Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2010

Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Yokohama.

What do you do?
In a word, I suppose I’m a “producer,” but up until I started my own company, I was mainly a puzzle designer.

What kinds of puzzles do you make?
I stick mostly to word puzzles like crosswords and anagrams, but my company, Zero Page, creates many different genres, including Sudoku, connect-the-dots and paint-by-numbers. I get my inspiration from small things—conversations with friends at a nomikai, riding the train, playing pachinko, or just when I’m spacing out, all alone.

What makes a good puzzle?
It has to be something that I enjoy, too. If I’m not having a good time making it, the player isn’t going to have fun either. You also need a certain idea about what will make other people happy. I never forget that there are people out there solving my puzzles, and it’s very important to keep communicating with them.

Do you enjoy solving puzzles, too?
Well, I don’t really like ones that I can’t understand or where I give up because it’s too hard [laughs]. But in general, I like puzzles.

Where can we see your work?
They appear regularly in many magazines, newspapers and on mobile sites, but we also make business cards and New Year’s nengajo printed with our puzzles. In the very near future, I’ll be releasing an iPhone application called Terako’s Puzzles.

What are your hobbies?
Well, my work is my hobby, so it’s hard to separate public and private. But I love to have fun, so I usually meet up with friends and talk or play games. My favorites are poker (particularly Texas Hold-em), mahjong, Rummikub, Scrabble and backgammon.

What’s the one thing everyone who visits Japan should try?
You should definitely go to an old-fashioned sento. There are lots of them still left in shitamachi. Drinking a bottle of fruit-flavored milk after bathing is one of the most delicious things ever! It can be a little bit rough if you’re not used to the hot water, but as your body warms up, you relax as if all your stress is just fading away.

For more information, see http://zeropage.jp. To buy Terako’s games, see www.rakuten.co.jp/terako-shop.