Koei Tecmo’s Representative Director sets up fund to support children from single mother households 

Koei Tecmo’s Chairwoman and Representative Director Keiko Erikawa has set up the Erikawa Education Fund to provide scholarships for children raised in single mother households.  

Keiko Erikawa co-founded Koei in 1978 with her husband, the company’s President and CEO Yoichi Erikawa. The company later merged with Tecmo in 2009. Koei Tecmo is known for Dynasty Warriors, Ninja Gaiden, Nioh, Rise of the Ronin and the Atelier games.  

Keiko Erikawa’s new fund is intended to support the education-related expenses of junior high, high school and university students from single mother households. Education costs can get quite high in Japan. In addition to the costs of uniforms, textbooks and other materials, children and teenagers are expected to attend paid afterschool cram schools if they want to get into the best high schools and to pass university entrance exams. If they don’t have the funds to attend cram schools, they may have to abandon their aims of going to university. 

Keiko Erikawa explains her reasons for establishing the Erikawa Education Fund in her message on the foundation’s website. According to Erikawa, the average annual income of a single mother family is approximately 2,400,000yen (around $15,450 USD, based on current exchange rates), which is, on average, less than half of that of single father households. As someone who grew up with a single mother, Erikawa has first-hand experience of these financial difficulties. She describes feeling the pressure as a primary school student, when she noticed a huge gap in academic progress between herself and her peers who were going to cram school.  

Although her entrepreneurial spirit won out in the end, she expresses regret for the talented and motivated children who are forced to abandon their dreams due to financial circumstances, and describes this as “a great loss for Japan’s future.” She says that she would like Koei Tecmo’s financial success to benefit society by supporting the education of young people from single mother households, “which cannot access government assistance.” The foundation received approval from the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture on July 1 and application details for the first set of non-repayable scholarships will be made available in October. 

Keiko Erikawa is known for her skills in investments and stock trading, which have helped cushion the losses when games have underperformed. She is also known for founding Koei Tecmo’s Ruby Party development team, which specializes in otome games. She is already much loved by members of the Japanese gaming community and has been nicknamed “Empress”. The news that she has established a fund to support single mother households is earning her praise on Japanese social media, with one X user exclaiming (in a reference to Koei Tecmo’s popular Nobunaga’s Ambition series): “My ambition is to become an empress who surpasses Keiko Erikawa!”