After a few days of practice and frustration, I finally did it. My technique wasn’t perfect, but I could now spin a Japanese top, my new favorite toy. And I wasn’t alone. For the time being none of my students were thinking of their toys at home.

Japan’s traditional games are something I knew almost nothing about when I arrived in the country. Seven years later, I am still learning of new ones. From kite flying (and battling) to hanetsuki (think badminton) to karuta (a card game relying on recognition speed) Japanese culture has a wide variety of old-fashioned games to offer. But they are under threat.

“Children these days just want to play with video games or expensive toys,” a coworker said.

“They aren’t interested in the games we used to play,” one grandparent lamented.

I can’t disagree. Just go to a mall or ride a train, just about anywhere kids can be found playing with portable games or flashy new toys. I’ve even come across kids at playgrounds, sitting on benches and mashing buttons, absorbed in their miniature screens.

Perhaps the best proof of portable gaming’s popularity is the success of the Nintendo DS which by 2013 had moved almost 33 million units in Japan alone. With a child population estimated at about 17 million, that’s nearly enough units for every child to own two! Of course that isn’t true, gaming is popular with all ages. But it shows just how popular portable gaming has become.

As a result, traditional gaming is fading in the face of new technologies. But the good news is, we can enjoy both. And thanks to Japanese school curriculum many students do.

Japanese kindergartens for example, make efforts to preserve Japan’s gaming traditions. Since toys and games from home are prohibited at school, children have no choice but to use what’s available. A simple piece of paper can be turned into hundreds of different things via another Japanese tradition- origami. Give a child access to cardboard, newspaper and tape and what they come up with is amazing. I’ve seen makeshift swords, helmets, Kamen Rider (a perennial Japanese hero series) belts and even haunted houses.

On special occasions the children are given more complicated materials to work with. At my schools we decorate kites and umbrellas. Before every New Years the children are given plain wooden tops. The children give them custom paint-jobs before working on technique. The schools hold a “Koma Taikai” or “Top Contest” to give the students extra motivation.

The activity stirred memories of my own. When I was a child I had a different type of top. By twirling the stem between the forefinger and thumb and releasing it, the top would spin. Since there was no challenge my interest in tops didn’t last long.

My kindergartens have those types of tops too. The younger children played with simple tops to develop their skills. But the older class used more sophisticated tops. These tops came with a string that is wrapped around the toy to give it spin.

The wrapping process is complex and takes some practice. First, the knotted end of the string is wrapped around the upper stem once, using the tension created by the knot to hold it in place. Next, the remaining length of the string is pulled to the tip underneath and wrapped around it, careful to maintain the tension holding the knot in place at top. Finally the string is wrapped around itself in a spiral around the bottom of the top, usually until the entire bottom is covered by the string.

Now the top is ready for action. The remaining string is secured around a finger on the throwing hand, usually the pinky. With a sweeping forehand motion like in tennis or when skipping a stone across water, throw the top to the floor. The unraveling string makes the top spin.

On my first attempts even wrapping the string was a challenge. At that time a successful throw seemed like too much to hope for. But with my students encouragement and tutelage, I continued to try.

Finally able to make it spin, I took on all challengers- whose top would outlast the rest? I felt like a real Poke-master, my top substituting for the Pokemon. Time flew by. The experience was extremely satisfying – that is until we were introduced to another, more complicated top.

It happened at the Koma Taikai. A group of elderly gentlemen came to watch. After the contest ended, they brought out some toys of their own. First came a bucket. Next a piece of canvas which was draped over the bucket, creating a shallow bowl shape.

“Now everyone watch!” one of the men said. He held a small piece of metal in the air. “This is a bei-goma.” The other men had them too.

“They’re going to battle on that!” One student shouted pointing at the bucket. He was right. The men wrapped strings around the metal battle-tops and threw them spinning into the canvas bowl. It was Thunderdome without the dome. The tops knocked into one another, until only one remained.

Afterwards, they taught us how to use the beigoma which are more difficult than the tops we had grown accustomed to. The beigoma had no stem at the top and almost no tip at the bottom. The top of the beigoma were engraved with images. Among the men’s collections there were planes, butterflies and various kanji.

Since it lacks a stem, the beigoma has a unique wrapping technique. A beigmoa’s string has two knots. Instead of securing the string around the stem, the string is wrapped around the top and then secured around the two knots at the bottom. The string is coiled around these knots, creating the same swirling pattern as the wooden tops. The throwing motion is also different. A backhand motion is preferred with a quick flick instead of the long unwinding release characteristic of the wooden tops.

To battle one has to be precise, keeping the top in the canvas bowl. The top that remains spinning in the bowl the longest, often casting its opponents out, wins.

There are several types of beigoma with various widths, sizes and shapes. Some have deep swirls on the bottom while others have almost no markings at all. Some are a few centimeters tall while others clear only a centimeter. The size varies from as small as a 1 yen coin (a US penny) to the size of 500 yen (a US quarter). Aside from a round beigoma, the rest I saw were octagon in shape.

Beigoma have names that reflect their physical characteristics. Taka-ousama (高王様) is tall and heavy as it’s name, Tall King implies. Bei-ousama (ベ王様) is the smaller of the kings while Chuu-ousama’s (中王様) size lies somewhere between the other two. There’s Maru-roku (丸六) which, as maru implies is round.

Look carefully at the swirly design at the bottom of the pictured beigma. Does the swirl remind you of anything? Beigoma were once called baigoma (貝独楽) or “shell toys.” That’s right, long ago real shells were used as tops. The swirls on the bottom of the metal beigoma are a reminder of their natural past.

The whole experience left me feeling like many teacher and grandparents. It would be a shame if traditional games are forgotten, particularly Japanese tops.

But there’s hope. As long as kindergartens and Japanese school’s put an emphasis on games and activities with cultural heritage they will not be forgotten. Toy stores and 100 yen shops continue to carry traditional toys, which are cheaper than video games or fancy new toys – I bought four beigoma for 500 yen (about 5 US dollars). Manga and anime also introduce the games to new generations. Just as “Hikaru no Go” introduced many Japanese children to the game of Go, the Beyblade series brought tops, albeit fancy ones with techniques launchers, back into the limelight for several seasons.

In the month before the contest, talk of tops ruled the day. Students brag about how they practice at home and how family members teach them special techniques. So maybe there’s no need to worry- tops are here to stay. And that’s great because although I was able to spin the beigoma on the floor, I failed to land it in the bowl. And that’s great because it gives me another challenge to look forward to next season, though I may just look like I’m playing with toys.

Bonus Wallpapers!

[1280x800] ∙ [2560x1600]

Sources:

• Beigoma.com
• Galiton Toy Shop
• Hyougo History Station
• indexmundi: Japan Demographics Profile 2013
• Matukazekouen
• Nintendo Consolidated Sales Transition by Region

Nintendo is one such magical company of magical products, so we’ll be looking today at their founder, Hiroshi Yamauchi, pictured below.

Before you start thinking that this is a tale of another Walt Disney-esque creator, I should stop your expectations right there. Sure, his results with Nintendo prove his genius, but you’ll have to leave the ウィリー・ウォンカ fantasies aside… that is, unless you want to imagine Shigeru Miyamoto as an Oompa Loompa, and nobody wants that.

Harsh Hiroshi

Look at that whimsical, magical place. You know they’ve gotta have an underground ice cream roller coaster in there!

Hiroshi Yamauchi was the president of Nintendo from 1949 to 2002. He led the company not only to financial success in the video game era, but was the reason the company made video games at all. It would be easy enough to say that Yamauchi saw the future and transformed his family’s playing card company into one of video games through sheer vision. But it was more of an accidental process than that, and it certainly had nothing to do with whimsy.

Unlike Wonka, who brought prosperity to his company with trippy boat rides and musical numbers, Hiroshi Yamauchi did it with harsh criticism and mass firings. When he was asked to become president in 1949 by his dying grandfather, Hiroshi agreed on one condition: the firing of all other family members at Nintendo. This resulted in only one person, his older cousin, being let go and is also a really roundabout way of telling this cousin, “I hate you.” Immediately after becoming president, Yamauchi faced a strike of factory workers who thought he would fold on account of he was only twenty-one years old. Instead, he fired them all on account of he was the president. This led to a clean sweep of the company during which the young prez fired many long-time employees who had dedicated their lives to Nintendo.

During the video game years of the early eighties, Hiroshi Yamauchi hired his son-in-law, Minoru Arakawa, to run Nintendo operations in America and he was smart to do so. Arakawa wasn’t hired because of family ties. He was a solid businessman with an MIT education and a reputation for successfully managing a Japanese construction firm in Canada. But when Arakawa had a hard time gaining a foothold in the American market with the Nintendo Famicom (Japanese NES), Yamauchi was not hesitant to remark “a more competent person would have no trouble marketing the Famicom in the United States.” Straight to the point, that one is.

Risky Business

Young Yamauchi with Roy O. Disney during a meeting that actually made Nintendo a lot of money, which Yamauchi would later lose on three bad business deals.

The image most projected of Yamauchi was his severity. But as a businessman, he was also shrewd, very forward-thinking and not all that conservative. Certainly by our modern standards for a “forward-thinking” boss, Hiroshi Yamauchi looks conservative, though. There was no ping-pong table in the break room or “bring your shorts to work day.” But when it came to taking a chance on young talent or uncertain ideas, he was certainly not playing it safe.

Yamauchi realized early on that the world of playing cards was only so big. After a recon visit to the world’s largest playing card company (in beautiful Cincinnati!) he was disappointed to find it was a fairly small-scale operation. Upon returning to Kyoto, he took his company public and started a series of risky ventures to bring Nintendo greater success than it had ever seen with stupid ol’ playing cards. He started with instant rice packets, which immediately flopped. Apparently people like waiting for their rice. The anticipation is what makes it taste good. Then he started a taxi company called Daiya, but he quickly grew tired of negotiating with the unions over ridiculous demands like getting paid. Finally, he started a love hotel (which is exactly what you think it is), but ended up being his own best customer and this venture was also a failure.

Though these examples do not display Yamauchi’s business acumen, it certainly shows his bold and non-conservative nature. A conservative businessman would have stuck with playing cards. Actually, at the time he took over, Nintendo was doing so well with its playing card business that there was no reason make a change. But Yamauchi was ambitious and willing to try something different even if it made no sense. Really, if you think about it, it’s the same as if I became president of a greeting card company and said, “Hey guys! I know we’re really successful making greeting cards, but I’d like to take our money resources and start producing cat sweaters.” I would immediately be thrown out the window. But no one dared to throw Yamauchi out the window because he would’ve fired them before hitting the ground.

Whispers of the Art

Gunpei Yokoi and Shigeru Miyamoto, two of Yamauchi’s best decisions.

Yamauchi had brought Nintendo to the brink of bankruptcy with his ideas and it was only the 1960s. He was going to have keep the company going until at least 1982 when they could start making the big money. Thankfully, almost every decision Yamauchi made from 1966 onward was successful. As Nintendo transformed into a toy company, he began to display what was arguably his most visionary aspect: his ability to take chances on young talent.

Contrary to the Mr. Burns stereotype we are wont to place him in, Hiroshi Yamauchi recognized brilliant people who had talents he did not, and gave them opportunities to create. He handpicked Gunpei Yokoi, creator of the Game Boy, from his factory floor and gave a job to Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario and Zelda, despite Miyamoto’s dreamy and incredibly non-businesslike persona. A real stuffy businessman would have turned these two daydreaming ne’er-do-wells away, along with the countless other Nintendo innovators over the years. The book Game Over by David Sheff has the best insight on this:

“Nintendo would, Yamauchi decided, become a haven for video-game artists, for it was artists, not technicians,who made great games.”

Growing Up

So Hiroshi Yamauchi was smart at business and a little harsh. Actually, most sources I’ve read describe him as “notoriously harsh” or “imperialistic.” He was quick to dish out criticism and made his employees compete for his approval. In my research on Nintendo over the years, I have mostly focused on the creators and innovators at Nintendo and only read about Yamauchi as it related to them. This had cemented a picture in my mind of Yamauchi as the uncreative business-oni that sucked money from his hard working, jovial video game creators. Certainly there is a lot of truth to this oni image, but it wasn’t until after his recent death that I discovered a different side of him.

Hiroshi Yamauchi’s father, Shikanojo, abandoned his family when Hiroshi was five years old. Hiroshi’s mother then threw him into the care of his grandparents, who raised him with the same strictness that they used on their employees. During the War, Hiroshi was still too young to fight, so his studies were put on hold for an assignment in a military factory. When he finally returned to his studies, he gained entrance to the prestigious Waseda University to study law, but was forced to drop out yet again, this time to take over the family business.

Shortly after Hiroshi became Nintendo’s president, his father, Shikanojo, returned to see his son. Whether by anger or pride, Hiroshi refused to see his father and turned him away. When Hiroshi was close to thirty, he got word that his father had passed away and immediately regretted missing the chance for reconciliation. He grieved openly for days and regularly visited his father’s grave for the rest of his life. This made Shikanojo the second father figure with whom Hiroshi lost his chance for acceptance. Hiroshi’s grandfather had died regarding his grandson as impudent and foolish, never seeing his years of success. Though Hiroshi’s mother was around, she became more like an aunt than a mother and his grandmother was no different. In essence, between four parental figures, Hiroshi Yamauchi received plenty of material care and support, but little else. His history really helps to explain his style of business.

Retirement And Beyond

Upon his retirement, Yamauchi refused his pension of close to $14 million, stating that he felt Nintendo could put it to better use. It’s not that he was without avarice. You don’t become the 12th richest man in Japan without liking money just a little. But unlike the bloated CEOs who get fired and take a hefty severance at the expense of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi looked out for his company’s and employees’ well-being, albeit firing them / squashing their pride from time to time.

So was he Wonka, Mr. Burns or Scrooge? Really, none of the above. We like it when people in high positions are easy to define. This guy’s bad, this guy’s good, this guy was bad but is now good because some ghosts scared him, etc. I read some comments about Yamauchi shortly before he died and they were all about how he was a vampire and evil and crazy (he did say some nutty stuff over the years). But after his death, articles all over the web were touting him as a visionary genius. The truth is that Hiroshi Yamauchi was a human man. He treated a lot of people badly, got hurt a lot in his early life, made good and bad decisions, donated a lot of money to charity, and gave opportunities to artists that made a lot of us really happy. He was complex and the story of his life is incredibly interesting. And that is perhaps the best and truest way to remember his personal legacy.

Sources Referenced:

• Game Over by David Sheff
• The First Quarter by Steven L. Kent
• http://thepunkeffect.com/?p=11804
• http://www.usgamer.net/articles/hiroshi-yamauchi-the-iron-fist-in-the-velvet-glove
• http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=224
• http://www.nindb.net/feature/history-of-nintendo.html

The Early Years: Back in My Day, We Had Pong!

But let’s back up to the proverbial top of the screen. Tomohiro Nishikado graduated from Tokyo Denki University in 1968 with a degree in engineering. The following year, he joined up with Taito Corporation (known as Taito Trading Company at the time), and worked on the company’s electro-mechanical games, the precursor to arcade video games. By 1972 he was working on video games, starting with Elepong, a serious contender for the titles of both Japan’s First Video Game and Most Honest Pong Clone. Other early games include Davis Cup, a Pong-clone with four paddles, and Soccer, a Pong-clone with four paddles and a green background.

1974 saw the release of Speed Race, a personal favorite of Nishikado’s, which, after being licensed by Midway, went on to become the first Japanese game released in America. This relationship continued with Nishikado’s next game, Western Gun. When Midway released the game in America, it was adapted to use a microprocessor, a first for video games, giving it better graphics and smoother animation. Although preferring his original version, Nishikado was so impressed with the technological upgrade that he decided to use microprocessors for all of his future games.

Space: The Next Frontier

Next, we’ll fast forward, or for those using DVD, mash the next chapter button to 1977. Nishikado was inspired by the gameplay of Atari’s Breakout, but, realizing that Taito wouldn’t be making a Breakout clone until 1986’s Arkanoid, set out to make a game with a similar feel. He originally designed the game around shooting planes and tanks, but felt that moving sideways was decidedly un-plane-and-tank-like. Plus, Taito forbade him from using human targets, leaving him with pretty much nothing on Earth to use.

Luckily, Nishikado heard about an American movie coming out (a mostly unknown knock-off of Message From Space, that goes by the name of “Star Wars”), and decided on a sci-fi theme. The enemy aliens were based off of the invaders from War of the Worlds, which presumably means that at least one person has mistaken them for actual invading aliens. The foundation for one of the most influential games of all time had been laid. Nishikado called it Space Monsters. And then Taito renamed it Space Invaders.

I Accidentally an Entirely New Gameplay Concept

Unfortunately, the hardware running games at the time wasn’t quite up to par with the technology of the game’s sci-fi influences. Nishikado would have to create his own hardware for the game to run on, along with the tools to develop it. This would end up being the longest part of development, taking a grueling six months to complete. In contrast, the actual game only took three months to complete, making it one of those rare times when the easiest part of single-handedly creating an entire video game was single-handedly creating an entire video game.

Even with custom hardware, the game was too demanding. There were too many enemies on screen for the processor to handle, and they couldn’t move at the speed Nishikado wanted them to. But, while testing the game, he noticed that as the player destroys the enemies, they would speed up, as there were less of them for the processor to render. He decided to keep it that way, creating the concept of the difficulty curve that is now standard in nearly every game in existence. At any rate, Nishikado pressed on, and in 1978, Japan got their first taste of Space Invaders. And we all know how that went.

Poorly. It went poorly. The game flopped. At least, for the first three months, anyways. The success of Space Invaders began to turn around thanks to word of mouth, and possibly an 80’s training montage (it was ahead of its time, after all). People soon fell in love the little space crabs for the innovative gameplay and competitive value, being the first game that saved player’s high scores. By the end of the year, there were over 100,000 Space Invaders machines in Japan alone.

Space Sushi Crosses Pond, Invades People’s Hearts

In 1979, it was released in America, which was already in its second year of the video game crash of ’77, with the country burned out on years of Pong clones. The space crab invaders from Japan would turn out to be the industry’s saviors, and helped propel gaming into the mainstream. The game was so successful that the cost of buying a Space Invaders cabinet was offset within a month. The 1980 Atari 2600 release quadrupled the sales of the system, and the game, not content with being the first home console game to sell one million copies, would go on to sell over two million.

Space Invaders would go on to inspire the entire genre of shoot ’em ups, and is the game that got both Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima interested in making games. The video game that was inspired by Star Wars had become the Star Wars of video games.

But what happened to Nishikado? Well, not a whole lot, really. He continued working for Taito until 1996, when he left to form his own game company, Dreams. The company occasionally does development on Taito titles, and Nishikado oversaw development of Space Invaders Revolution for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. He was also credited in the most recent Space Invaders game, Space Invaders Infinity Gene, published by Square Enix, Taito’s current owner. Whatever he does, we’ll always remember him for his contribution that helped shape an industry. Who knows where it would be without him. Pong with six paddles?

-

Sources:
http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=space-invaders&page=detail&id=2537
http://www.1up.com/features/ten-space-invaders
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2009/05/66479041/1#.UVZxjVcZsoL

But while we worked hard, we also visited a lot of arcades in Japan. Sometimes you have to take a break, you know?

And while Japanese game centers offer a ton of different games, I spent pretty much all of my time with rhythm games. I’ve had a soft spot for rhythm games ever since discovering Dance Dance Revolution as a kid.

What Are Rhythm Games?

Rhythm games, at their simplest, are games where you play along with music. In most cases, that means hitting buttons on the game in sync with a song, but there are a lot of variations.

Some rhythm games (like Guitar Hero) let you use an instrument to play along, others use motion-capture to allow you to use your whole body to dance along to the music.

They’re a ton of fun. Rhythm games let you really get into the music, even if you look like a complete idiot while doing so.

What Rhythm Games Do Japanese People Play?

I hadn’t been to Japan for 13 years, so I had no idea what rhythm games were popular in Japan. I still half-expected to see Dance Dance Revolution everywhere.

Fortunately for you, I blew a ton of money on rhythm games in Japan, so I got some idea of what games are popular.

Here are some of the more popular rhythm games in Japanese arcades right now, and videos of superhumans playing those games:

MaiMai

The game I played most while I was in Japan was MaiMai, a rhythm game that looks like a giant, colorful, front-loading washing machine. It’s a pretty new game, and I was able to find a MaiMai machine in a lot of arcades.

Here’s a quick video describing how the game works:

I got pretty decent at MaiMai and was able to play songs at some of the higher difficulty levels; but, as every video in this post will show you, no matter how good you think you are at a rhythm game, there’s always somebody who’s completely memorized every song and has the hand-eye coordination of a Chinese ping-pong player.

Pop’n Music

I was really surprised to see Pop’n Music in as many Japanese arcades as I did. The game originally came out in 1998, and is one of the most simple, straight-forward rhythm games in a genre full of gimmicks and novelty.

Despite its simple gameplay and old age, Pop’n Music is still getting new songs and updates from its developers. It just goes to show that you can’t go wrong with a solid, basic rhythm game.

Taiko: Drum Master

Taiko: Drum Master is one of the few, current rhythm games that uses an actual musical instrument instead of colorful buttons, and one of the few that actually made it over to the US.

It’s been a staple in Japanese arcades for over a decade, and shows no signs of letting up. Taiko: Drum Master is still being released for new platforms (like the Nintendo 3DS, the Playstation Vita, and Android).

I’m glad that Taiko: Drum Master has had such a long and healthy life. It’s a uniquely Japanese take on the already extremely Japanese rhythm game genre, and it’s cool to see modern songs turned into taiko tunes.

Jubeat

Jubeat is a simple game with sixteen buttons, each with its own screen. It looks like a giant, light-up Rubick’s cube, but ten times harder.

I played Jubeat a bit while I was in Japan, but didn’t get too into it. Jubeat just looks cool and has a decent song selection, so I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t get to play more.

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA

It should be no surprise that there’s a rhythm game prominently featuring Hatsune Miku, the world’s most popular Vocaloid.

I never got the chance to play it, but some of the mechanics in Project DIVA looked interesting and if you’re Hatsune Miku and rhythm games, then you’re going to go nuts for this game.

Why Don’t We See More Rhythm Games in the US?

Rhythm games have had a long and healthy life in Japan, but have never really crossed over into the US. Why is that?

In my opinion, there’s one main reason we’ll never see rhythm games become as popular in the US: the arcade scene here in America is sadly pretty much non-existent.

There was a time when arcades were growing popular in America and couples went out to play Pong or Space Invaders together, but arcades have been pretty much dead for the last couple of decades.

Americans have shown that they’re open to play rhythm games: just take a look at the Guitar Hero craze a few years back.

But people can’t keep buying fake, plastic instruments forever. Arcades give people a good way to play rhythm games without investing heavily in equipment, but without any arcades in America, it’s impossible to do.

What’s your favorite rhythm game? Do you wish there were more rhythm games where you live? Tell me in the comments!

5. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

黄金の太陽：漆黒なる夜明け

Dark Dawn is the third title in the Golden Sun series, and is set 30 years after the events of the first two games. The story is more or less just another tale where the heroes band together to fight the forces of evil and save the world. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is a good RPG. You think of a standard and solid RPG, and this is it. It’s got some interesting mechanics, and the Djinn system spices things up a bit, but overall it’s very traditional. The story is interesting and I enjoyed playing it. It’s not really a stand out game though, so don’t expect to be wowed by anything.

If you’ve played a Japanese RPG before, you’ll know what to expect here. It certainly won’t let you down though. Golden Sun is a very solid choice, especially if you’ve enjoyed the previous entries in the series.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0hP3dHd7ME']

Check out the video review of the English version from Gametrailers here.

4. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

ドラゴンクエストIX星空の守り人

I’ve always really enjoyed the Dragon Quest games. The story is pretty thick in them though, so if your Japanese isn’t all that great, you may find yourself getting lost or confused quite a bit, but that’s what online guides are for. I recommend making good use of Gamefaqs.com. Some guides are based on the Japanese versions and will even give you translations of the dialogue or the menus. At the very least, you can use it as a reference to make sure you stay on track and don’t get too frustrated with your journey. In Dragon Quest IX you play as a guardian angel who has become human and travels around from town to town fixing everything for everyone.

The streamlined multiplayer support is also very nicely implemented, but you’ll need some friends who own a copy. Regretfully I’m not sure if American versions are compatible with the Japanese versions of the game, but as the Pokemon games work just fine together, I would assume that’s the case for Dragon Quest as well. Game on!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLjJC3mjP3A&feature=related']

Check out the video review of the English version from Gametrailers here.

3. Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madōshi

二ノ国 漆黒の魔導士

In Ni No Kuni, Studio Ghibli teams up with Level-5 to create a magical role-playing game that stars a young boy named Oliver who receives a magical book that takes him into another world.

Ni No Kuni is a beautiful game. The cut scenes and voice acting both are superb and really make for an enjoyable experience. It’s half like watching an anime, and half like playing a great game. If story is important to you, you can’t go wrong with this one. This is also the only game on this list that hasn’t been localized yet. Ni No Kuni will becoming to American shores early 2012. At least that’s the plan, anyway.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xTUL1f07m8']
The girl from these CMs is also one half of the phenomenon responsible for bringing us this ridiculously adorable song.

Check out a trailer for the Japanese version here. Sorry, no review for this one :(

2. The Legend of Zelda Games

ゼルダの伝説夢幻の砂時計 (Phantom Hourglass)
ゼルダの伝説大地の汽笛 (Spirit Tracks)

We all know what to expect as far as story goes with the Zelda games. You play as Link, and your job is to save the princess. Phantom Hourglass has impressive visuals, beautiful music, and a huge world packed with plenty of things to experience. What it was missing, however, was some of the hardcore difficulty and classic dungeon puzzles that longtime Zelda fans had come to expect from the series.

Spirit Tracks is pretty similar, but improved upon in nearly every way. Spirit Tracks delivers amazing boss battles, stunning dungeons, and a substantially longer adventure overall. Both Zelda titles are great and equally helpful to the Japanese learner.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlmTdnUTZHY']
Check out the video review of the English version of Spirit Tracks from Gametrailers here.

1. Professor Layton Games (Friendly Versions)

レイトン教授と不思議な町（フレンドリー版）(Curious Village)
レイトン教授と悪魔の箱（フレンドリー版）(Diabolical Box)

The stories in Professor Layton games revolve around puzzles. Pretty much everyone you interact with has a puzzle for you to solve to advance the story and in every game there is some overarching mystery for you to solve. The games are extremely enjoyable laid back experiences with some pretty challenging and clever puzzles to boot. Once you play one Professor Layton game, you’ll know what to expect from the rest of the series. Greatness.

What makes this the best DS game for Japanese learning is the wonderful voice acting, clever puzzles, and relatively linear story. Make sure you check out the “Friendly Versions” though. The non-friendly versions do not have kana readings above the kanji which makes for a much more difficult reading experience if you don’t know that many kanji yet.

In the Japanese versions of Professor Layton games, the puzzle aspect is nearly doubled when you first have to decode the instructions from Japanese, and then once you actually understand what is being asked of you, you get to work on a clever and engaging puzzle. And like I said, the games are very linear, so even if you miss a few lines of dialogue here and there, you don’t have to worry about getting lost. The Professor Layton games are great fun and very beneficial to the Japanese learner. If you only check out one game from this list, make it Professor Layton.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3yP5OcbhHI']
Check out the video review of the English version of Diabolical Box from Gametrailers here.

How to Study With Japanese Video Games

The way I study with Japanese video games is pretty simple. I play the game, look up words and phrases I don’t know, then add those to an Anki deck. (If you haven’t heard of Anki before, check out our review of it here.) I usually play the game until I get to a certain number of new things, usually about a page full, and then I’ll stop playing and add those into an Anki deck. Before I play the game again, I’ll review the Anki deck I created and then start the whole process over again.

Once you get a bit better at Japanese, you can start playing the game and just inferring from the context what the new words and phrases mean and only make cards out of the things that totally stump you.

Like I’ve said in previous posts, it’s important to not get frustrated with your studies, especially when you’re playing a game and trying to have fun. Even though you’re playing a video game, it’s still in a foreign language, and things could get frustrating and discouraging if you’re not careful. So set yourself some sort of limit for how long you’ll play or study with a game and quit while you’re still having fun so you’ll be looking forward to coming back to it.

And also, please try to avoid just mashing the A button through all of the dialogue so you can get back to the gameplay. It’s an understandable temptation (heck, I’ve done it before), but you’re really not doing yourself any favors. You might as well just be playing the game in English. But in most cases this can be avoided as long as you quit while you’re still having fun with it and before you get frustrated.

Even though you’re already playing a game, it’s still important to still keep fun in mind. You’re not going to like every game you play, so if you’re playing something in Japanese, don’t tough it out if you don’t actually enjoy the game itself. Find a game you know you would enjoy regardless of the language.

As your skills progress, you’ll be able to graduate on to imported games that don’t provide kana readings for all the kanji. Think of all the games you’ll be able to play and enjoy before all your friends! It’s totally worth it, so stick with it and don’t give up!

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Not content to blindy folllow popular methods of language study a Jedi Knight searches the near and far galaxies for hitherto unknown tools and techniques with which to master Japanese. Hidden beneath the long sleeves of a hooded cloak is a tool for deciphering even the densest of Japanese literature, the Kanji Sono Mama Rakubiki Jiten on Nintendo DS.

Kanji Sono Mama is a dictionary, translated “Kanji just like that, easy to pull”, which puts any authentic Japanese text within the reach of a mere mortal. Sure there are other electronic dictionaries, but none I’ve found come close to the utility of this sleekly packaged touch generation device. I’m going to show you the method I use to expand my vocabulary with Kanji Sono Mama.

This method works with any dictionary which allows you to look up kanji compounds online or off. The Kanji Learners Dictionary is a good example of a dictionary that will allow you to look up compounds based on recognition of their radicals. If you’re reading kanji online then you could use a combination of QuickKanji and Jisho.org. For this post however I’m going to focus on using Kanji Sono Mama, because it’s mobile and it has a flash card function that combines well to make it an all-in-one vocabulary droid.

Your choice of reading material

I’m a big proponent of reading authentic Japanese while you’re learning. Textbooks simply don’t have the variety of language that literature does. Your choice of literature is up to you, I’m a big  fan of Manga as you might know. I welcome a debate about the merits of manga over classical Japanese literature any day, but ultimately the choice of reading material is yours.

I covered some techniques for reading authentic Japanese manga where I talked mostly about short sessions without a dictionary. This post picks up where that one left off, because ultimately you’ll want to know the meanings of words you’re reading.

Choosing what to study.

People often ask me how to select books that are the right reading level. I usually answer that what you find interesting is usually more important than what reading age it’s aimed at. Reading Chibi Mariko Chan or Sazae San is not just for kids, it’s important social commentary. Although, if it doesn’t interest you it’s not going to hold your attention for very long.

Let’s imagine you have something you really want to read, it’s important to select vocabulary for further study with real intent. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is trying to read too much in one go. Other mistakes that will slow you down are selecting too many items for review or words that are too far out of reach.

Keep the passage you intend to study short, use the techniques I’ve covered elsewhere. Before you pull out your DS decide what vocabulary you’re going to study.

• Finish reading: Only after you have finished your reading session should you start to go back and find vocabulary you want to study. Keep these two sessions separate as much as possible, punctuate them with a short break if necessary. Make sure you have come to a point in your reading from which you will go no further.
• Choose things you understand: If you’ve seen something before but in a different context it is going to be useful for you to get a real fix on it through further study. You know these items are going to be useful because they just keep popping up. They may also be used different ways, so learn them well.
• Choose things you partially understand: In a new context things may look a little different, you may be able to infer meaning but you’ll need a bit more study to come to a full understanding. Choosing words you almost have a handle on is going to be much more fruitful than taking words completely out of context.
• Don’t choose more than you can commit to memory: Even for a Jedi Knight short term memory typically holds no more than seven items. For words you want to learn no more than five a day is a good rule of thumb, particularly if they are new and complex. You should spend as much time on these five items as you did in reading the passage of text you selected.

Practical example #1 – Guessing at the reading with hiragana

Good for: When you can guess from context what the kanji might be.
Method: Use your hiragana input to extract a dictionary entry.

The girl in the picture is on the phone, I could try keitai [けいたい] but that would be incorrect, next best guess is denwa [でんわ] Bingo! Now when I select the entry in the dictionary I get an English equivalent from the Ei-Wa jisho and some usage examples.

The guess work is important because it helps you make leaps at understanding, it doesn’t matter if you fall short a couple of times. Don’t dwell on it, just find the right answer and move on.

Practical Example #2 – Direct entry of the kanji

Good for: When you can’t guess the reading.
Method: Copy the strokes.

The big bold kanji in this cell is easy to copy. You may have seen it before but can’t remember the reading, 大丈夫, just use the touch pen.

I immediately get two readings as before, and some uses in fairly easy to understand sentences.

Practical Example #3 – Stab in the dark?

Good for: When you have to use the force.
Method: Use English input.

I use English input for the word ‘think’, there are two occurences of something that it might be. I get the entry from the Ei-Wa jisho. There are lots of examples, but not all of them contain the kanji I’m looking for.

Caution: Use sparingly!

Using the flash cards.

Now you have a word that you can add to your vocabulary list. This where I really like the DS Sono Mama Rakubiki Jiten, with a simple tap of the touch pen you can add the word to one of three flash card groups.

They have their advantages over hand made flash cards.You don’t have to write anything out carefully on tiny bits of paper. Each card links to a full dictionary entry if you want to see alternative uses and meanings. You can move the flashcards between groups, which is perfect if you are using a Leitner system.

The DS also has a one handed mode. You can collect vocabulary and then causally flip through you cards while sitting on the bus. Perfect for the incognito Jedi in you.

If you have technique for breaking down what you read into reusable chunks please share it in the comments. Do you use flash cards? How do you build your vocabulary?

Keep Reading! Take a look at the companion article: “Are You Still Lugging Dead Tree Bilingual Dictionaries?“

Brett Fyfield is the Chief Rainbow Maker at Rainbowhill Language Lab. He enjoys Aikido and is often mistaken for “suits homeless” because of his dishevelled appearance. If you want more tips on incorporating authentic Japanese literature into your study routine tweet him up on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

The Manga is Homunculus by Hideo Yamamoto. 2003.