Japanese Culture Through Videogames

by Rachael Hutchinson

Examining a wide range of Japanese videogames, including arcade fighting games, PC-based strategy games and console JRPGs, this book assesses their cultural significance and shows how gameplay and context can be analyzed together to understand videogames as a dynamic mode of artistic expression.

Well-known titles such as Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Street Fighter and Katamari Damacy are evaluated in detail, showing how ideology and critique are conveyed through game narrative and character design as well as user interface, cabinet art, and peripherals. This book also considers how ‘Japan’ has been packaged for domestic and overseas consumers, and how Japanese designers have used the medium to express ideas about home and nation, nuclear energy, war and historical memory, social breakdown and bioethics. Placing each title in its historical context, Hutchinson ultimately shows that videogames are a relatively recent but significant site where cultural identity is played out in modern Japan.

Comparing Japanese videogames with their American counterparts, as well as other media forms, such as film, manga and anime, Japanese Culture Through Videogames will be useful to students and scholars of Japanese culture and society, as well as Game Studies, Media Studies and Japanese Studies more generally.

Genres: Nonfiction, Games

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2019

Reviews

[Kathryn Hemmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Japanese Culture Through Videogames establishes, games are just as valuable to the study of contemporary Japan as fiction and films, and this monograph is highly recommended for scholars of Japan and East Asia who wish to understand not only the content but also the ideologies and discursive strategies of a key media form, as well as how popular discourses regarding social issues are constructed and spread among younger generations. Japanese Culture Through Videogames is an indispensable resource for anyone working on games and contemporary media, and the clarity of the Hutchinson’s writing helps to make this book accessible to any fan of Japanese games who wants to take their understanding and appreciation to a deeper level.

One of the major contributions of Japanese Culture Through Videogames to the field of Japanese Studies is its careful description of the plot and gameplay of each title under discussion. Due to rapidly shifting changes in technology, many games that were perceived as masterpieces when they were first released may no longer be accessible to scholars. Hutchinson documents the stories, characters, and gameplay elements of her chosen texts with a level of accuracy and concision that is especially commendable given the length, depth, and convoluted plots of many of the games under discussion. As a result, the reader does not need to have played these games in order to understand and benefit from the Hutchinson’s analysis and contextualization.

[Eel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible survey of how Japanese videogames intersect with colonialism, philosophy, media powerstructs and capital. A slew of incredible sources and thorough analytical criticism. Should be a must read for anyone interested in a critical lens of games.