Nipponica

The museum in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, is located inside a renovated old factory built in 1969, where the gaming giant began life making Western-style and Japanese playing cards and later repaired consoles.

The company on Tuesday also released a video of Shigeru Miyamoto, the renowned creator of Super Mario Bros and other famous games, giving a sneak preview of what's inside.

"The Nintendo Museum is a place where visitors can learn about Nintendo's commitment to manufacturing that places importance on play and originality," Miyamoto said in the clip.

Booking flight now.

The National Diet Library Law requires publishers and others to deposit publications to the library when they are released. When the law was revised in 2000, commercially available video games were included in the deposit system.

The library in June 2022 started a program to allow visitors to play some of the games, about 3,300 title, in its collection on a trial basis. However, due partly to a lack of advertisement, there have been only 16 instances of a video game being played in the about two years until Jul7 27. The program limits the use of video games to research and study, and the library checks how the user plans to publicize the results of the play session.

After reading the headline, I reflexively started to buy a ticket to Tokyo to take up the Diet Library's offer of an afternoon of GTA: Vice City. However, my hopes were dashed when the use for the archive was research. Shame.

In the future, convenience stores may become the new base for crane games. Lawson hopes that "people will be able to casually enjoy playing the games at their local convenience stores nationwide." It plans to expand its crane game services by offering original prizes that can only be obtained at the stores where the games are installed and by linking the games to campaigns.

This weblog is slowing turning into a crane game news site. At least this will give me a reason to go to Lawson.

The Japanese game arcade industry, which took a significant hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has seen nearly 8,000 stores disappear over the past decade, with a 30 percent reduction in the last five years alone, a recent survey from credit research firm Teikoku Databank Ltd showed.

But claw machines have bucked the digital and console trend, with demand for prize games remaining high even during the pandemic. The Japan Amusement Industry Association says revenue from the games hit 306.2 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in fiscal 2021 and the genre now makes up nearly 70 percent of an amusement facility's overall sales.

UFO Catcher is my arch nemesis...

"Pokemon x Kogei - Playful Encounters of Pokemon and Japanese Craft" began on July 6 at the MOA Museum of Art in the city of Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture. On display are around 70 pieces of artworks including ceramics, lacquerware, metalwork and textiles created by 20 artists representing contemporary Japan -- ranging from those designated as a living national treasure to young people. The works create a new charm for the Pokemon franchise with their unique textures and presence.

I need a metal Eevee now.

The recent words of FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki back up these ostensible labor wins for Japanese workers. Of the mass layoffs that are happening in the US and elsewhere, Miyazaki said, “as long as this company is my responsibility, that’s something I would not let happen.” But more so than the personal benevolence of leaders like Miyazaki, it is the country’s robust labor regulations that most protect workers.

Tongue firmly in cheek with the headline, but overall this is a well researched article about how Japanese tech & gaming companies treat layoffs versus their American counterparts.

The King’s speech talked of the close friendship between the UK and Japan.

“Ours is a partnership with deep roots,” said the King, in areas of science, culture, defence and trade."

He also referenced some Japanese contributions to popular culture, including the Hello Kitty brand and mentioned the “Pokemon phrase ‘gotta catch ‘em all’”.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world...

“Japanese users have long preferred platforms like Twitter that allow you to be anonymous over something like Facebook that makes it mandatory to use your real name,” Moreno says. “Virtual reality experiences like VRChat are an extension of anonymity. Some users even use voice changers. They are able to create a representation of themselves that they want to show to the world.”