Kazuki Takahashi, creator of the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, was found dead in the waters off the coast of Okinawa in Japan on Wednesday. He was 60.
The New York Timesreports Takahashi’s body was discovered at 11:27 a.m. Wednesday floating off the coast of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture. Takahashi was wearing snorkeling gear when he was found, with a Coast Guard spokesperson telling NBC News that there were “damages to his body which looked like they were caused by some sort of marine animal.”
Local police also discovered an abandoned rental car at a nearby beach. After determining the vehicle was rented by Takahashi, officials contacted his family, who subsequently identified his body.
The Coast Guard confirmed it is investigating the cause of Takahashi’s death.
After starting his career as a comic book artist in the 1980s, Takahashi in 1996 created Yu-Gi-Oh!, which was initially published in the popular manga comic magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. In 1999, Yu-Gi-Oh! was spun off as a collective trading card game in which players face off against each other. From there, the franchise inspired various other spin-off series, TV shows, movies, and video games.
As of 2021, over 35 billion Yu-Gi-Oh! cards have been sold around the world, making it a nearly $10 billion dollar-grossing industry, with the Guinness World Records recognizing it as the world’s best-selling trading card game.
