She was also a Tokyo city editor for the

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

travel website CNNGo. She is a translator of video games and the author of numerous books about Japanese history and culture. She is particularly known for her pioneering work contextualizing yokai culture for English-speaking audiences.

Education

Born in Tokyo, she studied at the University of Maryland, then earned a Master's degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

In 2005, she played the role of a yokai frog in the

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and surrealism, b ...

film

The Great Yokai War is a 2005 Japanese fantasy film directed by Takashi Miike, produced by Kadokawa Pictures and distributed by Shochiku. The film stars Ryūnosuke Kamiki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hiroyuki Miyasako, Chiaki Kuriyama, and Mai Takahashi. The film focuses lar ...

.> She also had a cameo in the 2010

Tomoo Haraguchi Tomoo is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Tomoo can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *友雄, "friend, masculine" *友男, "friend, man" *友夫, "friend, husband" *知雄, "know, mascul ...

film

Death Kappa is a 2010 ''kaiju'' film directed by . An international co-production of Japan and the United States, it stars , , and . In the film, a series of military experiments result in the appearance of a giant irradiated monster rivaled by a colossal m ...

.> In 2008, she was denied a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

account. She was told that "Facebook blocks the registration of a number of names that are frequently abused on the site. The name Yoda, also being the name of a popular

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

character, is on this list of blocked names." The company only relented after her plight gained international mass media attention alongside other cases of banned names. She is married to the writer and television personality Matt Alt.

Works

Games

As scriptwriter *

World of Demons ''World of Demons'' was a 2021 hack and slash video game developed by PlatinumGames. The player plays as a samurai who controls ''yōkai'' to fight against oni. The game was released on April 2, 2021 through Apple Arcade. On January 5, 2024, Pla ...

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 ''Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2'', stylized as ''Ninja Gaiden Σ2'', is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo, Tecmo Koei for the PlayStation 3. It is a port of the 2008 Xbox 360 video game ''Ninja Gaiden II''. It ...

* Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword As translator *

Silhouette Mirage ''Silhouette Mirage'' is a 2D action side-scrolling video game developed by Treasure and released in 1997. The game's primary mechanic is the two opposing attributes, "Silhouette" and "Mirage" and the way they are able to cause damage to each oth ...

* Lunar: Silver Star Story *

Dragon Quest VIII ''Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King'' is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. It was first released in Japan in November 2004, followed by North America in November ...

Ninja Gaiden II is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the 2004 title ''Ninja Gaiden'', making it the second 3D title in the series of the same name, and was releas ...

The Wonderful 101 is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. The game was directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Atsushi Inaba. It was released in August 2013 in all major regions except North America, w ...

Nioh is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo for the PlayStation 4. Sony Interactive Entertainment published the game outside Japan on PlayStation consoles. A port to Windows including all downloadabl ...

As localization producer *

Dynasty Warriors Gundam ''Dynasty Warriors: Gundam'', originally released in Japan as , is a 2007 video game based on the ''Gundam'' anime series. It was developed by Omega Force and published by Namco Bandai Games. Its gameplay is derived from Koei's ''Dynasty Warriors' ...

Lost Planet 3 is a third-person shooter action-adventure video game developed by Spark Unlimited and published by Capcom for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is a prequel to '' Lost Planet: Extreme Condition'' and ''Lost Planet 2'', an ...

* Strider (2014)

Books

* * * *

Translations

Books * * Manga * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoda, Hiroko Japanese women chief executives 21st-century Japanese businesspeople 21st-century Japanese businesswomen Japanese video game businesspeople 21st-century Japanese translators Living people Japanese women folklorists 21st-century Japanese women writers Japanese folklorists CNN people Japanologists Video game localization Japanese women journalists Businesspeople from Tokyo American University School of International Service alumni Year of birth missing (living people)