# Masako Wakamiya: the retiree who made a game after 80

> Masako Wakamiya is a retired bank employee from Japan who started using a computer after she retired and, in her 80s, released Hinadan, a mobile game for people over 60. In 2017, at 82, she was the oldest developer at Apple's conference. She had a remote teacher, and the game was made without AI.

Summary for when you're short on time

- Masako Wakamiya worked at a bank in Japan from the end of high school until she retired, in the 1990s, according to AFP and BuzzFeed News.
- She started using a computer at around 60, after retiring, and it took her months just to get online.
- In her 80s, she learned the basics of programming from tutorials and books, and had a teacher who guided her remotely, over Skype.
- Hinadan came out in February 2017 for the iPhone: the player arranges the dolls of a Japanese festival on the right steps, from memory.
- The game was made for people over 60: a slow pace, slow narration and only taps on the screen, no dragging.
- By August 2017, it had about 42,000 downloads, according to AFP.
- In June 2017, at 82, she was the oldest developer at Apple's developer conference.

Your first step: Write down who your game would be for and what that person can't find in today's games, the way Masako did for people over 60.

By Daniel Novi. Published October 14, 2026. Updated October 14, 2026. Address: https://www.gamearchitectsai.com/en/stories/masako-wakamiya

## Who is Masako Wakamiya?

Masako Wakamiya worked at a bank in Japan from the time she finished high school until she retired, in the 1990s[1][3]. She began her career doing sums on an abacus, the wooden bead calculator[1].

After retiring, she became her elderly mother's full-time caregiver and felt isolated at home[3]. That was when, at around 60, she bought her first computer[2]. She didn't know how to use it: it took her three months just to get online[3].

Once she did, she joined a social website for older people, Mellow Club, and became known in Japan for making drawings inside Excel, the spreadsheet program[3]. According to her, the internet gave her wings[3]. Programming still wasn't in her plans.

## How did she learn to code after 80?

She learned the basics from online tutorials and books, and had a teacher who guided her remotely[2][6]. The teacher was Katsushiro Koizumi, president of Tesseract, a Japanese company that, by 2019, was already offering programming courses for older people. Since the two lived in different cities, the lessons were over Skype, the video calling program[5].

The language she studied was Swift, the one Apple created for making iPhone apps[3]. She didn't hide how hard it was: she told AFP that writing the lines of code is difficult, and that she wanted to understand the basics of programming better[1].

That's why the phrase "taught herself" needs an adjustment. She did study on her own, but she had someone to ask when she got stuck. That isn't a minor detail: people starting from zero almost always need someone like that (our reading).

## How do you play Hinadan?


Hinadan is a game about putting dolls in the right place, from memory. It is based on Hinamatsuri, the Japanese doll festival, which takes place in March and celebrates girls' health[2]. For the festival, families set up a tiered altar covered in red and arrange the dolls in a traditional order: the emperor and empress at the top, the ladies of the court and the musicians on the steps below[4].

In the game, you put each doll on the right step. To get it right, you have to have memorized the arrangement[1]. In Japanese, hinadan is the name of that tiered altar[4].

The game came out for the iPhone on February 24, 2017, for free[4][2]. The art was made by a friend of hers, in Word, the word processing program, and the narration was recorded by a professional voice actor[4].

## Why did she make a game for people over 60?

Because she couldn't find one. Masako complained that app makers weren't interested in games for older people[1]. At Apple's conference, she summed it up for Fortune magazine: since she didn't see apps for seniors, she decided to make her own[2].

The idea she brought to her teacher was a game in which older people could beat younger ones[4][5]. In a memory game about a traditional festival, people who have known the festival for decades have the edge.

Every choice in the game follows that idea:

- **A slow pace,** with a narrator who speaks slowly[2].
- **Designed for people with weaker eyesight** and less steady fingers[3].
- **Only taps on the screen,** no dragging, and large text[6].

None of this is hard code. These are decisions made by someone who knows the player, and the person who knew the player was her (our reading).

## What happened at Apple's conference?

In June 2017, Apple invited Masako Wakamiya to WWDC, the annual conference where the company brings together people who make apps for its devices[1]. Her ticket was paid for by a scholarship from Apple itself[2].

She was 82 and the oldest developer at the event[1]. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, introduced her that way and talked with her; he asked what she had done to make the app easy for older people to use[1][3]. The youngest attendee was a 10-year-old Australian boy[3].

By August 2017, Hinadan had about 42,000 downloads, according to AFP[1]. In May 2018, the Japanese site Gigazine reported more than 50,000, with versions in English and Chinese[6].

## By the numbers

| Data | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Started using a computer | At around 60, after retiring | Fortune, June 3, 2017[2] |
| Time it took to get online | Three months | BuzzFeed News, June 13, 2017[3] |
| Hinadan release | February 24, 2017, for the iPhone, free | ITmedia, February 24, 2017[4] |
| Age at Apple's conference | 82, the oldest developer at the event | AFP, August 7, 2017[1] |
| Downloads by August 2017 | About 42,000 | AFP, August 7, 2017[1] |
| Downloads by May 2018 | More than 50,000 | Gigazine, May 23, 2018[6] |

## What does her story show, and what doesn't it show?

It shows that age doesn't stop anyone from making a game, and that a small game, designed for an audience nobody was serving, reached tens of thousands of people. It also shows that the idea came from someone who knew the player.

**The other side.** Masako's story doesn't prove that it's quick or easy. About 20 years passed between her first computer and her first game (our math, based on her ages), and she had a teacher to help her code. The game is simple, it was made without AI, and the reports talk about downloads, not money. It is also a story that made the news precisely because it is rare.

## And what has changed since then?

This part isn't about her game, which was made without AI. It's about the work.

The part she herself called hard, writing the lines of code, is the part AI does today: you describe in plain English what you want, and it writes the commands. People who don't code can talk to AI the way Masako talked to her teacher, which came to be called [vibe coding](/en/guide/what-is-vibe-coding). That doesn't make the work easy: testing, fixing and deciding are still up to you.

What AI doesn't bring is what Masako had plenty of: knowing who the game was for and what that person was missing (our reading). If you have an idea like that, see [what AI does and what stays with you](/en/start-here/make-a-game-without-coding) and [how long the first game takes](/en/start-here/how-long-does-it-take-to-make-a-game). And for a case made with AI, read the story of [Curve Clash, a Norwegian accountant's game](/en/stories/curve-clash).

## Related questions

### Who is Masako Wakamiya?

A retired bank employee from Japan who started using a computer after she retired. In her 80s, she released Hinadan, a mobile game for people over 60, and in 2017 she was introduced as the oldest developer at Apple's developer conference.

### What is Hinadan?

It is the mobile game Masako Wakamiya released in February 2017. It is based on Hinamatsuri, the Japanese doll festival held in March: the player puts each doll on the right step of the altar, and to do that they have to memorize the arrangement.

### Did Masako Wakamiya teach herself to code?

Largely, yes: she studied the basics with online tutorials and books, according to Fortune and the Japanese site Gigazine. But she wasn't alone: Katsushiro Koizumi, president of a Japanese programming company, was her teacher, remotely, over Skype.

### How old was Masako Wakamiya when she made the game?

Over 80. The game came out in February 2017, and in June of that year, at Apple's conference, she was 82.

### Was Hinadan made with artificial intelligence?

No. The game is from 2017 and was programmed by her, with help from a teacher. AI that writes a game's code from a request in plain English only appeared years later.

### Did Hinadan make money?

The reports we read describe a free game and talk about downloads, about 42,000 by August 2017, according to AFP. None mentions revenue, and her story isn't about money.

## Sources

1. AFP, via The Jakarta Post, "Never too old to code: Meet Japan's 82-year-old app-maker" (August 7, 2017): https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2017/08/07/never-too-old-to-code-meet-japans-82-year-old-app-maker (accessed October 14, 2026)
2. Fortune, on the women at WWDC 2017 (June 3, 2017): https://fortune.com/2017/06/03/wwdc-women/ (accessed October 14, 2026)
3. BuzzFeed News, "Meet The 82-Year-Old App Developer Who Says Life Gets Better With Age" (June 13, 2017): https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/yuikashima/this-82-year-old-grandmother-is-an-apple-developer (accessed October 14, 2026)
4. ITmedia NEWS, on the launch of hinadan (February 24, 2017, in Japanese): https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/spv/1702/24/news104.html (accessed October 14, 2026)
5. Newswitch (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun), interview with Katsushiro Koizumi (February 10, 2019, in Japanese): https://newswitch.jp/p/16433 (accessed October 14, 2026)
6. Gigazine, on Masako Wakamiya and Hinadan (May 23, 2018): https://www.gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20180523-82-year-old-developer (accessed October 14, 2026)