Atsushi Fukuda

is a Japanese entrepreneur. He was born in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He is best known as the president of Speedy Inc. and former president of the entertainment company Starto Entertainment.

Career Fukuda was born and raised in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture. After graduating from Nihon University College of Art, he joined Tohokushinsha Film Corporation in 1988. When he first joined the company, he was working in the television advertisement production department, where he was involved in all aspects of video production from planning to delivery, and was in charge of production progression and management as production manager. In 1998, He changed his company to Sony Pictures in the United States, where he was involved in the launch of the TV stations themselves, including the satellite channels Animax and AXN, and became vice president in 2001. In 2007, he founded Sony Digital Entertainment as Intrapreneurship, he mainly engaged in branding and intellectual property management for content in the IT sector.

Around 2015, Japanese actress Rena Nōnen wished to become independent from her then entertainment agency, but her agency refused to allow her independence, which led to trouble. This trouble was reported daily in the tabloid journalism as a scandal, resulting in her losing her job. Fukuda has been involved in Nonen's management since 2016 and has again got her a lot of work. She said that her schedule was full for the next two years. His appointment was triggered when Julie Keiko Fujishima, the former president of Johnny's, and Noriyuki Higashiyama, the president of Smile-Up (former Johnny's), and others came to Fukuda in October 2023 to ask his opinion on agent contracts with their celebrities. Fukuda was initially highly critical of Kitagawa's crimes, saying they were unforgivable on a global scale. Fukuda said that the Japanese entertainment industry's performance fee less than overseas due to the cost and effort of training and support systems, and does not allow freedom of transfer or independence.

Charity activities Fukuda joined an US film company Sony Pictures because he wanted to make people laugh and entertain them, but after the age of 40 he became interested in charity because he realised that there was a certain number of people who were not laughing or did not have the luxury of laughing. He became interested in non-profit organizations activities and is currently serves on the president of Achante Mama, an NPO that supports children in Africa, and an auditor of Fathering Japan, a NPO whose philosophy is to enjoy being a father. The challenge was not well known in Japan at the time, so he did it in English, but then "END ALS", a Japanese ALS support group, saw the video of it and asked Fukuda to spread the challenge in Japan. This triggered Hiroshi Mikitani, president of Rakuten, baseball critic Atsuya Furuta, author Hirotada Ototake, and others to gather right under Tokyo Tower for an Ice Bucket Challenge event, which was widely reported in Japan. He also grows blue Java banana on his "Speedy farm" in Nanjō, Okinawa Prefecture, which he donates to the Nanjo Council of Social Welfare to deliver his produce to children.

Awards Nikkei Web Company "Reading the 21st Century! 51 IT key persons" (2001)

Books The Voice of the Town is a Lie (2006, Satemaga) This is fine, I'm 14 years old (2008, Kodansha) You don't think you can make money with SNS, do you? (2017, Shogakukan) The Corona Era of Swissy Living (2021, Koryosha Shoten, co-authored with Naoki Sakai) Streetwise City 2022 (2021, Koryosha Shoten) What You Like, You Will Like (2024, Speedy Books)