Masao Kawakami

Founder at DWANGO CO., LTD.

Net worth: 129 M $ as of 30/06/2026

57 year

33 connections

Consumer Services

Commercial Services

Technology Services

Profile

Masao Kawakami is the founder of DWANGO Co., Ltd. (founded in 1997) and currently holds the position of Chairman.
He is also currently the Chairman at smiledge Co., Ltd., Virtual Cast, Inc., Khara, Inc., Kadokawa Corp., Reinforce, Inc., KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories, Inc., Gzbrain, Inc., and Vaka, Inc. In the past, he served as an Outside Director at Kadokawa Future Publishing KK from 2011 to 2013 and as a Director at BOOK WALKER Co., Ltd.

Known holdings in public companies

Company	Date	Number of shares	Valuation	Valuation date
KADOKAWA CORPORATION 4.05%	30/09/2025	6,036,000 ( 4.05% )	129 M $	30/06/2026

Masao Kawakami active positions

Companies	Position	Start
DWANGO CO., LTD.	Founder	06/08/1997
KADOKAWA CORPORATION	Director/Board Member	01/10/2014
smiledge Co., Ltd. smiledge Co., Ltd. Advertising/Marketing ServicesCommercial Services Operates as an advertising agency; plans and produces advertising materials	Chairman	01/03/2013
Khara, Inc.	Director/Board Member	01/06/2013
Reinforce, Inc.	Director/Board Member	03/03/2014
KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories, Inc.	Director/Board Member	01/06/2014
Gzbrain, Inc.	Director/Board Member	01/07/2017
Vaka, Inc.	Director/Board Member	01/02/2018
Virtual Cast, Inc.	Chairman	-

All active positions of Masao Kawakami

Former positions of Masao Kawakami

Companies	Position	End
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See the detail of Masao Kawakami's experience

Experiences
Positions held

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Inactive

Listed companies

Private companies

See the detail of Masao Kawakami's experience

Connections

1st degree connections

1st degree companies

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Members of the board

Executives

See the personal network

Linked companies

Private companies	11
Kadokawa Future Publishing KK Kadokawa Future Publishing KK Publishing: Books/MagazinesConsumer Services Publishes books, magazines and software & operates cinemas	Consumer Services
Dwango Co., Ltd. Dwango Co., Ltd. Packaged SoftwareTechnology Services Develops mobile application games and provide communication, education & event organizing services	Technology Services
BOOK WALKER Co., Ltd. BOOK WALKER Co., Ltd. Commercial Printing/FormsCommercial Services Produces, publishes, and distributes electronic contents	Commercial Services
smiledge Co., Ltd. smiledge Co., Ltd. Advertising/Marketing ServicesCommercial Services Operates as an advertising agency; plans and produces advertising materials	Commercial Services
Khara, Inc.
Kadokawa Corp. Kadokawa Corp. Publishing: Books/MagazinesConsumer Services Publishes and distributes printed and electronic books and magazines	Consumer Services
Reinforce, Inc.
KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories, Inc.
Gzbrain, Inc.
Vaka, Inc.
Virtual Cast, Inc.