Masaki Kaifu

Masaki Kaifu (born March 13, 1959) is a Japanese-born video producer. He was born in Aichi Prefecture. His educational background includes Teiko Junior High School, Tamagawa Gakuen High School, and the Faculty of Literature at Tamagawa University, where he majored in Educational History.

His career has been diverse. He joined the Japanese television station TBS, where he worked as an Assistant Director (AD) for idol variety shows such as "Tanokin Full Power Toss!" and comedy programs like "Waratte Pon!", as well as serving as a director for music programs such as "The Best Ten" and late-night shows like "Chiharu Matsuyama's Hello Midnight." During his time there, he was called "Kaifu!!" by Beat Takeshi, but after his father, Shintaro Kaifu, became Prime Minister, he was referred to as "Kaifu-san."

His father is Shintaro Kaifu, and his mother is Yukie Kaifu. Masaki Kaifu left TBS during his father’s tenure as Prime Minister and worked at the Prime Minister’s Office as a Secretary to the Prime Minister.

After his father Shintaro Kaifu resigned, Masaki Kaifu joined WOWOW (then known as JSB Japan Satellite Broadcasting Corporation), Japan’s first private satellite broadcasting station, and began working as a producer. He was assigned to the First Program Production Department and later served as head of the Film Department and the Anime Business Department. In the field of anime, he was involved in numerous works, including the TV anime "Builder Power" directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, "Uchū no Monshō" (Symbol of the Star Realm), "Uchū no Senki" (Flag of the Star Realm) (Sunrise productions), "Ningyo Sōshi Ayatsuri Sakon" (Doll Picture Book Ayatsuri Sakon) (TMS Productions), and "The Soul Taker: Soul Hunter" (Tatsunoko VCR productions).

Additionally, for the anime "Gatekeepers" broadcast on WOWOW, he was appointed as the chief director by Junichi Sato and also voiced the role of the Prime Minister. Later, he appeared as the Infernian in "Tales of Eternia: The Animation."

In 2001, he moved to the United States and started working as a sole proprietor, conducting market research and consulting on Japanese content such as anime, manga, light novels, films, music, games, characters, and television programs. Since then, he has continued research and analysis for publications like the "Digital Content White Paper" and JETRO’s ("Japan External Trade Organization") "U.S. Content Market Research."

He has also been involved in international co-production content development, collaborating with American comic book legend Stan Lee and animation studio Bones to develop the Japan-U.S. joint animated series "HEROMAN." "HEROMAN" was broadcast on TV Tokyo in 2010 and featured simultaneous overseas streaming.

In 2015, he established WOWMAX Inc., and raised capital through third-party allotment. Shareholders include Tohokushinsha Film Corporation, Nippon Columbia, Toei Animation, WAO!, Asahi Production, and 81 Produce. In 2017, he founded WOWMAX NEXT Inc., a U.S. corporation based in Glendale, California, owning a video production and recording studio, and became its representative.

In his private life, his wife Yuko Kaifu previously served as a consul at the Japanese Consulate General in Los Angeles after working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their relationship developed after she served as an interpreter during a foreign trip while she was with the Ministry. She later became Deputy Director of the American Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles, and subsequently, she served as Public Relations Managing Director at Union Bank, a financial institution affiliated with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

As a child, Masaki Kaifu was nicknamed "Mappy" and "Kaipy." During his time at TBS, he was also known as "Pesh" by Masahiko Kondo and Hirohide Yakimaru.

(This concludes the factual biographical information based on the provided content.)