Level-5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino is set to appear at the Yoshi-P Radio & Yoshi-P Night event at 404 Not Found in Shibuya on October 24, 2026, where he will discuss launching new IP. In September 2026 he addressed AI use in the company's Tokyo Game Show concept art after apologizing for AI footage in the LEVEL5 VISION 2026 II Dream stream.
Akihiro Hino's public record over these four stories is mostly an extended answer about AI. On September 12 he posted to X to explain and apologize for AI in footage shown during the online presentation LEVEL5 VISION 2026 II Dream, which had streamed on September 10. He wrote that he used cutting-edge AI, including processing that doubled as an experiment, wanting the presentation to be flashy, and apologized to users who felt uncomfortable. He drew a line: scenarios, character designs, and basic world-building for Level 5 titles are made by human hands, and AI is mainly used to digitize human-made assets such as polygon models. He said cheap AI output data will not be included in released games. Criticism came from users in Japan and overseas, and some in Japan noted that Yo-kai Watch 2: Hadou footage differed in details such as character faces from what appeared in the previous day's Nintendo Direct 2026.9.9.
Three days later the question came back, this time about marketing art rather than a stream. Hino said on his own X account that an AI-generated image was used for the company's Tokyo Game Show 2026 booth concept art. He argued that making concept CG or AI preview images before an event is common practice at most companies, and said the actual booth is designed by humans and its modeling is carefully handmade. The booth ran September 17 to September 21.
The most recent stories move away from AI entirely. On October 24 Hino is a guest at Yoshi-P Radio & Yoshi-P Night at the Shibuya creator hub 404 Not Found, hosted by Shuhei Yoshida and Masahiko Murakami. His session covers launching a new IP and the trial and error of getting one off the ground, and he looks back on his creative journey. Indie developer Takahiro Miyazawa speaks in the other part of the program, on game creation with special controllers. A networking session follows.
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The creator hub 404 Not Found will hold the talk event "Yoshi-P Radio & Yoshi-P Night" on October 24, 2026, hosted by Shuhei Yoshida and Masahiko Murakami. Indie developer Takahiro Miyazawa speaks in Part 1 about game creation with special controllers, and Level-5's Akihiro Hino covers the trial and error of launching a new IP in Part 2. A networking session follows.
Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino and indie developer Takahiro Miyazawa are the guests at Yoshi-P Radio and Yoshi-P Night, held October 24 at the Shibuya creator hub 404 Not Found and hosted by Shuhei Yoshida and Masahiko Murakami. Miyazawa discusses solo development and the ideas behind his special controllers, while Hino looks back on his creative journey and the trial and error of creating new IP.
Level-5 president Akihiro Hino said on his own X account that an AI-generated image was used for the company's Tokyo Game Show 2026 booth concept art. He argued that making concept CG or AI preview images before an event is common practice at most companies, and said the actual booth is designed by humans and its modeling is carefully handmade. The booth runs September 17 to September 21.
Level 5 president and CEO Akihiro Hino posted a statement on his X account on September 12 explaining and apologizing for the use of AI in footage shown during the online presentation LEVEL5 VISION 2026 II Dream, which streamed on September 10. Hino wrote that he incorporated cutting-edge AI, including processing that doubled as an experiment, out of a desire to make the presentation flashy, and apologized to users who felt uncomfortable. He said scenarios, character designs, and basic world-building for Level 5 titles are all created by human hands, and that AI is mainly used to digitize human-made assets such as polygon models. He stated that cheap AI output data will not be included in the games that are released. Hino also said the company is testing ways to shorten development of major titles from five years to two. Criticism came from users in Japan and overseas, and some in Japan noted that Yo-kai Watch 2: Hadou footage differed in details such as character faces from what appeared in the previous day's Nintendo Direct 2026.9.9.