Handbook of Japanese games and gameplay / edited by Rachel Hutchinson

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hutchinson, Rachael, editor.

Series:

Japan Documents handbooks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indoor games--Japan--History.

Indoor games.

Indoor games--Japan.

Japan.

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"The Handbook of Japanese Games and Gameplay showcases the rich variety of games in Japan, placing them in the context of industry, development processes, and a broader media ecology. We trace Japanese games through history, including card games, board games, pachinko and digital games, as well as how games are connected to toys and animation, and how analog and mechanical games connect to the virtual world. Analyzing some of the largest and most successful games ever published, including Final Fantasy, Nobunaga’s Ambition, Virtua Fighter, Resident Evil and Animal Crossing, we see how different audiences have interpreted them around the globe. We follow players from the living room to the arcade, into online spaces, escape rooms and themed cafés to see where gameplay happens. Entering the offices of some of the world’s leading videogame development corporations, readers can follow the production process from initial design and development decisions through localization, adaptation to different hardware systems, marketing and distribution. Comparing the Japanese game industry to its overseas counterparts, we examine its labor practices and legal obstacles to innovation in areas like esports. Niche markets and indie games are also considered, as vital spaces for expression outside the mainstream. Overall, the Handbook of Japanese Games and Gameplay offers the reader an exciting glimpse into Japanese games from a wide variety of perspectives"-- De Gruyter Brill

Contents:

The virtuality of Japanese playing cards : Immersion and transgression in early modern material culture / Drisana Misra

Eating your way through sugoroku : Imaginary travel in a Japanese board game / Bianca Chui

Three studies for a material history of Japanese board games / Nathan Altice

Participatory storytelling as a media platform : TRPGs, gamebooks, readers’ columns, and play-by-mail in Japanese analog RPGs / Satomi Saito

On the play of yakumono : The evolution of audiovisual effects in pachinko / Keiji Amano and Geoffrey Rockwell

Embodied play in Japan : From escape rooms to larp (live-action role-play) / Björn-Ole Kamm

Cabinets in the city : Game centers, street gamers and urbanity through Virtua Fighter / Jérémie Pelletier-Gagnon

Why has Japan’s esports development been so slow? / Akira Igarashi and Yuhsuke Koyama

Convergence and cosmopolitanism in online games : Non-Japanese players on Japanese Final Fantasy XIV servers / Mattias van Ommen

Playing with Animal Crossing : New Horizons in the Japanese, Korean and Chinese YouTube space / Martin Roth

Salarymen, samurai, and the state : Masculinity at play in feudal era war games / Keita Moore

Othering masculinity : Disability and chivalry in the Yakuza series / Frank Mondelli and Rachael Hutchinson

The flavor of late Shōwa : Coziness, food, and nostalgia in Gagex games / Víctor Navarro-Remesal and Beatriz Pérez Zapata

The destruction of Raccoon City (again) : Japanese collective memory discourse, the atomic bombs, and Resident Evil 3 / Ryan Scheiding

The dawn of videogames in Japan as viewed from the toy industry / Hitomi Mohri

Ladies, leave, and corporate liability? Personnel policies in the Japanese game industry / Tsugumi (Mimi) Okabe

Restructuring and redeveloping Final Fantasy : Square Enix’s strategic survival in a tumultuous industrial landscape, 2000–2020 / K.T. Wong

The Gundam games ecology in a media industry perspective / Susana Tosca and Akinori Nakamura

Music on the edge (connector) : Demixing the sound of the NES and Famicom / James Newman

Changing the game to keep it the same : The paradox of localization / Amy Dawson-Andoh

Playing at romance : Otome games and fan cultures / Sarah Christina Ganzon

Notes:

"First published in 2025 by Japan Documents, an imprint of MHM Limited, Tokyo, Japan"--Title page verso

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed August 7, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Handbook of Japanese games and gameplay.

ISBN:

9789048572434

9048572436

9789048572427

9048572428

OCLC:

1521274439

Publisher Number:

CIPO000243693

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license