Akira Morikawa
Akira Morikawa is a Japanese internet executive and founder of C Channel. He led NHN Japan and LINELINELINE is a messaging application and service brand launched in Japan on June 23, 2011. Developed by a team including Jungho Shin at NHN Japan, it offers messages, voice and video calls, stickers and official accounts, with associated content, commerce and financial services. LY Corporation and regional companies including LINE Plus operate its businesses, principally in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.Open the full entry during the messenger’s launch and early international expansion, while crediting the product’s development to its team.
Contents8 sections
Key facts
1967–1999Education and Media Career
Born in Kanagawa in 1967, Morikawa graduated in information science from the University of Tsukuba in 1989 and joined Nippon Television. He worked on online advertising, video distribution, mobile and international broadcasting, and earned an MBA at Aoyama Gakuin in 1999.[1]
Early 2000sSony and Hangame Japan
He worked on broadband businesses at Sony, joined Hangame Japan in 2003 and became its president in 2007. The company subsequently operated under the NHN Japan and LINE names.[1]
2011–2013LINE Launch and Corporate Transition
LINE launched in June 2011. In April 2013 the former NHN Japan separated its games business and adopted the LINE name, with Morikawa continuing as president during expansion of the messenger and related web services.[1]
2013Team and User-Led Management
In a 2013 interview he said he had not directly led LINE’s development and saw management’s role as supporting teams closest to users. He cited an unsuccessful Harajuku gaming café as a lesson that prompted him to delegate more decisions to frontline staff.[1]
2015C Channel
After leaving LINE’s executive leadership, Morikawa founded C Channel. Its website records incorporation on April 1, 2015, and lists influencer and overseas businesses, with Morikawa as president and representative director.[2]
2020–2024Listing and Industry Events
His ad:tech tokyo 2024 speaker profile records C Channel’s May 2020 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s TOKYO PRO Market, code 7691. He participated in the 2024 event as C Channel CEO.[3]
Related Organizations, Websites and Public Accounts
His principal associations include LINE, NHN Japan and C Channel. C Channel’s website is https://corp.cchan.tv/ (opens in a new window). His historical management role at LINE differs from Jungho ShinJungho ShinJungho Shin, also known as Shin Jung-ho, is a creator of LINE and a product executive. He has served as LINE co-CEO, representative director of LINE Plus and group chief product officer of Z Holdings. LY Corporation listed him as chief product officer in its April 2026 management structure.Open the full entry’s product-creation and global product responsibilities.[4]
Sources
- LINE株式会社 代表取締役社長 森川 亮 [Akira Morikawa, President and Representative Director of LINE Corporation] (opens in a new window) (in Chinese)
- COMPANY (opens in a new window)
- Akira Morikawa (opens in a new window)
- Strategic Growth in the AI Era: Catalyst CEO Idezawa on Leading with a Future-Back Approach (opens in a new window)