Hideo Kojima has lengthy since stopped being only a sport director. He’s turn out to be an emblem for boundary-pushing, cross-media storytelling whose work is dissected with the identical awe and reverence reserved for cinema auteurs.
The highway from Steel Gear, Snatcher, and Policenauts to Dying Stranding and OD was neither straightforward nor quick, however his tasks are not simply online game releases; they’re cultural occasions wrapped in thriller. They produce idea movies primarily based on mere screenshots and trailers, and hour-long thinkpieces about the place his video games finish, and one thing else begins.
When somebody like Kojima sits down to speak concerning the objects that imply loads in his every day life, you anticipate there to be a deeper which means in all of it. However he’s a human like all of us, and his GQ Japan interview is only a good peek by means of the 16:9 window into the lifetime of one of the singular minds within the business.
Digital camera
It’s totally unsurprising that the primary merchandise Kojima mentions is a digital camera. His present “weapon of alternative” is the Sony α6600. His fascination with cameras might be traced again to the Japan World Exposition, Osaka, 1970, or simply Osaka Expo ‘70. His mother and father gave a seven-year-old Hideo an autofocus digital camera, and that’s how it began. Again then, it was a movie digital camera, however he’s all digital these days. Kojima carries his trusty α6600 even to enterprise journeys. It’s mild sufficient and simple to make use of to take to the youngsters’s sports activities day, or simply have it round for any eventuality.
Digital Walkman
The second merchandise of alternative is a Sony digital Walkman. The one he makes use of is a high-end Sony NW-WM1AM2 music participant. When he entered the college, he bought the long-lasting Sony Walkman 2. With it, Kojima might take his music with him; it virtually felt like having his personal soundtrack. Not solely did it change his perspective on music, however it additionally modified his outlook on life.
Kojima makes use of his Walkman to take heed to high-resolution music, however he’s nonetheless subscribed to Apple Music to take heed to new releases. That’s additionally how he finds new expertise to work with on his video games.
His earpieces of alternative are the limited-edition EBX25Ti LUDENS Earbuds, created in collaboration between Kojima Productions and the hifi gear producer NiceHCK.
Vinyl and CDs
Being a toddler of the analogue era, Kojima nonetheless values bodily media, so he always buys CDs and vinyl data. Certainly one of his current purchases was the fiftieth Anniversary Soundtrack for the legendary film Jaws. For CDs, he acquired singles by The Final Dinner Social gathering and Koji Tamaki.
The band from Kojima’s youth, referred to as Spandau Ballet, holds a particular place in his coronary heart, so he purchased a whole anthology. He states that vinyl and CDs are what most of his earnings is spent on.
He additionally laments the closure of many music file retailers he used to frequent. He cherished spending hours listening to them earlier than deciding to purchase one thing.
Watch
Hideo Kojima loves watches. He obtained his first one as a present from his father, and it made him really feel like an grownup for the primary time. So it’s no shock that for the GQ shoot, he determined to point out off two high-end watches made in collaboration between Kojima Productions and well-known watchmakers Seiko and Hamilton: Seiko Astron SBXC097 Kojima Productions fifth Anniversary Version and Hamilton American Basic Boulton Dying Stranding 2 Restricted Version.
The Seiko one is a radio-controlled watch that units the time and date by receiving a radio sign from an atomic clock.
When Kojima was youthful, he used to buy watches primarily based on the model names or as a result of a well-known actor wore them in a film. Or only a Rolex, as a result of he jokes that it could actually save your life when you get in bother with the Yakuza.
Espresso
Kojima has cherished espresso since he was a toddler, and he has tried each technique of getting ready it, from drip-brewing to grinding and urgent. He might even be getting a bit overzealous with it, ingesting about seven cups of Nespresso each day.
His go-to second to get a heat cup is when he’s achieved with a job or is about to modify to a different. It helps him reset his mindset and begin once more. He cherished including sugar and milk when he was youthful, however these days, his go-to is simply black espresso.
Cotton swabs
One of many strangest and most sudden objects on Kojima’s important record is a pack of cotton swabs. He mentions that he has sudden bouts of ear itchiness that generally even wake him up at evening, and the one factor that helps is a cotton swab.
That’s why he all the time carries some with him, and even brings his favourite model in all places, as a result of it suits his ear canal one of the best. He does be aware that he additionally makes use of the ear picks, however the cotton swabs do their job one of the best within the second.
It’s price noting that docs don’t suggest utilizing cotton swabs to scrub your ears.
Atomizer
Kojima has a really heightened sense of scent, so he virtually has to carry a fragrance atomizer with him; in any other case, he will get overly bothered by unfamiliar or sturdy scents.
He jokes that he has a dog-like sense of scent, as he can inform his workers members aside by the scent of their perfumes, and might even say who’s within the elevator with him, even along with his eyes closed.
Illustrated catalogs & pamphlets
Kojima completely adores artwork galleries and museums, and visits them about as soon as every week. However oftentimes, they’re manner too crowded, so he goes straight to the merchandise kiosks and buys the catalogs of the artwork on show. Then, as an alternative of ready in enormous strains, he goes to a close-by espresso store and appears on the footage of the artwork he might have seen stay.
It’s not simply galleries and museums, both. He loves getting catalogs from Buddhist temples with statues and cash.
Hideo Kojima has famously said that “70% of my physique is made of films.” So it’s no marvel that he loves going to the cinema and shopping for pamphlets for the flicks he’s about to look at. The truth is, he has over 50 years’ price of film pamphlets in his storage home.
Glasses and sun shades
It’s troublesome to think about Kojima with out his glasses, however a little-known truth is that he solely began sporting them when he entered the sport business, when he was round 30. He often has a pair of normal glasses and sun shades helpful, however not too long ago, he has been collaborating with many firms to make 2-in-1 kind of glasses.
He does acknowledge that glasses are an enormous a part of his picture these days, so he jokes that he might begin sporting contact lenses and develop a beard so that folks cosplaying him have a more durable time.
Neck gaiter
Being born in August, Kojima isn’t one of the best at withstanding chilly temperatures. He used to put on plenty of scarves and mufflers, however the inconvenience of the method all the time made him uncomfortable. That’s what he switched to neck gaiters: if it’s chilly, he can put on one and really feel hotter; if it will get scorching, he can all the time zip one down and let the air circulation.
These have been the objects the visionary director Hideo Kojima deems irreplaceable in his life. This HQ interview comes after him not too long ago being named GQ Japan’s Man of the 12 months within the Greatest Creator class: a recognition of the affect he’s had not simply on video games, however on popular culture as an entire. There are legitimate causes to not like his work – artwork by no means is for everybody, it simply stops being artwork. However there’s no denying that the person is a bona fide genius.
