Yasuda has been at the center of the Itagaki vs. Tecmo legal suit. Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki is suing for unpaid DoA 4 wages. These were "special incentive" wages that Itagaki claims were agreed to by the former Tecmo president and the board of directors, but the current president is claiming these "special incentive" wages were made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board.

As we posted earlier, Itagaki left Tecmo and filed suit for unpaid bonuses. As Itagaki stated then, "President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.'"

During the court proceedings, evidence was presented, such as this secret audio tape that we broke, which contained statements by Yasuda that seemed in direct conflict with his court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that his special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this, contradicting himself.

Besides this, Yasuda was embroiled in a totally separate lawsuit filed by other Tecmo employees as well — Hiroaki Ozawa and co-plaintiff Tatsuki Tsunoda. Ozawa is the Tecmo Labor Union leader and Ninja Gaiden 2 lead engineer, while Tsunoda is the Ninja Gaiden 2 level design lead. According to the suit, the workers were illegally placed on a "flexible hours" work scheme where overtime was not paid.

Because of this dubious employment structure, overtime for the employees exceeded over 100 hours per month in unpaid overtime. The evidence the plaintiffs submitted in their suit seems to indicate that Yoshimi Yasuda falsified contracts relating to overtime work, illegally withholding payment of wages to 300 employees over the course of the past 2 years. Despite Yasuda’s direct involvement with this deception, he attempted to shift responsibility by claiming that this was the fault of the founder and former chairman of Tecmo, now deceased, stating he was told not to hold an election and just pick someone to head the Tecmo Labor Union.

Sounds like Kakihara has a lot of work ahead of him starting September 1st. Official press release below:

代表取締役の異動に関するお知らせ

当社は、平成20年８月20日開催の取締役会において、下記の通り代表取締役の異動について内定いたしましたのでお知らせいたします。

記

１．異動内容
新役職名 氏 名 旧役職名
代表取締役会長兼社長 柿原 康晴 代表取締役会長
辞任 安田 善巳 代表取締役社長

（２）異動の理由
本日開催の取締役会において、安田代表取締役社長より、一身上の都合により代表取締役
社長並びに取締役を辞任したい旨の申し出があり、取締役会はこれを受理いたしました。

（３）異動予定日
平成20年９月１日

（４）新任代表取締役会長兼社長の氏名、略歴
新役職名 代表取締役会長兼社長
氏 名 柿原 康晴（かきはら やすはる）
生年月日 昭和45年12月30日（38歳）
出 身 地 千葉県
略 歴 平成元年３月 渋谷教育学園幕張高等学校卒業
平成11年３月 獨協医科大学卒業
平成11年５月 獨協医科大学附属病院第２外科 臨床研修医として勤務
平成12年10月 （財）癌研究会附属病院勤務臨床研修医として勤務
平成13年５月 獨協医科大学附属病院第２外科勤務
平成13年６月 当社監査役に就任
平成16年６月 当社取締役に就任
平成18年３月 当社取締役退任
平成18年３月 テクモウェーブ株式会社取締役に就任（現任）
平成18年10月 当社経営委員会委員長に就任
平成19年３月 当社代表取締役会長（現任）

以 上

After the jump, we've posted an audio recording submitted into evidence by Tomonobu Itagaki. The recording is of Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda and Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto on January 22nd of this year. It was secretly recorded by Ninja Gaiden II producer Okamoto as he claims he was being harassed and called names by president Yasuda. In the recording, Yasuda says, "The board of directors approved it and signed the ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form)." This is in direct conflict with Yasuda's court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that his special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this.

For those who are interested in following the Japanese transcript click here. Along with the audio recording, we've included an English translation of the entire conversation Kotakuite Chinpokomon so graciously did. Many thanks for that, Chinpokomon!

boomp3.com
The sound quality is of course rough, so you might need to pump up the volume.


Yasuda:
Ok, man, so you definitely won't talk? If you promise not to, I'll talk. Don't say anything, man.
Ok, so I'll turst that you're a real man and will keep your promise.
Itagaki was keeping the Super Incentive from DOA4 all to himself.
You didn't know it, but I was really fighting with that guy.
He got 150,000,000 Yen. And, none of that was approved by the board of directors.
And, how should I put this.... So, Nakamura-san said that if DOA4 doesn't come out by the end of the year, it'll be big trouble. And Itagaki, well, Nakamura-san knows that... Well, guys like Itagaki are pretty easy to figure out. He's a control freak.
And, since he can't control me, me and him were fighting.
And, the Super Incentive bonus, well that's actually different from the normal incentive bonus.
And, it's only for group managers.

Okamoto:
That's an impressive name. Super Incentive...

Yasuda:
Yeah, Development Manager Incentive, there's also a paper and everything (?)
But, it hasn't been passed by the board of directors.
Even so, Nakamura-san (promised it?), to Kanematsu, and to me.
I used to be a group manager right? Also to Kikuchi, and to Itagaki. So, he clearly promised that this incentive was just for Itagaki, and as a result, Itagaki's all happy and busting his ass.
So, then when I became the company president, what pissed of Itagaki the most, was that Nakamura-san was no longer around, and the Super Incentive was revoked. 150,000,000 Yen

Okamoto:
But, you say it was revoked, but it wasn't even approved by the board of directors, right?

Yasuda:
Yeah, so they approved it and signed the ringi. However, the Chief of the board wasn't there at the board meeting where Nakamura-san reported on this plan.

Okamoto:
hmmmm

Yasuda:
So, yeah, there was all that stuff.
And so, when Itagaki is going on about whether he'll quit or not, it's not some thing cool like that, he's actually just saying are you going to pay me the Super Incentive, or not.
He actually already promised it to his wife.
Also, so, how should I put this. Umm, so he said his previous company was really cheap, and that even a company like ours, he said it was all because of him that it was able to come as far as it has, so he said he deserved the Super Incentive. So, I'm telling you this for the first time, Okamoto, but the truth is at that time, me and him really had it out.

Okamoto:
Oh, so that's how it happened.

Yasuda:
The truth is at that time, I was really against it, Nakamura-san's proposal.

Okamoto:
Right at the same time (as when you were arguing with Itagaki???) ?

Yasuda:
Yeah. I was against it. The reason why is because... well, everything I said is all in the meeting record, but anyway. If everyone recieves the incentive, that's fine, by why should you, and you alone get it? Isn't everyone working on the game?
To which he replied, "You're like Lenin. You're a communist. This isn't like that, right?"
Oh, and one other thing.
Hey, I can trust you right? Definitely do not pass this on.

Okamoto:
Y, Yes.

Yasuda:
So there's a thing called "Revokation awards", and it's like a retirement pension. One of the perks of being a board member. During the year, if you are fired, you get somewhere between 100,000,000 and 120,000,000 Yen. I did away with that entirely.
And why did I do that? Because it just doesn't work (we don't have enough money to go around???).
So when I told him this, he said that even after hearing me say such a thing to everyone, that he still needed to do what he had to do, and that he was very particular on the subject. (???)
So, anyway, that was his strange response to what I said.
He wasn't even praising the company president. Go ahead, take your share. Just give me mine too.
So, that was the timing of all this.
At that time, it was when you, and Kanematsu as well, were telling me that if we didn't give Itagaki the incentive, that he would quit, and that our company would be screwed without him.
And I told you, no, it's not like that. Even in the rare event that he did go away, I told you that your job was to work out something with the company president.
So, yeah, that was the timing, right before the infamous drinking party, where at the banquet you praised Itagaki so much.
You told me something like, "Itagaki's looks down because of our new company president", or maybe I misunderstood you.
Also, when I explained my fundamental philosophy to you, I guess I did a bad job. There are plenty of employees who say, "If Okamoto-san's on board, I'll do my best!" But, after that, everyone wonders "Why doesn't Okamoto-san stand up?" So, everyone was saying that someday that day would come.
Truth is, there were just so many things that piled one on top of the other.
So, do you know why Itagaki was following me at that time?
So, yes, it's true that it hasn't passed the board of directors, but since it had been decided and communicated, it would be unfair to Itagaki if he didn't get some sort of bonus, even if the current scheme didn't work out exactly.
So, at that time I thought about it a long time. If we split this payment out over 20 years. 150,000,000 Yen over 20 years, we could get away with paying out just 10,000,000 yen per yer. So I told him that I would speak with the board chief about it. To that guy.
And then all of the sudden, since he's such a money grubber, he's dead inside. He started whining "Mr. President, Mr. President!"
And this came up a second time at the drinking party.

Okamoto:
Oh.

Yasuda:
And, after that, Itagaki consulted with the board chief, and the board chief said he would definitely not pay it, and they really started fighting. Saying it was fucked up, and how the board chief screwed up by making me President.

Note: Chinpokomon wrote above his translation, "...there are a lot of cases where I'm unable to follow the context, so I just did the best I could.
I also think these conversations occurred over a few beers, as the're using informal language, and Yasuda's kind of rambling."

We've posted all the documentation Tomonobu Itagaki submitted into evidence during the second round of arguments. Itagaki claims he has even more evidence, going as far as stating: "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice." The evidence submitted earlier today after the jump. Heads up as there's lots of big images ready to suck up your bandwidth — and they're all in Japanese.

This contract, dated March 4th 2005, covers "special incentives" for Dead or Alive 4. The "special incentives" program was proposed by the former president of Tecmo (the president before current president Yoshimi Yasuda) where all employees would receive a certain percentage of the profits from a big-selling game. The profit points would be distributed among members of the team with the highest share going to the senior employees. In the DoA4 contract Itagaki submitted, it clearly states that he is entitled to 6.66 percent of the earned profits from the project.

In the statement Itagaki released today, he has now increased his claim for damages against Tecmo from the previously announced figure of 148,000,000 yen to 164,000,095 yen. In American money, that's an increase from $1.38 million to $1.53 million. The claim increase Itagaki is asking for simply reflects the wages he should have earned at the end of this June had he not been fired by the company.

This is the document Tecmo submitted to withdrawal its four-point gag order submission. As Itagaki says in his statement, "From the outset, the claims made in this petition had changed repeatedly in a short period of time, causing me to wonder what they would claim next; apparently Tecmo and its president Yoshimi Yasuda finally realized that their petition would most likely be denied, and before the fourth round of debates regarding its merit were held the claim was withdrawn unexpectedly." Continuing "it is clear that this self-centered behavior by Tecmo Co. Ltd. and its president Yoshimi Yasuda, from the filing of the petition to its subsequent withdrawal, was an attempt to increase my own personal burden in both time and funds needed to combat the petition."

This is the signed affidavit from Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto. Okamoto explains that he recorded a conversation with Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda on January 22nd of this year. The reason for this, Okamoto explains, is that Yasuda had harassed him, calling him names.

Above is the audio transcript of the conversation between President Yasuda and Okamoto. In the transcript, Yasuda admits that the special bonus incentive had in fact been submitted and approved by the board of directors before he became president and while he was still section director. Yasuda says that the special incentive scheme had been discussed and a ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form) had been signed by the board of directors.

On page 2 of this transcript, when Okamoto says the special incentive wasn't voted on (like Yasuda now claims), Yasuda then replied, 取締役会決議と稟議が起きているんだよ. That literally translates to "The board of directors did vote on it and a ringi was signed." This is in direct conflict with Yasuda's court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. Therefore, it is invalid, states Yasuda. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that this special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this.

Also, during the conversation, Yasuda called Itagaki a "money grubber" because of the developer's desire to be paid incentives that had been approved by Tecmo. Yet in court, Yasuda has denied calling Itagaki a "money grubber." In Itagaki's statement, the game designer says that this audio recording is only a small part of concrete evidence he has. "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice," Itagaki states.

Something else to keep in mind: Earlier we reported that Tecmo slapped Itagaki with a gag-order, meaning that one had been filed — as of course there are no Japanese laws to prevent Tecmo from filing for that! However, a judge has yet to sign off on this gag-order for it to actually be in effect. Since this hasn't yet happened, the gag-order is, well, not in effect. What's more, that gag-order motion may very well be tossed out of court.

Itagaki vs Tecmo [IT Media]

• Disclosing or leaking information regarding Tecmo's game software, sales, development or any other company secrets

• Using newspapers, magazines and the internet to criticize company software and company employees

• Obstructing the company's business through slanderous remarks to third parties

• Do not accept interviews regarding Tecmo or talk to the press about the company

This gag-order certainly seems in response to the statement Itagaki released to Kotaku and other outlets.

テクモ、板垣氏に対して仮処分を申請 [IT Media] [Pic]

Earlier this month Tomonobu Itagaki, who leads/led Team Ninja, announced his intention to quit Tecmo, effective July 1. In his announcement he was PO'd about a company decision not to pay bonuses on a completed game, so, chances are his comrades feel the same. Tecmo, for its part, says the bonus to Itagaki that is in dispute was approved by a previous management team, not the current one.

1Up also writes:

Another problem for Tecmo is that in Japan, any lawsuit filed against a publicly-traded company must be immediately reported to its shareholders on the same business day. The fact that Itagaki had actually filed a complaint against Tecmo in Tokyo District Court on May 14, but Tecmo management withheld this information from shareholders, possibly as late as when the notorious developer released his high-profile public statement on June 2, creates even bigger problems for the game publisher.

Of course Tecmo still owns Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, and can hire developers to make all the games it wishes off of those franchises. But if this is true, it's absolutely a fair to wonder what they'll be like without, and how faithful they'd be to the gaming experience so many have come to expect to this point.

Rumor: Three Dozen Team Ninja Members Leaving With Itagaki [1Up]