Kawano Junko (河野純子) is a writer, illustrator and video game producer formerly employed by Konami Corporation.
Production History
Junko Kawano is said to have first joined Konami in 1992.
An illustrator for Konami, Kawano performed illustrations for the first Suikoden as well as the illustrations for the series of Suikoden novels. She is stated to have been the lead designer for the original Suikoden in 1995.
Following Suikoden, Kawano worked on Twinbee RPG as part of the planning team as well as the lead designer. She also worked on Dolphin's Dream (Diver's Dream in Europe) with both games seeing a 1998 release. Additional Kawano character designs were used for two sets of cards in the Genso Suikoden Card Stories CCG in 2001 and 2003.
In 2001, Kawano worked on the game Shadow of Destiny (Shadow of Memories in Japan) as a planner, writer, 2D designer and character designer. She also made a credited cameo as the voice of a cat. Following the release, Kawano mentioned that she would like to form a series from the title, using different characters, but these plans never came to fruition.
2004 saw Kawano take the reigns of the Suikoden series, being given the producer spot for Suikoden IV as well as that of lead writer. She also held the same level of control over Suikoden Tactics. She also held the position of Motion Capture Director for Suikoden IV.
Since then, Kawano has been given a 'special thanks' from the US localisation team for Suikoden V as well as being credited as a producer in the Japanese release. She has also worked on 2008's Time Hollow for the Nintendo DS as a character designer and director and recently served as director for the 2010 Nintendo DS title Zac and Ombra: Amusement Park of Illusion.
She was rumoured to be working on Suikoden VI based on small comments made on the now-defunct Konami School Blog but had no involvement in either Suikoden Tierkreis or Genso Suikoden Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki.
Kawano left Konami on April 30, 2015, sometime after suffering a shoulder injury that left her unable to work.