Fans of Final Fantasy XIV are familiar with Michael-Christopher Koji Fox as the head of translation and localization, a constant presence at fan festivals and often Naoki Yoshida’s translator when both are on stage together. But he has a long history with Square-Enix that includes working on Final Fantasy XI, and as the increasingly inaccurately named 20th anniversary site for the earlier game continues its discussions with figures in the game’s community and behind the scenes, he’s the subject of the latest interview.
Koji, as the fans tend to know him, explains that he was born in Oregon but happened to catch a live-action Japanese drama set in Oregon on local television and was enraptured by it. That started a lifelong fixation that got him learning Japanese, graduating from the Hokkaido University of Education as the first American from the college to be certified, and moving on to first testing and then helping translate FFXI for an English-speaking audience. It’s a fascinating history and well worth a read for fans of either game (or both games).
