Written by: Alex

 

 

 

In the shrinking world of the Internet we now feel that if we have an interest in another countries culture we understand their habits, predilections and biases. We’ll I am here to tell you that perhaps your preconceptions about Japan and its gaming culture are wrong.

 

Okay, maybe not wrong, but misguided.

 

It is true that Japan is a gaming Mecca (religiously not Gundam speaking). Video gaming itself has been in the public eye for significantly longer, but it sits along side a number of other game pass times. Pachinko parlors (a peg and ball game similar to bagatelle or Peggle) assault visitors to local train stations with blaring a blaring Euro-pop sound tracks, seedy mahjong clubs sit on back roads and slot arcades (fruit machines) are everywhere. It was on the back of this adult orientated entertainment under which video gaming made its surreptitious advance on Japan.

 

Arcades here are never solely gaming affairs. Sharing space with slots, gatcha-gatcha (capsule toys), UFO catchers or purikura (dolled up photo booths – filled with giggling school girls) the ‘game centers’ of Japan offer a very different experiences from the black arcades of Europe. Neon colours and music surround you on entry. Friendly staff members are on hand to help, plus everything works. These are the wonderlands of Japan’s game related culture.

 

Though these entertainment centers can be found any where in large cities they tend to gather most prominently in areas dedicated to geek culture. Manga, anime, game, toy and porn shops (often in combination) line both sides of the street in these districts for kilometers on end. All stock not only the most recent titles but also floors of classic used title that date back to the inception of each (avoid the used porn).

 

I live in Osaka, Japan’s second city. While it is no Akihabura we have Den-Den town (den being an abbreviation of denki, electricity). Three streets of gaming and associated culture stretch as far as you can see. Store’s contents spill out across the sidewalk and the deafening 8-Bit music makes it hard to think. Geeks fill stores, and the corners of the streets are littered with girls in maid uniforms handing out flyers for their café.

 

The general prevalence of this alternate geek culture isn’t just seen in specialized districts. In any town you are never far from a game store of some kind. Open late into the night I have three local stores. One is a two-floor entertainment behemoth. Open until midnight it stocks games, DVDs and manga. While it is a sight that would rarely be seen in the West, especially in a suburb like the area I live, it is the other two stores that offer the truly unique shopping experience. Tiny narrow stores where two people can’t pass each other, lined from floor to ceiling with games. Famicon games, Virtual Boy’s, PS3, 360, import titles, every element of gaming is represented in somewhere in these stores as long as you are willing to search.

 

Geek sub-culture has even made its way into the twenty-four hour convenience stores. are filled with manga, stocking dozens of magazine, each some two hundred pages long. Weekly and monthly gaming magazines sit next to these and sell out soon after hitting shelves. Game magazines range from general news to specialized arcade and pachinko publications. Big games also find there way into these stores. Final Fantasy titles and Dragon Quest games remain on shelves and continue to sell long after their release.

 

With all of these outlets for gaming you would assume that the general attitude towards those interested in the culture is one of acceptance. Indeed the general accepted knowledge of Japan tells us this. Unfortunately this is not the case. Well not fully. Outside of the accepted manga (partly due to the shear difficulty of reading Chinese character filled books), Japan is a traditional and business focused country. To the saleriman (salaried businessman) any form of gaming is considered frivolous. It is rare that you see an older gamer publicly embrace their pass time.

 

Occasionally you will see one holed up in the back of a darkened arcade playing a horse racing similar through a cloud of cigarette smoke, but for the most part gaming is for the young, immature and possibly women (it is a very patriarchal culture).

 

Of course much like everywhere else the diversifying market of games has meant that more people are falling into the hobby. Wii is in most homes and one in four people supposedly own a DS of some variety. Nintendo adverts fill TV commercial time in some form or other, and are instantly recognisable by their jingle. Indeed the Wii and DS have managed to transcend what has traditionally been considered gaming so completely that even my girlfriend’s mum purchased both for herself (I am not going to go into this on the Internet but take my word for it, this proves it). The other ‘hardcore’ machines however continue to carry with them the preconceptions which gamers the world over are used to.

 

Those watching closely may notice that I have up until this point avoided the word ‘otaku’. While the word in the west has become associated with fans of Japanese pop culture the majority of people really don’t fit the mold of a true otaku. Otaku are fanatics. Most people you run into while frequenting gamer haunts are geeks, skinny pale gamers, which bar my love of alcohol and sport I would soon grow to resemble (bar being tall, and white). The otaku are a different breed, shy misfits who struggle in social situations. They are part of a growing number of ill adjusted individuals in a country that offers little in the way of mental healthcare, or acceptance of the psychological pressures it’s society places on people. I learned this lesson after calling myself an otaku to my new Japanese friends. The reaction was not one of acceptance, but of mild horror. Here there is a very real stigma attached to the moniker.