Nippon TV names new board director and operating officer

He will report directly to Nippon TV’s president and CEO, Yoshio Okubo. Atsushi Hatayama, president of IBD since June 2016, continues to serve in this role and will now report directly to Mr. Nakayama.

With over 30 years of experience at Nippon TV, Nakayama assumes his leadership role at the IBD division with a commitment to spearheading the company’s global growth through new relationships and business opportunities. He joined News Division of Nippon TV back in 1983 and for over 20 years he has been a foreign news reporter covering frontline news including the devastating 9/11 attacks from the ground in Afghanistan.

In 2004, he became the Chief Producer of the Programming Division and went on to produce some of the company’s core news programs. In 2014, he was promoted to President of the Business Development Division and has continued to serve in various roles in this division.

In addition, Nakayama has also led efforts to bring large-scale art exhibits to Japan such as Louvre Museum, which Nippon TV has a longstanding partnership with, the Walt Disney Animation Research Library’s the (ARL) Concept Art Exhibition, as well as the original arena show for the popular game “Dragon Quest”, which attracted over 300,000 visitors.

He has a passion for all sports, especially soccer which we started focusing on in his early teens. He was scouted as a candidate for the Japanese National Team while still an undergraduate student at Waseda University. He went on to Tsukuba University Graduate School, and at the same time, was recruited as a professional goal keeper for the legendary Yomiuri Football Club.