Who was the first producer of Super Paper Mario?

Kensuke Tanabe was the first producer listed for Super Paper Mario.

Super Paper Mario was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii in 2007. Its producer credits list Kensuke Tanabe first, followed by Ryoichi Kitanishi, while Ryota Kawade is credited as director. Tanabe was a Nintendo producer who also worked on other major projects, including Metroid Prime and later Paper Mario titles.

The game began as a planned GameCube project, but development moved to the Wii in 2006. Unlike the earlier Paper Mario games, it blended platforming with role-playing elements and centered on switching between two-dimensional and three-dimensional views. That unusual design was a major reason Tanabe and Kawade discussed the game as a new direction for the series.

A common mix-up is answering Ryoichi Kitanishi, because he is also credited as a producer. However, the question asks for the first producer in the listed credits, making Kensuke Tanabe the intended answer.